Hawaii!

We had a nice flight to Oahu (the airline fed us a meal-we were shocked!)and arrived in the early afternoon. We picked up our rental car(which was BRAND new and nice), and then drove up to Laie, where Chris, Katie, and Jared live.

We spent time catching up (as it has been since August that we've seen each other) and then Chris and Jared showed us a neat place right by their house. We spent the rest of the evening talking and enjoying each other's company.

Tuesday Ian woke up and went for a nice LONG run, and I enjoyed the time relaxing. Then we decided to get out and go see some places. Here is where we went.

Waimea Bay

The North Shore/Haleiwa for some Matsumoto's Shave Ice

The "Lost" beaches (where most of Lost is filmed) where Ian decided to do some 4 wheeling when the road ended.
And drove by a few familiar places...

Wednesday we went to breakfast at a little local place called the Hukilau Cafe. Jared was a little confused as to why he was in his PJ's eating breakfast other somewhere other then home, but loved eating the food-we all did! Then Ian and I went into town to do a few things. We stopped at a few places/beaches on our way down to Honolulu. Ian REALLY wanted to hike up Koko Head Crater like he did last time (I gave up 2/3 the way up!) and since I PROMISED him I would make it to the top this time, we went and hiked this...... I almost died. We made it!After hiking my not so favorite thing, we went to the swap meet @ Aloha Stadium, then did some shopping at the Ala Moana Mall and hung out in Honolulu.

Thursday we spent some time at the Hukilau Beach where Ian found him some treasures, then spent the afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center-which was so fun! On our way home (we walked there because it is so close) Ian found another treasure...two coconuts had fallen from the tree. He brought them home and cracked them open like the Samoans do.

That night I went with my sister to her Relief Society Enrichment Birthday Night, which was fun! She had a speaking part and talked about one of our ancestors, Catherine Hagel.

Friday, we went to Kaliua, then met up with Chris, Katie, and Jared to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. There were lots of fish! Ian and Chris also saw a turtle! We spent the rest of the night relaxing and packing up....

Saturday morning we left really early to get to town so that Ian could compete in the Biathlon (run and swim) he signed up for! We made it just in time and had fun watching him. He placed first in his division! Good work! We then left to go up to a place called Valley of the Temples and to the Dole Plantation---places we hadn't been that EVERYONE goes to! Despite the pouring rain, we enjoyed our time looking at the Temple. And the pineapple ice cream, other then the cost, was very tasty!


And then after eating some Hawaiian food, we were dropped off at the airport and headed home! The End! Thanks Chris, Katie, and Jared for all you did for us! We really enjoyed seeing and being with you, despite the not so ideal Hawaii weather!

California!

On Saturday, February 28, Ian and I flew out of SLC to San Jose, California! We arrived shortly after, got our rental car, and started driving towards Boulder Creek to visit my sister Laura, her husband Gavin, and their daughter Sydney.


After driving on THE MOST CURVY AND WINDY ROADS I have ever been on (Bear Creek) we arrived to their place! It is in a beautiful place right in the middle of basically a big redwood forest.

(This picture doesn't even show how windy the road was!)


Once Sydney woke up from her nap, we headed to the Big Basin Redwood and the Henry Cowell Redwood state parks. We had a great time looking at lots of BIG trees, reading about Redwoods (they are very interesting), and enjoying our time together. Here are some pictures.

Sydney was so happy to get out of her stroller and walk, but she wasn't so happy when she fell down and got muddy.
We went back to their house and ate a very tasty turkey dinner that Laura had made! It was SO good! We also got to see Gavin for a few minutes that night, which was fun!

The next morning, we woke up and went to church with Laura and Sydney. They had a very welcoming ward, with very nice people, which we appreciated because it can sometimes be a little awkward being the "visitors." It was interesting and nice going to church at another ward.

That day was pretty rainy, so we just hung out, ate good food, and enjoyed the time we had together. Oh yeah, and we ate dinner with Gavin there.

It was really nice to catch up with my sister, and to see where they live. We are grateful for them and letting us stay there, even though the timing was kind of bad with their move!

The next morning, we woke up and headed back on my FAVORITE road...ha ha...to the airport, caught our flight, and were on our way to Hawaii.