ALOHA!!!

I can honestly say that if Shad and I were rich (and if we had Brinley with us) and could have bought a house over in Kauai we wouldn't be back in Utah. We LOVED it!!!! As soon as we got off the plane everyone was sooo nice. At first we thought we bring them money so that must be why they are so nice, but after a while we realized the majority of it is the culture. The next thing we discovered is how natural Kauai is. We loved that the fastest speed limit was 50mph. It allowed us to really look at everything.

Before we left I was feeling guilty for leaving Brinley. After I received some really good advice I didn't feel so bad. She told me that Shad and I's relationship is most important. The best thing that we can do for Brinley is for Shad and I to have a good marriage and to spend some quality alone time together and that Brinley needed to spend time with family to get to know them. We needed every minute of it! It was awesome to be able to "re-kindle the flame". It is amazing how much changes between each other once you have a little one.

We stayed at the Ashton Makaiwa hotel in Kapa'a. When we got to the hotel the lady at the front desk offered us an upgrade to a deluxe ocean view room for just a little bit more than we were already paying and I have to say it was worth every penny. From our room all we could see was ocean. We also dragged ourselves out of bed early enough a few mornings to watch the sunrise from the deck/lanai. I think the funniest part of our trip was the car we rented. We went with a little cheap economy car which ended up being a lime green ford focus! We never lost our green machine :)

The only thing I was disappointed with was some of the food. Shad and I wanted to try some true authentic hawaiian cooking, but we couldn't find anything like that. We even asked some locals and they told us that a lot of it is gone due to tourism and trying to accomodate different tastes. We did find a restuarant that we love that serves breakfast and lunch. We also discovered their fresh pineapple and we couldn't get enough!!

Well, here are some pics of the fun things that we did while we were out there. The flight home wasn't so much fun. I have never been on an overnight flight so it was a struggle for me to try and sleep. Shad didn't sleep at all. By the time we got home the next day Shad had been awake for 34 hours and I only had 3 hours of sleep. Being able to see Brinley made it all worth it. I really started to miss her the last few days we were there.

The Lighthouse on the North Shore:







The Grand Canyon of Hawaii:






Waterfalls:





The Best Views:





Random pics of the beach, me in my new hawaiian dress before the luau show, one of the many chickens that run freely (I felt right at home), and Shad in the ocean. We went snorkeling, but didn't take any pictures of it :(