The Best 10 Years (the other side of the story)

First things first, this is Casey (the lucky man that is so often mentioned in this blog). Don't ask me how I figured out how to do a post, but I'm not sure that this will even post or not because I have no idea what to do. Please work!! I found a couple errors on Shelley's last post so I had her show me how to edit the post so that I could have somewhat of an idea on how to do a new post (sneaky:)). This will be a dull and lame post so you can stop reading now (no pictures, no funny comments, etc). I have actually thought about doing this a few times in the past but always chickened out. Since 10 years is a big milestone, I figured this would be a good time. Even though it was technically a few weeks ago. My main reason for this is to show Shelley how much she really does mean to me and our kids because this is so far out of my comfort zone that she won't believe that this is even me. I feel like I am bearing my testimony in church and am about to say, "I want to publicly thank my Heavenly Father...."  But this time I want to publicly thank 'My Cute Honey Bunny' (that is her name in my phone).  Since you have heard how good and awesome of a husband and father that I am, I figured I better return the favor. 

Ever since I spent my life savings at the State Fair for our first date and threw out my arm to win her that precious teddy bear (that she left under the back seat of my truck), she has never left my mind.  We have had our ups and downs, but I really feel like we have about as good a relationship as anyone can ask for.  She is always doing things that she knows will make me happy.  She knows exactly what to get me for special occasions (birthdays, etc.)- cookies or something close to it, and something else that won't be discussed here. She always puts me before herself. If any ladies are still reading this, I'm sorry to say this but I have got the best there is and there is no doubt about it. She can cook/bake, decorate a house like nobody's business, very creative (the things she comes up with blows my mind), great driver (to never have had a ticket is quite an accomplishment--knock on wood), doesn't have to have full blown gifts on special occasions (we hardly ever do gifts on birthdays, Christmas, etc. and I think that that has played a big part of having such a good relationship for us), is a great writer (anyone that can make me look as good as she does on this blog should be paid good money), plans the best vacations (I hate planning vacations- she planned Hawaii all on her own and it made it that much better for me, and she even packed my bags. Dang I'm spoiled), and of course is the greatest mom our kids could have ever hoped for. They definitely chose her in the preexistence to be their mom even though that meant that I had to be their dad cause there was no way that she was leaving my side.  It is a huge relief/blessing to not have to ever worry that my kids aren't where they are supposed to be when it comes to schooling, recreational activities, and everything else because Shelley is on top of what is best for each of them.  It is amazing to me how loving and how willing she is to help other kids as well. When she is watching other kids she shows them the same love and respect that she shows our kids and that is amazing to me. I wish that I could offer her the same that she offers me, but I don't know how that is even possible. Since Shelley uses this as a way of journal writing, I hope that whatever may come our way in the distant future (hopefully at least 50 years) as we are all destined to leave this mortal existence, I want our children and grandchildren to know that their mother/grandmother (that's weird to say) was such a woman that they will look to her as an example of everything good and a true disciple of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Shelley- Thank you for the best 10+ years that I could ever dream of and ever hope for.  I love you more than you will ever know and can't wait for what the next 10 will bring. I hope you are already planning our 20th:)

6th and 7th day...wrapping the trip up!

 

 Friday we reserved to go beach hopping.

We were told to go check out a part of the island called Kailua.

Kailua is supposedly where all the celebrity's live and where President Obama stays

when he vacations in Hawaii. It also has the beach that is rated on the top 5 list of best

beaches in the world!

We were told to eat at a restaurant called Boots and Kimo because it had the best breakfast

on the island. We left our hotel around 9 and got to Kailua close to 10. When we found Boots and

Kimo we walked up and tried to open the door but it was locked!

There was a note on the door saying they were closed for the day.

We were so bummed!

Luckily we had spotted a crepe place just down the road so we

walked and peeked into the window and it looked legit!  

 

It was more than legit, it was DELICIOUS!

We each ordered a breakfast crepe with eggs, ham and such then

we shared a dessert crepe.

Can you tell we didn't hold back on food on this trip?

 



This coconut syrup, macadamia nut crepe alamode hit the spot.

This restaurant ended up being a yummy find!

We drove just another 10 minutes to find the heavenly beach called Lanikai.

Lanikai beach is sort of hidden. There isn't a public parking lot, its behind a bunch of

really nice beach houses. You park on the neighborhood street then

find a public entrance between all the beach houses.

The little  path from the street to the beach was beautiful and green.



I hopped on top of a rock to get this picture.

It really was so serene. 

 

Casey was a trooper the whole week with hauling that girlie beach bag around!

It was the best $6 HomeGoods find yet!

 

We found a good spot to sit and relax.

This beach is famous for its white, soft sand.

They call it sugar sand.

And also, there are no waves on this beach.

 

It was overcast on this day and it made me mad to be honest.

It sprinkled pretty much off and on the whole day.

I had high hopes the sky would clear up like it did on Wednesday

but it never did. In fact it started to rain pretty hard so we hurried up and

grabbed our things and ran to the car for cover.

 We decided to drive over to the North Shore, again:)

I wanted to go to Waimea Bay because its another one of my favorites and
we hadn't been there yet!

Luckily the rain had stopped once we got there but it was still pretty cloudy.

We made the best of it and laid down our towels.

Waimea Bay has a big rock cliff and is famous for people jumping off of it into the ocean.

I think they are crazy. There were guys doing back flips!

You can see someone jumping off in the picture.

I miss this stuff.

We stayed until we got rained out, again.

By the time we made it back to Waikiki it was dinner time.

We parked our car at the hotel then walked to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner.

We had talked about how the whole week had eaten every meal at authentic,

non chain places. So it would be alright if we ate there:)

Since it was our last night we had to end in the hot tub at our hotel!

 

Saturday our flight out was at 3:15.

I double, triple even quadruple checked just to make sure!

I wanted to get as much beach time in as possible.

I headed down to the beach at our hotel at 8am, ha!

I just LOVE the beach. Seriously, it's my therapy.

Casey decided to meet me down a little later.

 

It was so relaxing being down right in the early morning.

The sky was so clear and the air so crisp.

I was pretty much the only one on the beach for awhile.

Besides all the morning surfers out in the water.

Around 9:30 is when the people started coming out.

I loved watching all of the Asians. There were plenty around to watch!

Some of them must have been worried they were going to burn their fair skin.

I would see them in the oddest swim wear.

This girl for sure took first place in sun awareness!

 

Casey came down and joined me for our last hours of basking in the

Hawaiian sun. Yes I know, so unattractive but had to document.



We gave ourselves an hour to go back up to the room, shower and pack

all last minute things. We made sure to give extra time that day for everything
so we weren't cutting it close to when our flight left.
We grabbed a bite to eat, returned our car then took the shuttle to the airport. I

went to a kiosk to print out our boarding passes. When I typed in our info it said we

were too late to check in. I thought that was odd, checked our itinerary to see if I punched

in a wrong number. Tried again, same thing. A worker came over and tried to help us but the same

notice popped up again. He took our info to a front desk then came back and said that our flight

actually left at 12:50!! It was 1:10. What the HECK! That's when my heart attack began.

He asked when I booked our flights. In my email it said Sept 15th, almost 8 months back.

He thought it was because of day light savings our flight times were bumped up.

He said they usually notify people if that happens. I had received NO notification.

He told us to go wait in line (a long line) to see what they could do for us.

My heart had never raced so fast before. When we got up front, we told the man what happened

and his facial expressions didn't help calm my worries. He explained about the time change
and that we should have been notified, blahblahblah. Then pretty much told us they
only have 1 flight to Phoenix per day, and it just left 20 minutes ago.
I asked about a flight to LA then thought we could jump on a Southwest flight home.
Nope, same thing and it left at 1 as well.
He could put us up in a hotel and get us on the flight the next day.
Which meant we wouldn't get home until midnight on Sunday.
Most people would say, sweet another day in Hawaii!
For me I was mentally done and ready to see my kids.
Especially Lindi since she is my baby and was so sick earlier in the week.

With no other options I nodded my head.
While our boarding passes were printing I lost it and starting crying!
Casey was trying to console me and I was trying to be quiet about it
and not make a scene but sometimes tears are hard to hold back!
The man said he was going to get our hotel information and to wait right there.
He took awhile coming back. 
I was starting to wonder what was taking so long.
When he did he asked us if we would like to leave for
Phoenix that night instead. Uh, ya!!!!
He said he was able to get us on a flight on US Airways and that it left
that night at 10:15.
Hallelujah!
We later learned that 6 other people missed our flight
and out of them we were the only ones that didn't get the email about
the time change.

Relieved and excited to go home that night we then sat stumped on
what to do for the next 8 hours!
I wasn't about to sit at the airport for that long then sit on an airplane for
another 6 hours.
Spontaneously we hopped back on the shuttle to Thrifty
car rental and rented our car back for the day!
Only this time we were upgraded to this baby:

We decided to drive back to our hotel and hang out by the pool.

In front of us was a bride and groom that seemed to have just

gotten married!

We laid back and busted out our Mauna Loa's.

For dinner we walked to the back of our hotel and ate

at the Shorebird one last time:)

 

When I looked around I saw the same bride and groom right next to

us eating at their reception!

 

We grilled hamburgers this time and sipped on yummy smoothies.

 

 

By the end of dinner we needed to head back to the airport.

Luckily this time our flight hadn't left early.

We bought neck pillows, miraculously found a spare outlet to charge our

phones then boarded our flight.

We were spent.

 It was 1am AZ time when we took off and landed at 7am.

 

We were SO excited to collect our kiddos at my moms.

They had all just woken up and were about to eat breakfast when we walked in.

Lindi didn't really give us a good reaction to seeing us for the first time in a week.

Which is a good, that meant she was happy and didn't miss us too much:)

I am so grateful for everybody who took care of them while we were gone.

My mom said Lindi was sooo sick and just slept for pretty much 3 days.

She loves taking care of babies so I am glad they had that time together!

The boys were spoiled by their aunts and grandmas as well!

And just like that vacation time was over and real life presumed.

 

Mahalo Hawaii for an amazing time!

Hopefully someday we will see each other again!!

 

 

 

5th day called for some snorkeling!

 

 

When we booked our PCC tickets with the activities guy at our

hotel he asked us what our plans were for the rest of the week.

We both kind of stood there and said uhhhhh, good question, we don't know!

We did want to snorkel but didn't know exactly where.

I have been to Hanauma Bay before but didn't think it was anything spectacular.

The guy agreed then HIGHLY suggested we do this 4 hour snorkeling excursion.

He said it was the best snorkeling spot on the island.

So we booked our tickets.

The only downfall was that we needed to get up at 6:30 and we went to bed

really late the night before. But once we peeled our eyes open and threw on a swimsuit

we were good to go!

This excursion would bus everybody from our hotel to the boat harbor in Ko'Olina.

Ko'Olina is where the new Marriott hotel, condo and Disney resorts are.

I had looked into staying there but once again, it was big $$$.

 

It was an absolutely perfect day weather wise.

At first a little windy but still enjoyable.

We all walked down to our boat the Kai'oli'oli.

 

 

There was a girl who was the boat photographer.

She looked to be in her early twenties and was absolutely hysterical.

She was definitely a free spirit and had us laughing all day!

I wish I had a picture of her!

We bought a cd at the end so most of these pictures came from her camera,

 including the under water ones.

 

Once everybody was on the boat they did  brief safety instructions then we were off!

When we first set sail the crew said there were muffins from a local bakery for all of us

as well as an ice chest full of soda and aloha juice.

The views were incredible.

A picture of the crew and captain.

They were all so nice and it was fun getting to know them.

A fun job they have I might say!

Manny the photographer let us go up to the captain's chair for a bit.

There were 45 people on our voyage.

At first we didn't know how they were going to fit everybody on.

But once we got going and everybody spread out it was perfect.

It was fun standing at the front of the boat and getting splashed as we cruised.



After about 45 minutes of sailing we came upon the dolphin cove.

There were TONS of dolphins! I want to say at least 40 of them.

They were swimming right in front of us and all around and under the boat.

It was the coolest thing watch.

You would see them flipping out of the water all around you.

 We watched them for about 30 minutes then starting cruising to our snorkeling spot.

In the meantime they had everybody start putting on our gear.

Right when we jumped in we saw a turtle.

They warned us not to touch the turtles because they are extinct and there a huge fines

if you do. I had no worries because deep sea life freaks me out a little and I wasn't about to go touching anything! Surprisingly the fish didn't really bother me. Getting used to breathing out of a tiny tube and trying not to inhale water was  the tough part.

 

 

But we got the hang of it and started getting brave.

Getting a little deeper.

Casey got the farthest down out of the two of us.

We were shocked how bad our ears would hurt not even going down that far.

 

 

We snorkeled for an hour then got back on the boat.

On the drive back in to shore they served us a fabulous lunch!

I wish I had a picture but it was the traditional kalua pork and grilled chicken,

rice, macaroni salad and fresh pineapple!

 

It was such a FUN adventure!

We got back around 2 so we decided to spend the rest of the day at the beach at our hotel.

There are rental booths lined all up and down the beaches.

All week we had been watching people do the stand up paddle boards so we decided to try it out.

We thought it would be fun to rent one and go out together.

Haha, it's not as easy as it looks!

They suggested the lighter person sits in front and the back person is on their knees with the paddle

until you feel comfortable standing up.

I was able to get up without tipping us over, probably because I am lighter.

We did take turns swimming behind the board in the water while the other was standing up by

themselves. It was really fun. And a workout!

 

We stayed on the beach till the sun went down then walked along

the Waikiki beach line. Casey spotted a Mexican restaurant so we ate dinner there.

It was pretty good. We had a hard time finding an ice cream shop so we went into an ABC store

and got some pints of Ben and Jerry's then headed back to our room for a movie and ice cream in bed! We were bushed so it was a nice ending to another perfect day!

 

 

Day 4, and a milestone anniversary!

 

 

Wednesday was an extra special day.

Casey and I marked 10 years of marriage!

It honestly doesn't feel like its been TEN years since we got married.

I blinked and all of a sudden I had 3 kids and have been married a decade.

Casey makes marriage life easy.

He never has raised his voice to me. Like ever.

He is always first to forgive.

He is patient, loving, and encouraging.

Don't get me wrong we have had our ups and downs but

with my stubborn personality I was fortunate to have

been blessed with a husband with such an easy going spirit.

Sometimes I don't know how I deserve such an amazing guy.

I feel lucky he chose me to love for the rest of his life.

To be his partner in crime.

To share the hard times with.

To be the first person I text when I need to vent,

or when our kids say or do the funniest things.

I love how he chooses to sit on the couch and watch tv with me at

night even though he is dead tired.

Because he wants to spend time with me instead of sleep.

I love how he loves to make us waffles and homemade syrup  for breakfast.

And it's nice having a husband who is always on board for getting blizzards

or making homemade cookies!

He is one in a million!

 

We had tickets to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center that day.

They don't open until 12:30 so we decided to do a temple session first.

We took a different route to get to the North Shore than on Monday.

 Boy, it was the most gorgeous drive I have ever been on!

It was an overcast day so it was more misty and cloudy than normal.

We were on a typical looking highway then had to drive through a

long, dark tunnel. When we drove out of the tunnel this was what

we were greeted with:

 

It was so green and lush everywhere.
It was like that the rest of our hour drive.

I know it sounds cheesy but the primary song My Heavenly Father Loves Me

kept popping in my head as we were driving along.

It was a beautiful scenic route and a perfect way to start a temple session.

 

 

This is Chinaman's hat.

People will actually swim out to it.

I think they might be a little crazy.

When we pulled up to the temple it started to sprinkle.

I didn't think much of it because in Hawaii the weather is so unpredictable.

I felt bad for Casey.

I didn't pack real church clothes for the sake of space in our suitcases.

 Plus we were going to the PCC right after so he was a

good sport and wore this to temple.

I figured Hawaii is the only temple we could get away with it.

I knew he was feeling a little uncomfortable walking into to the

temple like that. Luckily the man behind us was wearing an aloha shirt:)

 

Our session was great.

 I was anxious to see if the weather had let up.

It hadn't. In fact it was pretty much raining when we walked out.

I wanted a picture but we were getting soaked so we went into the

visitor center to see if it would let up.

We talked with the sister missionaries for a bit then looked outside and it

had stopped raining! It was more like a light mist.

They sister's walked out with us and took our pictures.

 

 



 

Then we drove down the street for some lunch at the Hukilau café!

The place is a dive but it was really good!

They are well known. They were on the show Diners, Drive In's and Dives

with Guy Fieri. LOVE that show!

 





I got the traditional Hawaiian meal.

Bbq chicken, beef, macaroni salad and rice.

We could have easily shared it.

 Casey got a burger that was really good.

Then we were off to the PCC!

The Polynesian Cultural Center is run by the church.

However most of the tourists that go are not members.

It is world known and is AMAZING!

BYU Hawaii offers scholarships to students.

Mainly those that live on other Pacific Islands like Fiji, Tahiti, and Samoa.

They offer free schooling and board in exchange for them to work at the PCC.

The PCC is like Sea World in a sense.

There are different Islands you visit and learn about their culture.

Most of them have shows you sit down and watch.

 

We started in Fiji. The show had already started so we decided to watch the

demonstration on how to make coconut oil.

We were the only ones that showed up so we got our own little lesson.

This guy had come to BYU  Hawaii 4 months ago from Fiji.

It sounded like the village he lived in was poor.

Like grass hut houses, and no windows.

Part of their weekly chores was to make coconut oil for the family.

And this is exactly how they do it at home.

 

First they had to pick the coconuts which is a task in it's self.

You have to get the coconut out of the husk by pounding it on a stake.

 



 

Then you crack the coconut open with a big rock and dump out the juice.

Then they sit on a wooden bench with a metal scrapper nailed on the edge.

They say this is the worst part, scrapping the meat out of the coconut shell.

then you get some hairs from the husk of the coconut and put some coconut

meat in the middle and squeeze and strain the milk out of the meat.

 

That is the milk he strained out.

Then you let it sit and ferment for a few days.

The oil separates from the milk and voila, you have coconut oil!

He says they put flower pedals in the oil to make it smell pretty.

They don't cook with their coconut oil, just us it as lotion and in their hair.

It was so interesting!!

 Then we went to Tonga where we laughed our heads off!!

These guys were a hoot.

They grabbed 3 men from the audience to participate in their drum show.

They try to make it funny and pick people that don't know English or who look

super shy. Oh my, we were rolling by the end of that one!

We had a guy from Canada who was eating the attention up.

Then an older man from Korea who was flippin funny and kept saying I fro KoreA!

Haha, then a black man from Nashville TN who had a deer in headlights look

the whole time. When it was his turn to copy the Tongan with drum beats,

the Tongan guy went crazy then started yelling in the microphone a chant of some sort.

Now it was his turn to copy so he did a few pounds on the drum then sang, who let the

dogs out and we all lost it!!!

I WISH I had a picture of it!!!!

 

 



 They do a canoe boat show in the middle of the day.

But first we had to indulge in their special treat they serve at the PCC,  Island Delights.

 They were selling their desserts off of canoes.



Its fresh tropical fruit cocktail with rainbow sherbet.

I am not a sherbet fan but this was good.

Back in the day they used to serve it in a fresh, hollowed out

pineapple.

 

 

Then the show began.

They had each of the 7 Islands come out on their own canoe

and do a dance while being rowed to the river.

 

The Tahitian dancers are my favorite.

I seriously don't know how they move their hips that fast.

I made a mental note to myself that if I was ever having a

bad hair day to remember these poor girls and that it could be a whole lot worse!

Ok, this guy was a riot! He served his mission in Samoa so since he knew

the language they let him be with the Samoa group. He was getting way into the dance

and you can see how is chest is all red from him pounding on it with his hands.

 



 

After the show we bee lined it to the Samoa show.

This guy was a crack up as well.

He had a Rico Suave soft voice and mannerism.

 



 Then he showed us how they climb up the coconut trees.

 Some of the food they were cooking for the Luau later on. 

 We took a ride in the canoes.

 

He loves posing for pictures:)

We bought tickets for their Luau and night show.

We hopped in line where we got laid then sat us at a table with 8 other people.

this is what the set up looked like.

They sure know how to handle crowds!



There was a buffet with typical luau food.

 For part of the show they had any couples that were celebrating anniversary's come up to the stage.

We stayed put.

 So glad we did because they made them dance in front of everybody.

We probably would have just sat back down while everybody else danced!



After the luau we walked around for 30 minutes before the big night show started.

You weren't allowed to take pictures inside but the show was really good.

We were beat by the end. It was 10pm and we still had to drive an hour home.

We got lucky and it never rained again.

It ended up being a perfect anniversary day with my honey!