Our Hawaii Getaway!

For Christmas, Kevin got me plane tickets to Hawaii for over our anniversary week. We've were so excited to return there, and this time, we would be able to stay with my parents as well, which added to the fun. Because Connor is still not sleeping through the night consistently, and is not taking a bottle as great as he used to, we took him with us. Brody got to stay at Auntie Roxy's house, which he was SO excited for. We almost had to force him to give us a hug goodbye.

Connor was such a good baby, waking up at 4:30 AM to get on the plane in time. He didn't sleep much on the way there, but he was asleep for take-off and landing, which helped a lot. What a good boy! Here he is trying on Kevin's hat.

Mom and Dad were there for two weeks, and we just joined them for the second week. The weather was atrocious for them the first week, with rain downpours every day, along with high winds, tornados, flooding, etc. etc. It was VERY wet there the day we arrived, but the next morning we were blessed with sunny weather! We had good weather every day after that as well, and were able to go to the beach right beside the place we were staying at. SO beautiful! Connor got to put his feet in his first ocean water! A little chilly, but he did good.

Kevin and I got to go snorkelling at place just down the beach from our condo. There were at least six turtles swimming around in the water with you, along with the fish.
They come right up to you all the time, and if you're not paying attention, it does make you jump when one rubs your leg as it swims by. They were very cool to watch.

We were able to go see the Pearl Harbour museum there. They've done a great job at setting up a very interesting and informative centre that you can enjoy. We were only there for about an hour and a half, but you could easily spend longer there.....

I know, I'm a nerd, but this was so neat!

We spent one day on the far side of the island at the temple and the Polynesian Cultural Centre. The Hawaii Temple is beautiful. The last time we were there it was under renovations, and you could not go past the fountain. Kevin and I were able to spend a few hours there this time, and it was neat for me to be able to go inside another temple besides the Cardston, Alberta Temple.

They have a beautiful visitor centre there as well, and this is what you see when you walk in the door.

In the middle of the other area they have a copy of the Book of Mormon in all the languages it has been translated into. Kevin and I found his beloved "Hmong" copy, which he used during his mission as a Hmong-speaking missionary in Wisconsin. I've made many attempt to learn phrases in this semi-dying out tonal language to no avail. I'm good with the syllables, but it is really difficult to remember what tones to put with each syllable. Kevin is amazing though, and I am still really impressed at how well he can speak it when the occasion arises for him to use the language (which is almost never unless I ask him to, or if it is for some ward function discussing missionaries that he is asked to show off his linguistic talent).

The PCC was great, as it always is. We toured around for a few hours, then went to the buffet dinner and the show "Breath of Life", which was fantastic (and which, miraculously, Connor slept through - mostly).
We were also able to go snorkelling at Hunauma Bay, which was incredibly beautiful.
Needless to say, we greatly enjoyed our vacation from 'life' for a week. I missed Brody a ton, but when we called, he was more interested in playing with his cousins than talking to us, so I guess I shouldn't have worried about him. We also had a great fly home, and Connor was even good enough to let me finish a few good reads over the week. I don't know if we're ever going back to Hawaii, but I'm so glad we were able to go this time. It was amazing!

This is the weather we were greeted with not long after our arrival home. Brody and I decided to make a snowman, since this was about the first time it was possible this year so far.

It was a very grassy snowman! (not to mention the odd pine-cone)

Happy March!