Hawaii Pictures and More

It's been a busy and eventful past couple of weeks. First, to start off, HAWAII pictures.

We flew into Honolulu on Sunday, June 14th. We arrived about 10pm their time. It was dark, and we had a little ride to get to our hotel, which was on the North Shore. So we drove in the dark, got to the hotel, and went promptly to bed. I was tired.

Monday: We woke up and opened our balcony doors to find an AMAZING view. We were right on the beach! We took our time getting ready, visited the beach, and then headed off to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We ate really big pork sandwiches, visited the villages, went to the Laie Temple, attended the luau, and watched the show. At the luau, they played a special dance for those celebrating anniversaries. After some prodding from the other people at our table, Allan and I went up and danced. It was neat.

Tuesday: We drove down the coast and realized all the views we had missed in the dark! We drove to the Dole Plantation, and I had a blast. It was almost my favorite part of the trip. We went on a garden tour and learned all about the different plants that grow in Hawaii. The pineapples were SO interesting to see and learn about, and the pineapple ice cream was DELICIOUS! When we came back from the plantation, we took a walk along the west side of our hotel and saw a sea turtle. It was so neat! It was eating the algae on the rocks and swayed back and forth in the waves. SO COOL. I also saw LOTS of sea urchins which was way neat.

Wednesday: This day was our actual anniversary and was dedicated to the beach--my favorite part of the trip. We took a walk along the east beach. We sat in chairs and read by the ocean. We snorkeled in the bay. We swam. We took a nap and then had our anniversary dinner ocean side in a restaurant. Beautiful. Amazing. Wonderful.

Thursday: We went snorkeling at Three Tables and saw fish, coral, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. We then went to Waimea Falls. It's a great botanical garden with lots of different plants. There are signs all over the place identifying plants and describing them...Haylee heaven!

Friday: We checked out of the hotel, and I said a sad goodbye to the beach. We drove to Waikiki and went to the aquarium and went to another beach before we turned in our car, went to the airport, and came home. (We actually arrived in Salt Lake at 9am on Saturday, but who cares?)

It was a great, amazing, relaxing trip, and I am the luckiest girl ever. This past year has been the most wonderful of my life--it's been true wedded bliss. I'm so grateful to my dear, sweet husband who does so much for me and who lets me be the best I can be. He provides, presides, and protects with such love and dedication, and I couldn't imagine my life without him!

The week after Hawaii was Girls' Camp. I don't have any pictures. It was a good experience. I learned a lot from the other leaders. I was also reminded that I'm a daughter of God. It was a while since I'd thought about that. After I got back from camp, I came home to a great surprise. Allan and two of his friends (thanks Sam and Carl!) had painted at put all the baseboards back and even moved most of the furniture back. I was so relieved that I didn't have to do all that work in the few weeks left of summer. It was a great present. I'm so lucky.

This past week I took a class about assessment and was greatly disappointed. Oh, well. My beautiful new couches came on Friday, and my house is slowly turning back into a home. It's fun to see all the work and saving pay off. =)

Whew! The end.