We took a family vacation to the wonderful island of Ohau in Hawaii and I loved it! We left the 24th and it was a long day of travel, nothing like today, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Wednesday was very nice once we got to the house that we were staying at and could finally unload the car. I spent the afternoon/evening playing ping pong with my brother S and my dad. And indexing like crazy so that I can become an Indexing Ninja!
Christmas morning was super relaxing, we didn't get up at the crack of dawn to open gifts, I got to sleep in, so it was a wonderful morning! Because most places were closed Christmas Day we just spent the day relaxing and enjoying the beach! Thursday afternoon was spent playing card games and family karaoke (you know family bonding stuff!).
Friday morning, the 27th, we got to go to the Laie Temple to do baptisms and my mom ran into an old high school friend which she enjoyed!
The rest of the day was spent exploring the beach looking for shells to bring home and place into ornaments. Overall super relaxing! That night we went to a place called Titas and had some yummy garlic shrimp. I highly recommend it if you are ever in Laie.
Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the Polynesian Culture Center and learn more about the islands of Polnesia and their culture and traditions. I really enjoyed learning about a different way of life, we saw an example of a Tahitian wedding ceremony (my cute parents got to renew their vows), saw a coconut husked and my brother J got to bang on some Tongan drums and scream into a microphone. That evening we got to watch Ha, the Breath of Life and while I was bored in the beginning, it got better! (Whether that was because of the fire dancers or the ice cream halfway through, I'm not entirely sure)
Sunday we got to go to church and then off to Pearl Harbor, which I was very excited about because I love learning about history! Can I just say WOW!!! Words cannot describe my feelings about that sacred place. Thankfully my dad did some clever thinking and got tickets in advance so that we could go to the USS Arizona memorial. For those of you who have never had the chance to visit, Let me explain what it is. You watch a 20ish minute video explaining the events that lead up to Pearl Harbor and America's involvement in WWII and a timeline and some footage of that day Dec 7, 1941. Then you get into boats and sail over to the memorial, a white buildingish thing that is placed over the actual ship (which also serves as a grave for the men serving on the ship). Out of all the ships that were sunk and destroyed during the attack, only three were never raised and repaired, these are: USS Arizona, USS Utah, and USS Oklahoma. I don't remember the number they said that died on the ship when it exploded, but it was a very very large number and every year on Dec 7th they have a memorial to remember those men.
Now a little fact you may not know about December 7, 1941, was that Pearl Harbor was not the only place attacked on the island. The Laie temple was built and dedicated by the time Dec 7 rolled around and it stood like a beacon on the other side of the island. A bomber flew over the temple and tried to drop bombs and fire on the Laie temple, but his gears had locked and jammed. So he went and dropped more bombs on Pearl Harbor and circled back to Laie and tried to bomb the temple once again, and once again his gears jammed. While that may not mean anything to you, I think it's a sure sign that the Lord protects his houses and the people inside.
After we went to Pearl Harbor, we took off to the Dole Plantation, the biggest producer of Pineapple in the world. Their farm went on for ages and ages, there was no end in sight. I wasn't very interested in the large maze or the garden tour, I had my sights set on this
Oh yes! The one thing I always get when going to Disneyland, Dole Whip!!! I was not disappointed in the least! We got some souvenirs and headed back home. It was a long day!
Today, (or yesterday depending on when I can post this) has been suuuuper long. We had a flight that was supposed to leave for Phoenix at 1:05 (mind you, I have a flight that leaves for England the 30th of December at 8 pm. I have a lot to get done before I leave). We arrived at the airport at 11:15, and find out our flight has been delayed for SIX HOURS!!! What the heck! Instead of coming home at 10 at night, now we are scheduled to get in at 4 in the morning. So 6:15 arrives, the moment we are supposed to start boarding, and there is still no plane at the gate. The airport finally finds us a plane to fly and we load up and take off close to 7:30. So I'm guessing that whatever time I actually post this is when we land. Now the question is, do I just stay up and get stuff done and sleep on my red eye to Heathrow. Or take a nap and risk sleeping in? Maybe if I sleep on the plane a bit it'll be ok. We'll see!
We did just fine! Now I can't wait to read your first blog from London! :)
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