Hawaii Visits

Having family in cool places certainly has it's upsides!

At a time in my life when I didn't have money (or a job) my brother and sister-in-law lived in Hawaii. I decided to take advantage of the time but not money phase and went to stay with them.

Can you tell I was excited?

As soon as we walked in the door, my brother said, "Don't freak out but we've had a little rat problem lately."

When I heard "Don't freak out" I knew to worry, but what exactly did "a little rat problem" mean?

That I would be woken up to a large black rat scampering across the joint kitchen/living room where I was sleeping. After getting up and using a broom to chase the rat Anthony also moved the fridge and set up a make shift trap the next morning:

And that several years later that would be the memory my brother chose to capture for my Christmas present:

If that wasn't meaningful enough, I got to woke up and looked out the window to see this beautiful view every day:

 Fanja and I took a walk to this beach (about a 10 minute walk from their apartment):

As we explored, I wore the necklace they gave me and enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the gorgeous Hawaii Temple:

Another day we went to get Hawaiian Shave Ice (heaven in your mouth!!) and took some goofy pic while we waited and as we ate the delicious, refreshing treat called Angel's Halo - super large, super good shave ice. Should be called heaven:

Anthony stole the whipped cream off the top.

Who's tongue got more green (or blue . . .)

BYU-Hawaii has a semi-circle of flags representing the nationality of their student body. On one of our walks, I took a picture of Fanja by the Madagascar flag:

Anthony worked for the PCC (He always referred to it that way, it threw me off every time. It stands for Polynesian Cultural Center) so we took advantage of his employee discount, and went!

They had some fun bathroom signs:

And beautiful scenery:

Due to sunburns, our hike to a waterfall didn't happen - so this is the extend of my waterfall viewing in Hawaii (on this trip) I made up for it on my second trip and went on a fun hike and a COLD swim over to go under a waterfall :)

One of the cool things about the PCC is that they have demonstrations of various island cultures and ways of life both past and present, like the man below who made fire with a stick and a dried coconut husk, the the man who climbed a coconut tree barefoot:

Many different Island Nationalities did traditional dances as part of a boat parade

One of the things I love about visiting new places is seeing/ finding some of their random quirks. One thing that surprised me about my trip to Hawaii was the number of chickens I saw out and about.

Perhaps wild chickens, perhaps tame ones, either way here is a hen and her chicks I saw wandering in someone's front yard:

And then there were the chicks outside the grocery store:

Another random sighting: I just had to take a picture of this Hawaiian flower camo truck - so great!

Speaking of normal life things, like going to the grocery store, I talked Anthony into cutting my hair. Fanja was going to document, but after the first picture she became consumed with supervising

I think it turned out okay - I asked for about 3 inches to be cut off - that's about what I got:

We got lucky - BYU-Hawaii was doing a tour/ day trip for students and let me join in. That meant I got to see Pearl Harbor. There is so much emotion and history in that place. Seeing the memorials, and watching the short films about the events that transpired there and what followed that fateful day was sobering and made me grateful again for all those who have, and do still, dedicate and too often sacrifice their lives for the cause of freedom and liberty. 

Remains of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor

In addition to Pearl Harbor, the tour took us to the top of a very windy mountain. I wish I could remember what the name of this place was, but I do remember Anthony nearly lost his hat, and it was hard to hear anyone talking because it was so windy!

As all things must, my first visit to Hawaii had to come to a close. For our last evening we decided to have a beach bonfire. Only on our way from the house to the selected location for the bonfire, Anthony dropped the lighter :) we spent a while looking for it to no avail, and went so far as to ask the group of people practicing fire dancing to light some twigs for us to try and start our fire that way, but we never really got a fire going. It was still a wonderful night - watching men out night fishing with bright lights, looking at the stars and watching the waves lap up on the beach. A beautiful ending to a wonderful trip.

Anthony starting our "bonfire" on the beach for marshmallow roasting

I don't remember if this happened at the very end or not, but can't leave it out: One day my brother handed me a Hawaiian flower and after I stuck it behind my ear (in traditional Hawaiian fashion) and as he took the pic below, he told me "for a second you looked like cute Nicole" as apposed to normal/ not cute Nicole? It was hilarious! We both nearly died from laughing

Trip #2 - Meeting my Niece: Miora Alexia

When my first niece was born, my brother and sister-in-law still lived in Hawaii. By this time I had a job, and some vacation time, and some money - so I was able to go back and meet here when she was about a month old for her baby blessing. I know I took other pictures on that trip, but the only ones I have handy, and the most memorable part of that trip, are pictures of her:

 I think she's going to grow up to be a boxer

Grandpa holding Alexia for the first time

Blessing day - you can't see it well, but I knitted the blanket she's laying on top of. And my mom made her dress. It was a very special day, and I am so grateful I was able to be there with my parents and my brother and sister-in-law. I only wish my other two brothers could have come as well.

Saying goodbye was so hard. I spent as much time as possible with that beautiful little girl (including being up at nights burping her after feedings so my sister-in-law could get a little extra sleep) and couldn't quite bear to think that we were about to be separated by thousands of miles again for an unknown amount of time. 

Just before heading to the airport I got one last picture with the tiny, sleeping little girl: