TWO GLORIOUS WEEKS IN HAWAII AND MOTHER'S DAY ALL IN ONE MONTH

During our mission we planned a trip to Hawaii with Gary and Deon. We decided to meet them in Oahu a few days before they would be officially finished and then, together, travel to Maui and Kauai for four days each. On Wednesday, April 22, Deon and Gary met us at the airport and, in the gracious Hawaiian style, greeted us with leis and, of course, hugs and kisses.  After stopping for a Mexican dinner, we drove to Laie, where they had been living for the past 23 months.  

Deon and Gary still had some training to do on Thursday, so Paul and I took the opportunity to attend a session in the beautiful and newly remodeled Hawaiian Temple. We felt such a sweet spirit there as we were attended to by the Hawaiian temple workers.  While waiting for Gary to come pick us up, we walked the temple grounds and toured the visitor center.  

After visiting  BYU Hawaii's office of honor, where Deon and Gary worked for their entire mission, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for lunch and to see some of the different island exhibits.  We were glad we got there in time to see the parade of the cultures on the river.  Gary and Deon were on assignment to work at the luau that night so we joined them at their station to enjoy the luau's entertainment. Afterwards we went to a buffet in the Cultural Center for dinner.  It was a busy day but so much fun.

The next day, Deon and Gary decided not to go into the office so they could spend some time at their favorite beach with us.  It was a beautiful day and Lanikai Beach, with its white sands and the crystal clear turquoise blue water, was delightful.  It was located in a kind of lagoon so the waves were minimal. We enjoyed just standing out in the water when we needed a break from the heat of the sun.  A most relaxing day.

Saturday was our day to visit Pearl Harbor.  It had been years since we had seen it so we were excited to view the memorial and the exhibits.  A small boat took us out to the memorial where we felt a very reverent feeling as we walked around thinking about the thousands who lost their lives on that fateful day of December 7 so many years ago. Upon returning to land, we walked through the step by step exhibit of events which lead up to the attack as well as the events that followed.  It was a very sobering museum. On our way home to Laie, we stopped at a beautiful restaurant, Hale'iwa Joe's, and had an exquisite dinner. The setting was beautiful.

There was only one turtle on the beach when we visited.
We are told that, at times, there are several.  They
come up out of the water to sun on the beach.

After church on Sunday morning, we loaded Deon and Gary's extra luggage pieces into the car to take them to the Courtyard Marriott in Honolulu for safe keeping while we toured the other islands for eight days.  We ate a late lunch at Outback Steakhouse, stopped at Hale'iwa Beach to see some turtles, and then headed home for a relaxing Sunday evening.  
 







We couldn't leave Laie without one more Dole Pineapple Whip cone.



Monday, we were up early to help clean the Fuller's home so we could leave for the airport by noon.  With the car packed to the brim with all our suitcases and ourselves, we were on our way to our next adventure - 4 days on the island of Maui.  We ate lunch at the airport while waiting for our flight and met a delightfully, large family traveling to American Samoa for the funeral of their grandfather.  The unique thing about that family is that most of the many children had been adopted.  There were so many children that they each knew their number, 1 through 14. The generous mother is pictured in the purple dress with the white lei. Such an act of love and service.

We were fortunate that the storms that had plagued Maui for several days, blew over the day we arrived, so by Tuesday we had perfect weather.  After an orientation of the island presented by our resort in Kihei, we took off to explore Maui. Driving west and then north we saw some amazing beaches, a golf course that was to die to play, and surfers catching the waves on the North shore. 

The largest banyan tree we've ever seen.
It takes up a whole city block in Lahaina.

The championship golf course.  Wish
we would have had our gold clubs.

The gigantic waves and the surfers trying to catch them

The table reserved specifically for us

It was my birthday so we decided to eat at Mama's Fish House for an late afternoon dinner.  This restaurant started out as a little shack and now has become a world renown place to eat.  It is recommended in all the travel guides for Maui.  They specialize in fish that is caught on the very day it is cooked and served.  We were seated at a table right on the edge of the restaurant so we had an incredible view of the waves crashing onto the beach. We thoroughly enjoyed the food, the company, and the atmosphere at this very high end restaurant. A special birthday treat.  After eating, we returned to our resort to change before driving back to Lahaina to attend a live show - an Elvis impersonator who was extremely entertaining.  Quite an incredible birthday celebration for me!

The beautiful setting of the restaurant

Elvis, in all his glory

By Wednesday, Deon wasn't feeling well and needed a day to rest so Paul and I took off to drive to the top of the Haleakala Volcano crater.  We had a clear day as we began our drive and saw some beautiful vistas as we preceded up the mountain. We felt like we were racing against a huge cloud that was coming toward our destination....and we lost. By the time we got to the top of the volcano the clouds had moved in and we could not see a thing.  They say the best time to catch the view is to watch the sunrise at the top. Too early for us. Though we didn't see the 360 degrees view of the island, on our way down we could see 3/4's of the island from high above and it was awe inspiring.  We were glad we has made the trip.  

The view at the top....only fog!

But the views on the trip up and back made the drive very worthwhile

When we returned home, we joined Deon and Gary at the pool and spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing and visiting.  By that night, though, we were in the emergency room of the local hospital because Deon was having chest pains. She has a problem with her heart so has to be very cautious about pain. It turned out to be nothing serious, probably of strained chest muscle, but the reassurance from the doctor helped Deon be able to stop worrying and enjoy the balance of our vacation.  


The next day was our drive on the Road to Hanna, a road of over 600 curves through beautiful and lush foliage, water falls, and exquisite views.  We were told to plan the drive taking the whole day and it did but we are so glad we took the time do drive it. Todd had told us about an app on the phone called Maui Revealed which was invaluable to finding the best places to stop and explore.  At one point, we took a road down to a little town where we bought some delicious banana bread and enjoyed watching the ocean waves crashing onto the lava rocks along the shore. Later in the day, we stopped for a picnic where we watched for a blow hole (it never spouted in the 15 minutes we watched) and viewed the black sand beach from afar.  The end of the road for us was the seven sacred pools. Due to the high levels of water in the pools from the recent rainfalls, the pools were off limits for swimming but they were still beautiful to look at.  The walk to and from was also invigorating after being in the car for so long.

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Eating yummy banana bread

One of the 'hula girls.'

Finally boarding the plane

By Friday it was time to go back to the airport for the next leg of our trip....a short flight to the island of Kauai.  We stopped at Costco to gas up the car and decided to have lunch at their outside concession area......Costco hot dogs? I couldn't handle that so I had a sandwich while everyone else ate hot dogs and, then, topped their lunch off with a berry ice cream swirl. We arrived at the airport early but soon realized that there was no need to have hurried.  When we got to our gate, we found out there had been an emergency with one of the planes so flights were backed up for hours.  We spent lots of time just watching people as we waited. There were two cute little girls practicing their hula dancing which kept us entertained.

The beautiful moonlight on the water as seen
from the deck of our condo.

On Kauai, we stayed at a World Mark resort in Kappa'a which was right on the ocean. We loved opening our slider door and listening to the waves crashing onto the shore.  It was also a beautiful sight to watch the light from the full moon illuminating the water each night. This island is not as commercial as the other two we had been on so we looked to the local restaurant guide to find a place for dinner. The 'Chicken in a Basket' restaurant was highly recommended but when we drove there it was a little shack with a few table outside.  We decided we would try somewhere else and ended up at Buba's Hamburger Grill.  It was good food.

At the Waimea Canyon lookout

The days on Kauai were spent driving all the accessible roads so we could really get a feel for this island.  We drove to the lookout point for Waimea Canyon, considered the Grand Canyon of Hawaii, to several beautiful beaches, a blow hole which actually blew, and through many resort towns. We even saw a couple of lighthouses, much to my delight as I have a weakness for lighthouses.

Of course at the beach town of Koloa, we had
 to stop and get an ice cream cone.

 

We were glad we had scheduled a helicopter ride for Monday as we knew that would be the only way to really experience the island.  Ninety per cent of Kauai is only accessible by air. The helicopter ride around the island was, indeed, the highlight of our time in Kauai.  We were taken in close to waterfalls and down into Wiamea Canyon, seeing things we could never have seen driving in a car. The northern part of the island, the Nepali Coast, was exquisite with its high mountain cliffs jutting straight up out of the ocean, green, lush valleys, and crystal clear turquoise blue waters.  We even were able to fly inside an old volcano.  Quite a ride.  

One of many beautiful waterfalls seen on our ride. 

All to soon our trip was over and we were flying back to Oahu's airport, where we said good bye to Deon and Gary who were flying out the next day. We had about a 5 hour wait for our plane so we had lots of time to relax and wind down before flying home.  A glorious vacation.

We came home to a wonderful Mother's day weekend where we experienced some amazing miracles.  On Saturday night, Jon proposed to Mindy and she accepted.They have set a wedding date of August 1.  We are so excited for them. 

Todd still in tears after finding out Kailee was pregnant

On Sunday, Todd and Kailee, and Jake and Nicole came up for dinner. In fact they came up to cook dinner for me. Jake had just completed a culinary degree at UVU and so demonstrated his expertise by making a delightful cheese and ham stuffed chicken, apple mashed potatoes, and green beans and carrots. Todd and Kailee made a green salad and did the finishing touches on an Oreo creamed filled chocolate bunt cake. Delicious.  At dinner I received two wonderful gifts. Paul bought me a statue of a mother and her children, entitled Quiet.  Kailee then presented Todd (and me) with the best gift ever when she announced that she was pregnant. She gave Todd a box of cupcakes, on the top of which read...'one plus one equals three.'  Todd just burst into tears when he realized what the message meant.  We were all a little emotional as well. That is the best Mother's day gift they could have given me.  

 
Ryan called to wish me a Happy Mother's day. During the conversation, he told us of another miracle....he was selling his rental house to the tune of $70,000 profit for them.  He also said he had talked with his partner and it was decided to raise his salary significantly....as he said, 'to more than I had ever dreamed could happen.'  We have been praying for them as we knew they were struggling financially so this is a real miracle for us.  Andrea also recognized me on Mother's Day...or least tried to. She had ordered flowers to be delivered on Saturday but they never came. Monday she called the company and they assured her they would be delivered that very day....but they weren't.  After getting all her money back, she called a local florist here in Heber, who immediately brought out a beautiful bouquet of flowers.  I love flowers so this effort on Andrea's part really touched my heart.  


I must also mention a tender mercy that happened before we left for Hawaii. Our freezer would not keep a steady temperature....sometimes freezing and sometimes not. We had called a repairman out but he couldn't diagnose the problem. He said we would have to wait until the freezer wouldn't freeze at all anymore.  Luckily, the Monday before we left, the freezer would not get cold at all so we called the repairman back.  He checked the relay part and found it to have gone out. He replaced it and the freezer immediately began to freeze again.  The repairman didn't even charge us for the part.  As he left he mentioned how fortunate we were that the compressor hadn't gone out as that would have been several thousands of dollars to fix it. A tender mercy, for sure.  

The Tuesday after Mother's Day, we had shutters installed in our office and dining room windows. They look amazing and soften the look of the rooms.  The next day we welcomed Don and Dana into our home to spend several days. They were here to see their son, Bryce,  jump in the WAC conference meet.  That week we also went to a Thai restaurant with Jon and Mindy and attended a couple of Braydon's basketball games. Of course, we worked in the temple each Friday.  Another wonderful month.

Looking so good!!