Luau and Aulani...

Well, we got a few more visitors this week!  Mike's business partner Josh and his lovely fiancee, Elise came to stay at the guest house next door.  Webb and Laury also got here Saturday night, party in Kaaawa!!  Monday we went to the PCC for the luau and show, it was fun to spend time with them all and the show is always so entertaining.

Webb and Laury rocked this island.  They seriously moved the whole time and it was so fun to see them enjoy it!  I would send them a text message of all the things I knew, places to eat, whatever and they would GO.  They are awesome.

Tuesday we went to Aulani to stay at the resort with Kate and Andy.  From the first minute we arrived,  it was so welcoming with leis and necklaces for the kids.  It has a disney feel for sure but still Hawaii and SO nice.  The pools are amazing, the snorkeling bay inside the resort was awesome... watersides, lazy river. The beach was beautiful, we snorkeled and paddle-boarded. We had a lot of lava flows and relaxed. We saw Steve Young, lol. Tuesday night, Webb and Laury came over and we went to dinner at a Mexican place. It was yummy and super fun company.  We saw Steve Young, lol. Wednesday, the kids went to Auntie's Beach house for activities most of the day so the adults got to relax, scheme business and hang by the pool. Payt made some friends in the pool, too.  A few of the characters came around, you can see my excited "minnie mouse" face... Mike and Andy were mocking but I really was that excited for Tess to see minnie.  Kate and I went to lunch Wednesday afternoon while the boys went out.  It was just a lovely day. The sunsets on the west side are truly amazing... what a fun few days.  

The girls did a lot of singing "Let it Go" in the keiki pool..had to document the magic :)  We headed home Wednesday night. Cassie had her baby that night, too!  three weeks early, so crazy! Kate went to see her and the babe (Andie) before they caught their flight home.  It was so nice to have them here I am sad to see them go.  love my sis.

Beach life on a Saturday.

We chased the sun today.  Kaaawa was rainy and the skies looked clear north of us so after a little sea glass hunting and breakfast, we drove to the North Shore.  We had lunch at Kahuku grill and made our way to Waimea bay. It was beautiful and the waves were huge, really a perfect back drop and no rain :)  The kids played in the waves, bombed the sand hill, collected shells and loved every minute.  The big boys played in the big waves, it was quite big today.  Amy, Jared & crew and Danny & Jeannie came too so lots of kids and lots of fun.  Girls were playing imaginary games, making salad with leaves and climbing the sand mountain. There was the most amazing rainbow against the mountain as we were rinsing off and getting ready to go.  It was a perfect beach day.

We ate lunch in Haleiwa, walked a few shops (had to buy a shirt for Tess as she was nudie) and hit Matsumoto's on our way out of town.  It was a fun-filled, happy day.

Had to document Mike shaved his beard.  We all were calling him "danny" for a few days because he looked SO different and really quite a lot like D-Z. Too funny.

LOVE day.

We got some special visitors in this week. Kate, Andy and their kiddos arrived just in time for Valentine's Day :)  The first few days were a little rainy...but we spent some time on the beach. Kids walked to school and had a Valentine picnic.  Jeannie, Sheila and I helped with the class party at school for the Kindergarten class...that was fun and there was more candy there than you can even imagine.  We played a few games too.  

We went to the PCC for a few hours, saw a few of the islands, kids went fishing and ate mochi. It was a little rainy, though.  Hurried home to meet the babysitters which turned out to be boys, ugh...long story.  I arranged sitters through the BYU-Hawaii babysitter's page, I got quite a few texts and just went with the first one, seemed nice enough. Turned out it was two boys, men I guess you could say, which was totally weird.  We have since named them "gaby-sitters" and it's a funny story but it was a bit stressful in the moment and totally caught me off guard.  We went to Haleiwa for dinner with Jared, Amy, Danny & Jeannie, Kate & Andy and us. It was fun...I was hoping for clear skies so we could play frisbee golf but alas, the rain wins around here. 

It's SO nice to have my sister here. We didn't get many pics together this trip but we sure had a fun time together. I love her and miss her a lot while I am so far away.  It's a good thing to have a sister like her.  I'm grateful they could come and spend some time with us.  They'll be here a few days and then off to Aulani Disney Resort. 

I'm also super grateful for my Valentine.  He really is the best and this adventure with him and with our children will be one I will treasure forever.  He's the best dad. The best support, hard worker, partner.  I am a lucky lady. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Fishing on the Deep Blue...

My first deep sea fishing adventure.  Bright and early in Haleiwa, Hawaii aboard the "Grand Slam"... our captain and his side kick were nice.  We headed out to catch our bait and right off the bat saw many humpback whales, it was awesome!  Then we saw several sharks around our boat. Freaky Friday. Payton thought it was really cool.  Not far into the journey, however, Payton turned a shade of yellow/green and he spent most of his time with his face overboard or in the chum bucket.  Poor kid, he literally puked for 8 hours.  I felt bad but was impressed with the way he handled it. He was tough and didn't break down.

The first hit was crazy!  All the lines started zipping at the same time and we all hopped on a pole and started reeling in, I couldn't believe it.  Jeannie pulled in a huge mahi and the rest of us got tuna. It was such a rush!  I loved every minute.  Danny and I were able to find our "happy spots" on the boat and didn't get sick. I mean I had my moments but with my deep breathing and my oils, I was able to get through it.  And when that line started pulling, I was up and at em.  Mike, on the other hand, was also a bit ill and he spent quite a bit of time on the couch inside. lol. About half way through, we lost Jeannie to the puke and she and payt hung out together over the side of the boat for the rest of the afternoon.  Of course, Greg was gut of steel. No problem.

On the way back in we saw more whales, which I just loved. I'm a bit OCD about it.

We caught a LOT of fish. We were able to take 50 pounds home so we had a big fish fry the next night.  Kate and Andy were in town and Sheila and Keoni came over and we had mahi and tuna in many forms.  It was a lot of fun

Overall, a great day.  My father in law was super impressed and I think I stepped it up a few notches in his book ;)  Never a bad thing... giving Miss Jeannie a run for her money.  She's always been the favorite. 

I had a super fun time.  Can't wait to go to Alaska someday and see the Orcas. 

Chinaman's Hat.

It stopped raining. finally!  The girls and Greg headed on over to Chinaman's hat via paddle board and kayak.  It was a beautiful day and the water was clear... Amy paddled us over.  Jeannie was on her own board and Greg and Joan were on the kayak.  The hike up to the top of the island is pretty sketchy in some parts, you actually have to use a rope to climb up and I was on my buns a lot.  The rock was hot so it was warm to the hands but we made it up and back without incident.  The view from the top is pretty unreal. Such a beautiful place we live in, lucky we are.  It's a quick hike up and back. I paddled Amy and I back to shore, slowly :)  It was a fun hour with these gals for sure.

I love to see the Temple.

We spent a little time at the Visitor's Center at the temple while Mike was getting his temple recommend interview.  The temple grounds are beautiful and it made me think of Grandma and Grandpa Rammell seeing all those couple missionaries in their mu-mus :)  We watched the family video/presentation, made me bawl.  The kids loved the displays inside.  Mike met up with us and we walked around behind the temple.  The trees back there are huge and amazing.  Mike has been reading a church history book of La'ie and learned so much about the culture and people. He was telling me an amazing story of Joseph Fielding Smith when he served his mission here at the age of 15.  And a sister who cared for him while he was sick on the big island.  She came to Oahu when the temple was built.  President Smith died before the temple was finished but this sister came back and received her endowments.  Evidently, there is a statue of her here at the temple.  I searched for it for about an hour and never found it, she was hiding from me. The history is deep and thick here.  The Lord surely has a place in his plan for La'ie.

I sure love my people.