Aloha!

A couple of weeks ago we went to Hawaii to celebrate the Topham's 50th Wedding Anniversary! Kurtis has 6 siblings and 5 of them came along so we were quite a crew! We missed having Todd and Lynn there, but they recently had a baby so they couldn't make it. We sure had a few people giving us surprised looks when we told them there were 7 kids in one family! Welcome to the world outside of Utah!

Just a word of caution.....lots of pictures and stuff that might bore you!

We got there on a Monday after a long flight...funny you leave SLC at noon, fly for 6 hours, and get to Hawaii at 2:00! Pretty awesome for the way over, pretty not awesome on the way back. The Dole plantation happened to be on the way to our condos at Turtle Bay, so we stopped first thing. Yummy yummy pineapple ice cream and our first opportunity for a picture of the whole crew! We were such tourists, too bad I forgot my fanny pack!:)

We were planning on heading to Pearl Harbor first thing Tuesday morning, but after a long flight and a late night we decided to sleep in for a while....yeah right! We were still running on Utah time, so we were wide awake at 6 am Hawaii time. It worked out well for us though, cuz I don't think anyone else at Turtle Bay was awake! We had the whole beach to ourselves and tried out some snorkeling which we loved more than we thought we would!

Sweet picture, I know, we were looking right into the sun. The water was so nice, clear, and calm...perfect for first-time snorkelers!

And I just had to throw this one in of Kurtis for proof that he really did snorkel, since he's such a water fan and all!

After some snorkeling we finally made it to Pearl Harbor, thanks to our GPS. We would have spent most of the trip lost if it weren't for that thing! We spent quite a while there, Kurtis was in history heaven!

This is on the USS Arizona memorial with Kurtis' sister Sue and her husband Kraig. It was pretty cool to hear the story of what happened at Pearl Harbor and to see the actual ship that was sunk that day. I have to admit it gave me chills to think of all those people who died that day and the price they paid for freedom!

This is the flag that flies on the memorial, I thought it was an awesome picture.

And this is the USS Missouri, that thing is huge! This is where the document was signed that ended World War II.

Wednesday we got up early to head for Hanauma Bay for more snorkeling. Holy people! I think we may have seen more people than fish! It was still way fun though, even though we got yelled at for standing on the reef. Oops!

This is Kurtis and his brother Greg gettin' ready for more! Lookin' good guys!

We needed a chair for Opal to sit in, and this is what they had! It's not a great picture, but look at the wheels on that thing! She could have went 4-wheelin' with it while we were snorkeling! We all got a good chuckle out of it.

Once again, the whole crew! It was so pretty there!

We got a shot of the Bay on the hike up the hill to leave. Look how pretty and clear the water is...reminds me of the res in Delta!:)

On the way back to the condo we stopped at one of the many shrimp sacks for some cheap yummy food. Good coconut shrimp and way scrumptious fresh pineapple (and a Diet Coke), what more could you ask for?

All the girls! I have some way fun sister-in-laws!

Thursday morning we went the the Kualoa Ranch for an ATV ride. It was so gorgeous. They took us through where they filmed Pearl Harbor, Jurassic Park, and Lost.

A picture doesn't do justice to how pretty this view was!

The mountains there were pretty amazing, so green!

These trees were all over in Hawaii and I thought they were so cool!

Thursday night (after more snorkeling and laying on the beach with a book...my favorite part!) we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We only made it to one of the villages, but we really enjoyed the show. This is us in front of the totem pole things at the PCC.

Friday morning we had BIG plans for scuba diving! I have to admit I was kinda nervous, but way excited. Just me and two of my brother-in-laws were going, but on our way there they called and cancelled on us! There had been a storm and the water was too rough for diving. We were way bummed, especially Greg since he had gotten certified and everything just for Hawaii! The only other time to take us would have been Monday, which was the day we were leaving so that didn't work either. We decided we'll just have to plan another trip so we can get the scuba diving in!:)

After some shopping and even more eating, we went to Matsumoto Ice for some famous shaved ice with ice cream in the bottom and condensed milk on the top. It was pretty darn good!

We then stopped at Shark's Cove for more snorkeling. It was probably my favorite snorkeling place, once you got past the rocks and into the water!

The only thing we hadn't seen yet were turtles, and we were bound to find some. We had seen some swimming around, and just further down the shore there were four really big ones up on the beach. They were pretty cool to see, but I still wish we would have been able to see some while we were snorkeling.

Saturday we starting the morning off with some shopping at the Swap Meet. Lots of bargains and some way fun stuff. Also some really hot and humid weather!

Sunday came along and we were so tired that we actually really did sleep in. We went to church at a Stake Center next door to the temple. Funny story....even in Hawaii you know someone who knows someone from home! During Sunday School they asked the visitors where they were from. Ken said Delta, UT and a guy says "How far is Delta from Minersville?" Too make a long story kinda short, my cousin Steve who is from Minersville and lives in Delta, served his mission in Tonga. This guy was his mission president! I couldn't believe it! What a small world! After church we walked around the temple, it was really rainy but still really pretty.

Sunday afternoon we did a little more sightseeing. We went to the Punchbowl Cemetary, where a lot of the people who died in World War II are buried. We also went to this place called the Pali lookout, it was sooooo windy but the view was sooo worth it. Once again, the picture doesn't even come close to how pretty it really was.

Monday was our last day there. We were sad to have to leave, but glad to be coming home to see the kids. Not that they missed us, I think they would be fine with living at Grandma and Grandpa's house and just coming to visit us once in a while! We decided to head to Waikiki for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (again) and some shopping. I guess I should just say browsing. I wanted to go into stores like Kate Spade, Coach, and Louis Vuitton just to check out the amazing prices. Holy Cow! A purse for $3,000! Who has that kind of money to spend on a purse! Needless to say, I was totally out of my element. I've never been in a store where there's a guard at the door watching your every move.

We had such a good time and are so grateful for our family we vacationed with and our family that we left at home! Maybe someday we'll be able to do it again!