Hawaii Day 5

On Thursday we sadly packed up and said goodbye to our cocoa bungalow, :(  I hope someday we will be able to return!!!

After packing up we hiked up Diamond Head, I was surprised by how ugly the hike itself was, I was expecting tropical forests, flowers, waterfalls and such, but it looked like the ugly part of Utah.

 The hike itself was amusing, didn't expect all the stair cases. :)

 The 99 steps on this stair case were a challenge, but fun because of everyones reaction to them. :)

 The view was worth it.  So cool to see the ocean for miles away.

 After Diamond Head we went to the Byodo Inn, it was stunning!  I am so happy we went!

 

 Just look at that back drop.  The inn is part of a huge cemetery, called the valley of the temples.  It was a beautiful, and peaceful place.

Following our drive through the cemetery (I know that seems like a creepy way to spend an afternoon on vacation in Hawaii, but it was wonderful) we met up with Dave and Jill at our next condo, after unpacking we went to Waikiki for people watching and shopping.  It was fun to be there at night to see all the people, but I am glad we only did that once, it is crazy and so touristy.  Late that night the rest of the family (Wyn, Dee Ann, Jodi, Megan and Ann Dee) arrived.  Jared and I thought it was fitting that we all began our vacation together on Oahu, which means "The Gathering Place". :)

Hawaii day 4

On Wednesday Jared and I went to the international market place for a little touristy shopping.  That was an experience complete with feelings of bewilderment, amusement, and frustration.  We did find a few treasures, but yikes we could have spent a fortune there.

After our shopping trip we went to sharks cove and the three tables for snorkeling.  I loved snorkeling in sharks cove, the water was deep and the fish were plentiful and big.  The name sharks cove did have me a bit on edge, even though I knew I didn't need to be.  We finished snorkeling as the tide was coming in and despite my efforts to be careful the waves did cause me to slip on the rocks and I got a huge cut on my leg, I still have the scar, I don't know if it will ever completely go away.  As we left I got this picture of one of the three tables at sunset.  I love the sunrise and sunset on the ocean, beautiful!

Hawaii Day 3

On Tuesday morning we went to the Honolulu zoo.  Jared and I have begun and continued a vacation tradition, that anywhere we go we will always visit the local zoo and temple.  We do love animals and Jared loves zoos.  While I think we may be getting a little weary of zoos, we did nevertheless really enjoy this zoo, for the plants as well as for the animals. 

These trees are amazing, they look like someone took watercolor paints to the bark, it is really very pretty.

 Being at the zoo made us miss our boys a lot, Brandon especially because of all the animals.  We saw a Nile crocodile, American alligator, and three Gharials.

 After the zoo we made our way inland to the Dole pineapple plantation.  Jared chose to have a pineapple float; pineapple ice cream floating in pineapple juice.  It was a bit of a pineapple overload. :)

 I had a pineapple ice cream cone; delightful and so refreshing. I loved it!!

 While we were there we were caught in a rain storm.  Naturally, it wouldn't be a vacation for us if we did not get caught in a rainstorm, we just have great luck in that way.  But with rain come rainbows, beautiful!

 I also love this flower picture with the little rain drops on the petals. :)

 The tree that Jared is standing next to is nick named a walking tree, because it literally does walk.  Over time the roots that grow down will grow nearer to the water, while the roots farthest from the water over time will die off; so after a few years the tree will be a few feet away from where is previously was.  How cool is that. :)

I love the bird of paradise flowers - they are so unusual.After the visit to the Dole plantation we were looking for a fun place to eat lunch and drove past a shrimp truck that was selling Brazilian food.  We were both thrilled, it was delicious and so fun. :)

That night we made our way to the temple for a session and sealing.  I love visiting the temple and being able to do temple work all over the world.  I find that it is most often the best way for us to get to know and meet the locals, and the peace in the temple offers a great reprieve from the rush of vacationing.
Following the temple we went to the theater to see the new Bond movie. I actually enjoyed it, much to Jared's relief. :)

Hawaii Day 2

On Monday morning we woke to see the sun rise again and then walked the full length of bathtub beach.

It was a wonderful walk,  We were even able to see the resident Hawaiian munk seal named Bessie.  It was wild being so close.

After our walk we went to Waimea Falls.  We loved strolling through the botanical gardens.  The flowers in Hawaii are amazing, for that matter all the plants in Hawaii are amazing. 

The walk through the botanical gardens leads you to Waimea falls.  They allow swimming in the falls, which was a lot of fun, cold, but fun.

Don't look too close but Jared and I are sitting at the bottom of the falls in this picture.

After visiting the falls we came back to our place and went snorkeling.  Aside from going snorkeling on our honeymoon nearly 12 years ago this was my first time, and I was less than enthusiastic about it.  However Jared loves snorkeling and was really looking forward to it, so I went along with him.  He was a great teacher and very patient with me.  We had a GREAT time.  It was surprisingly easy and so much fun.  I was so excited when I finally started seeing fish, and then we would see several in schools and great varieties of fish.  It was very mellow and so much fun.  I loved it!

These sand crabs are all over the beaches, kinda fun, but also a little creepy, they were just big spiders with big pincher's, really only about the size of a half dollar, but when they are all around you, it is a little unsettling. :)

Monday was probably one of our favorite days of our whole vacation.  So beautiful, relaxing and rewarding, and a whole lot of fun!

Hawaii

For Christmas last year Jared's parents told us they were taking us to Hawaii for Thanksgiving.  We have long anticipated this vacation, and then suddenly it was here and we were thrilled.  With Wyn and Dee Ann affording our lodging for ten nights and our credit card miles taking care of our flight, we felt we could and should take advantage and go for five extra days.  We left on Saturday the tenth and spent the evening getting settled into our bungalow.  Our bungalow was AWESOME!!!!!  I loved the key pad entry, which allowed us to just walk right into our room without checking in.  Our room was a studio suite beautifully decorated, with wonderful luxuries.  We were however surprised however that as soon as we pulled up to the bungalow, we heard roosters crowing.  Our for the week had several roosters, weird, turns out roosters and hens are all over Hawaii, everywhere, it was both funny, weird and very annoying.

 Our bungalow was right on the beach, just a short walk across the lawn, and this was our view. 

 I was so grateful for a good friend who told us that because of the time difference we would be waking up before sunrise, and rather than trying to force ourselves to keep sleeping (which I would have done) we should embrace the early wake up time and go see the sunrise.  So we did.  Sunday morning we woke up, walked down to the beach and watched the sunrise, it was beautiful!

 Then we enjoyed a leisurely walk up our beach.  Yes, those are our footprints. :)

 After our walk we ate breakfast on our lanai, then we went to church.  I loved going to a church meeting in Hawaii.

 Our church meeting house was right next to the temple so we decided to stroll around the Laie temple.  It is a beautiful temple and when you stand near the front doors and look out you can see the ocean.  The Laie is such a unique temple in its design and in that it does not have an Angle Moroni, however it is similar to all the other temples in that the landscaping is amazing!  I love to see the temple!!!

Our brother-in-law, Dave was already in Oahu for business and had been for two weeks so we met up with him that night for dinner on Waikiki.  On our way there we enjoyed stopping over to a few pretty beaches.

 Just before we met up with Dave for dinner we watched the sunset on Waikiki beach.  First time in my life I was able to watch the sunrise and the sunset on the beach on the same day.  It was wonderful.

Our first full day in Hawaii was delightful, peaceful and very relaxing.  In many ways it was a perfect Sunday.

Meanwhile in Utah my boys were having a wonderful time enjoying this years (and what feels like the only) first snow.    They played in a large snow fort that my sister and some of her friends had built, they even watched a bit of a movie inside of it. :)

 On a side note: on Saturday morning we drove to my parents house to drop off the boys; this was the morning after a large snow storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow, none of which had been plowed.  We tried the first hill to my parents house and it was clear we were not going to make it up, so we tried the other hill, Jared was swerving all over the road doing his best to keep the car with very bald tires on the road and Brandon kept saying "I think I can" over and over again.  When Jared finally made it to the top of the hill and we could both breath a sigh of relief Brandon said "Yeah, I did it!"  Thanks for the help Brandon :)