Mall Christmas Concerts

The mall near my mom and dad's house puts on FREE Christmas concerts every Tuesday and Thursday starting the week before Christmas and my mom has made it a tradition to go the past few years.  My dad actually gets to join her this year.  I decided to join them last Thursday.  It happened to be Steven Sharp Nelson - a celloist.  We already have one of his CD's and we (Sara espeically) loves it. So it was fun to happen to be there when he was performing.

We love Grandma

Trina's wedding...

The day before our trip my little sister got married.  And she had me do her wedding cake.  (They were originally going to get married on the 13th but had to change it since I was going to be in Hawaii right before and wouldn't be able to make the cake.)  I got a bit of a cold that week so I wore a mask over my mouth while I was frosting/decorating it.  Isn't it lovely?

 This was the middle layer. It's called 'cornelli lace' and it took FOREVER and killed my hand.   But if I ever do it again I think I'll use a bigger/thicker tip so I don't have to squeeze so hard and it won't take so long.  It turned out pretty though so I guess it was worth it.

Here it is with the flowers and ribbon on it.  Gorgeous I think!

 And here it is all together.

The last of our trip...

Our beach was really not crowded.  It was nice.  I sat and watched the waves in my new sarong.

 Another beautiful sunset.

 The day we left we had to check out at 10 am but our flight wasn't until midnight that night so we had about 12 hours to "waste".  We saved Pearl Harbor for this day which was actually Veteran's Day.  We were afraid it would be really crowded because of it, but it wasn't at all.  We got right on and enjoyed a realy quick trip out to the USS Arizona. 

 That left us with lots of hours left to fill.  We went to a movie then went to Waikiki Beach and enjoyed the sunset. 

It was an amazing vacation. Ben and I grew to be even better friends and enjoyed every second of the week we were together.

Thanks Babe for a wonderful birthday surprise.  I love you!!

The Polynesian Cultural Center

After the temple open house we headed over to the Polynesian Cultural Center to learn more about the Polynesian cultures.  It was a fantastic day and pretty perfect weather.

 My grandpa (and later my grandpa and grandma together) served his mission in New Zealand so I grew up with him doing the haka war dance for me and my family.  He would even come perform it to our 1st grade class during our country report.  My kids have seen him do it and loved it.  So when we went to the New Zealand area they of course performed the haka.  I think that was my very favorite part of the PCC.

 I also loved to play with poi balls - another thing from New Zealand.  I used to be able to do it, not great, but a little bit.  Let's just say I couldn't get them going at all now.

 This guy form Samoa was HILARIOUS.  He was showing us how they make fire and was so good at performing to the crowd .  In Samoa the MEN cook.  I think maybe we should move there :)

 I don't know how they do it, but they climb to the top to get coconuts.

 Ben and I tried our hands (or legs) at doing the Haitian dances.  Pretty funny!!

 The hula

Laie Hawaii Temple

On Tuesday we drove around the island, literally, to Laie.  The open house for the renovated temple was going on so we had the opportunity to walk through the temple there.  It was beautiful.  It's amazing how the inside was decorated to reflect the culture of the island.  The kukui tree (state tree) leaves and flowers were gold leafed onto the ceiling and walls and beautiful pictures of the beach were everywhere.  The different pictures of the Savior and other church scenes were gorgeous!  It was fun to attend another open house and see a different temple. 

It was a 1 and 1/2 hour drive along the south shore of Hawaii.  It was really pretty and we got to see "Chinaman's Hat".  Which I've heard of, but don't ask me what it is exactly.

Isn't this a gorgeous view?

Driving up to the temple is a sight

Ow, ow!! What a hottie!!

Aren't I lucky?

Hawaii...

Ben likes to write messages in the sand whenever we go to the beach.

Our/my favorite beach we went to was at the Ko Olina resort - about a 15 to 20-minute drive from our condo.  There are four man-made lagoons to choose from.  We only made it to two of them, but they were BEAUTIFUL.  The water is so calm, almost like a swimming pool.  My kind of water to relax in.

 We saw a couple getting their wedding pictures taken on the beach.  It was funny because they were trying to get the guy to do the "shaka" (hang loose sign) and he looked utterly confused.  But we thought Sara would love the picture.

 We snorkled a little bit.

 Me calling Sara to say good luck at her Honors recital.

 Floating around on a boogie board.  See, very relaxing.

 We stayed away from the SMALL crowd for the most part so it was like we were by ourselves.  The resort in the back is Ko Olina.  It was a beautiful resort.  

I chose to not get a sunburn so I layered on the sunscreen which also means I came back not looking like I just got back from Hawaii.  Oh well.

 We read a little bit.

 I love palm trees.  They're a sign of paradise, right?

 

 

 This was the inside of our condo.  It was great to not have to pay to eat out, but their food prices are ridiculous.  $7/lb for cheese?  $8/gallon for milk?  Luckily we only paid $4 (still a hefty price) at Wal-Mart, but at another grocery store it was $8. But it was still cheaper and healthier than eating out all the time.