Hawaiian Vacation!

 I still can't believe what an incredible week we had in Hawaii! Steve and I flew my wonderful in-laws to our house to babysit the kids for a week and we took off to beautiful, tropical Hawaii. It was my first time visiting Hawaii and I was excited. Steve has been there before and he was really excited. He had a medical conference 3 of the 7 days we were there. I had to entertain myself which was easy to do in such an exciting place. I walked the beach, took a hula class, a yoga-aquatics class, got a pedicure, and went shopping up and down the boulevard. Steve would get done with conference by 4pm and we would head right to the pool and the beach. Our hotel was right on the water and had two incredible pools. 

In the evening we went out to dinner and then back to the pool. One night we went to a luau at our hotel. It was really fun and entertaining and then they pulled Steve and I up on the stage. I did some embarrassing hula moves and then sat down but they had Steve stay up there and the hula girls danced around him. He was pretty embarrassed and we laughed about it the rest of the week. Unfortunately we didn't get any video of it. And luckily we won't see most of those people ever again.

Hey look! I actually attempted to do my hair! Too bad the picture didn't turn out very well.

One day Steve won a raffle for a $120 gift card to a restaurant at our hotel. It was a $55 per plate buffet and it was incredible food. Here are my desserts. I had to try them all.

One of Steve's favorite things about Hawaii is the Japanese influence. It's like a little Tokyo. He loved the authentic ramen shops and hearing people speaking in Japanese. I was surprised at how foreign it felt there. Once we went outside of the boulevard and fancy hotels it felt like we were in a third world country. The houses were all small and run down. There were a lot of clothes hung on people porches drying a chickens running around. Some people were homeless living in tents on the beach and under bridges. It seems most people live a humble lifestyle in such an exotic and beautiful place.

Friday night we went across the island to the Temple. It was beautiful. It was wonderful to be in such a familiar place and to feel the so close to Heaven. All of the LDS Temples across the world have the exact same ceremonies performed inside. No matter where you go, the Church is the same. It felt like home to me. I really missed my children. 

By Saturday morning I was ready to go home and see my kids. They had a great time with their grandparents. I have the best in-laws! I can't thank them enough!

It was such a memorable trip. The hardest thing about leaving is not knowing when we will get to go back. Steve is already planning the trip for three years from now. We will have to wait and see. Here are some more pictures of our amazing, relaxing, fun, carefree vacation!

Details about our hike here. Details about our snorkel adventure here.