H A W A I I

The first day we stopped at a little fruit stand on the side of the road. This lady hacked the top off this coconut and stuck a straw in it. Best refreshment there is: fresh, cold coconut water!

Brandon and I spent six glorious days together on the North Shore in Oahu. We met up with all our Bear Lake buddies and enjoyed kayaking, dune buggy rides, riding segways, snorkeling, swimming with the turtles, reading, golfing, a guided hike up Laie Falls, basking on the warm sand, eating, eating, and eating inordinate amounts of the best food--my favorites include: Kahuku Grill (their teriyaki burger, seasoned fries and coconut shrimp with plum sauce are A-MAZING),Ted's Bakery--I could eat myself silly with their fresh donuts and macadamia nut pastries. Needless to say, I gained a ridiculous amount of weight...like almost a pound a day. I don't even know how that's possible!?! I'm hoping that it's like ocean water weight or something. Ha haha. Not likely but oh well. It was worth every bite!

Pearl Harbor:

We flew in and were picked up by Noah & Kristi Eyre. We found some hole in the wall, random place to eat in Honolulu and then headed to Pearl Harbor to meet up with the rest of our Bear Lake friends (minus Todd & Shan--they arrived the following day).

 

Brandon standing by a giant torpedo. You could see inside the tiny space where a single Japanese soldier sat. Crazy.

 Me being a nerd inside one of the submarines.

And now for a {few} eating photos:

 The infamous Kahuku Grille: Teri Burger & seasoned, amazing fries with fry sauce, of course

Like I said...food

 

Thai chicken pizza at Sunset Beach

 Food...

 

Lei Lei's Pork Chops (the plate you see is a HALF order!?!?!)

FOod...

Fresh, warm donuts from Ted's Bakery

FOOd...

FOOD...

Matsumoto's coconut and tiger's blood flavored shaved ice with ice cream on the bottom and sweetened condensed milk on top.

FOOOD...

Cute Sheri (the Mission President's wife) eating a chocolate covered croissant at Ted's

FOOOOD...

Coconut, fudge covered Oreos

FOOOOOD...

  Had to post this one of Brandon's face...haha

AND MORE FOOOOOOD!!!

 Strange, I don't understand how I gained weight?! ;)

Beach Time:

Brandon, Noah & Brett

Me and B on our first day at the beach

Noah, Brandon, Taylor (Brett's oldest) & Brett

I took this with my phone the night we went to Sunset Beach to eat pizza and watch the sun set. 

How appropriate :)

 My legs catching some sun and relaxing

I LOVED being with Brandon every day...it's a rare thing to get to be a wife without being a mother for six days.

I wore this hat (thanks Cass) and hoodie on one of the last days b/c I was a bit scorched on my neck and forehead.

This is cute Lisa with her first baby--she was the only child who joined the party at just six weeks old...or 8? Can't remember now.

Activities:

 Brett & Cassie live on the North Shore in a darling condo right by Turtle Bay and Brett runs the adventure center (as shown: HeLe HuLi). He started his business with a bamboo hut on the side of the road, won a business school contest through BYU and has built his business up to be incredibly successful.

Needless to say, we had the sweetest hook-ups on all the toys.

Me and B on the beach, in a military bunker.

 B stuck in the lava! HELP!

The segways were SO fun.

We were all a bunch of kids on these things. I think it freaked Brett out a little. 

Hello!? They are seven thousand dollars each?! Sorry, Brett :/ haha

B climbing a Banyan tree--ever heard of a Banyan tree? They are a spectacle.

So, the tree grows branches (obviously) that grow back down into the ground building its own root system and then that tree grows more branches which grow into the ground etc etc. 

Side story: When I was sitting on the plane with B I asked him what he was most excited to see in Oahu and he said: The trees.

Totally agree...they are incredible.

I think Noah and Brandon thought they were Tarzan ;)

 

Me & B took the dune buggy down to Ted's Bakery for breakfast one morning.

This photo is evidence that I did in fact exercise while I was there.

I went for a run the first morning.

We also went on a guided hike up Laie Falls with a history professor from BYU-H (I told you Brett spoiled us) who talked to us about the history of the area and specifically the LDS influence in the area.It was not only visually stunning but interesting too as we learned while we hiked.

Polynesian Cultural Center:

 B getting a face tat...I think he enjoyed it a little too much.

He definitely earned some points on his "man card."

Oh, yeah...he also rocked one on his bicep

 One of the shows at the PCC included a man climbing up the trunk of a coconut tree like it was NBD at all. It was amazing to watch.

The End :(

This is our last beach shot as we were leaving to Honolulu to get on the plane home.

We were sad to leave but excited to see our babies.

THANK YOU Brett & Cassie for spoiling us while we were there!

We love you and all our Bear Lake/Mission friends!