My Happy Place!!

Ryan is out hunting once again, and I got thinking about "My Happy Place." I then realized that it has been 1 YEAR since we were in Hawaii. (How the times goes SOOO fast!!) So I thought I would reminisce a little. We were able to go to Hawaii with our friends, Scott and Lindasue Monson. We had such a great time. The kids were at Grandma's, the weather was cold here, and we were in Hawaii!! What more could you ask for.

We were gone for a week....October 26th - November 1st, 2007...I could have stayed for another week.

We had just arrived at the airport in Maui!! (What a long flight!) We took a late flight out of SLC.

With the time change between us and Hawaii, and getting into Hawaii so late. We thought we would be crazy and get up the first morning, (since our bodies hadn't adjusted to the time change) and take a tour to the top of Haleakala. It is a dorm

ant volcano on Maui. We had to get up by 4 their time and travel up this very windy road to the summit of the volcano. We only had about 2-3 hours of sleep. As you can see it was very cold and windy up there. But the view and sunrise was beautiful!! Ryan and Scott rode bikes back down the mountain. Lindasue and I chickened out and rode back in the van.

At the top of Haleakala - October 26,2007 Sweatshirts and coats in Hawaii, who would have thought????

Once we had recuperated from our early morning rise, we went to Lahaina to do some shopping and eat dinner. The restaurant we were at, sat right on the beach. We could lean out the window and watch the waves come right up to us.

This is when we started counting how many Pina Coladas Scott drank during the trip!!

We then took the next day and drove the "Road to Hana." It was is a road that is soooo crazy but soo beautiful. It took us most of the day. The road is fifty-two miles of "cliff-side road" You cross over 54 one-lane bridges and it has 600 curves. Needless to say we got a little sick, especially when Scott thought he would drive a little faster when we were all asleep.

This was one of the time we stopped to take pictures. We thought we should take a picture of the car we had rented. And we also needed proof of Scott fixing the antennae that he had to fix. He got a little too close to the vegetation while was driving.

This is one of the black sand beaches we visited, on the way to Hana.

Eating Lunch

While we were stopped Ryan and Scott found a coconut that was still in its husk. Ryan had been watching all of the "Survivor man" shows on TV and so he thought he knew how to husk a coconut. I have it on video, but couldn't find a picture. They thought they were pretty cool. The best part was...they did get the coconut husked...after many attempts.

This is Ryan and Scott getting ready to SNUBA Snorkel/Scuba. Lindasue and I stayed back and snorkeled. We went out to Molokini Island. We saw beautiful fish and even some sea turtles.

Ryan and Scott were trying to boggie board. Lindasue and I went to back to the hotel to get manicures, but when we got there, they were closed. So we just watched the boys from the beach. This was right outside our hotel. We stayed in Ka‘anapali, Maui. So beautiful.

On the 30th we flew to Oahu where we stayed one night in Honolulu. This is us at the Polynesian Cultural Center. What a great place. We had so much fun.

While we were waiting for the Culture Center to open. We had just a few minutes to run next door to see the Hawaii Temple. What an amazing place.

The last day in Hawaii, we spent on Waikiki Beach and at Pearl Harbor. I don't know if I would go back to Oahu. It is sooo busy and we spent most of the day in traffic in Honolulu. If you notice the last day we were there, was my 30th birthday. I have decided that turning 30 wasn't so bad...especially in Hawaii!!!

Waikiki Beach looking back at Honolulu.

Pearl Harbor


Scott waiting for out boat ride out to the Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Ryan and Scott were trying to catch the birds with some nuts that Scott had bought. Ryan ended up plucking out some of it's tail feathers, and Scott felt bad for it. Scott did end up getting them to eat from his hands.

Rylie and Sydnie with the dresses we brought back for them.


I wonder if Ryan will take me back to Hawaii for my 31st birthday, we have a week to find out?

Oh, I almost forgot. We figured Scott drank at least 10 pina coladas during the duration of the trip...alcohol free of course.