dancin' on the beach

slide show of photo shoot, enjoy!

twooo wuvvv, aahhhhh

Here is a shot from the Thursday evening photo shoot at the Hawaiian Village, Hilton, they had this staircase designed for bridal pictures and they took advantage of it! Josh and Rachel

Thursday, June 4th 2009 in Hawaii

I learned at the pineapple plantation the it takes 18 months to grow pineapples, and that's why Hawaii is such a great place to grow them because they have warm weather year round.

So during the Waimea Valley botanical garden walk it was so lush and breathtaking to feel the warm humid air, see the green foliage, hear the birds throughout the forest, and lucky for me it was a paved 3/4 mile trail so it wasn't a big deal to tote the baby along. We were surprised at the top of the hike when we reached the waterfall with a pond at the bottom of it to find lifeguards with a rack of lifejackets and bodyboards. They were free and they had an infant lifejacket with head piece for my baby so I stripped him down and got ready myself in the changing room they had conveniently, and I sat my baby down on the board and he was soooo good he just sat there and let me paddle him across the pond to the waterfall, and we sat underneath the waterfall. It was once in a lifetime for sure! My baby just kept trying to catch his breath with the cold water splashing on him but he didn't cry, I didn't make him stay very long and he almost dry before I made it back to shore, cause it was so warm. I'll never forget it, it was quite a memory for a mom of 3 young kids to be able to go do. Oh, the pond water was like 70 degrees F. So it wasn't like freezing cold, don't worry I'm not that mean of a mom!

At Waimea Bay, North Shore, in the picture you'll see Josh and Adam, they are just walking back from that big rock in the background where they jumped off like 30 feet. They're crazy, but it looked fun. I was going to go jump off a smaller rock height but never got around to it. Josh and Adam went snorkeling and baby C discovered that he likes the taste of salt water beach sand and he would grab handfuls of it and smash it into his mouth faster than I could stop him and he would mutter MMMMM, MMMMM, MMMMM, like it was the best thing he'd ever tasted. Needless to say, I didn't get much beach time after that day, except Sunday, when I held him the whole time and just walked along the shore looking for shells. So when it was my turn to try snorkeling, which Josh borrowed his roommates gear for us, Josh watched baby C, (thanks!) and Adam and I went out, it was my first time and it was kinda tricky cause the water got choppy, I accidently swallowed a mouthful of water and it made me throw up, gross! Besides that though, it was amazing, and I saw so many colorful fish and the highlight was within the first 10 minutes of snorkeling I saw a large sea turtle, like the size of my trunk, swim right under me. I pointed it out to Adam who thought I saw a shark cause I was freaking out so much! He dove down and grabbed the turtle's shells with both hands and held on for like 5 seconds before his hands slipped off the slimy shell. It was surreal. The turtle just glided around the water to gracefully. What an amazing day.

Hawaii Tour with Josh

We are in Hawaii to come to my brother Josh's wedding. He got married in the Kona Temple on June 6th. The temple on Oahu was closed for renevations. So we island hopped over to Kona for the day on Saturday, but stayed on Oahu for the duration of the trip. This is where Josh lived for 3 months, less than a mile from my friend Elba's house. He sold security systems. Rachel and Josh had met country dancing in Rexburg, ID, before Josh came to Hawaii. Rachel had made plans to come to Hawaii before she knew Josh was here, and she was a caretaker for an older lady. She was on the same island, about an hour drive from Josh. When they found out they were going to be on the same island, Josh and Rachel would talk into the night getting to know one another via phone, until Rachel came to Hawaii. After a short courtship and deciding that since their direction and goals in life were similar, they decided to get married (and they loved each other ;o). It's been a rollercoaster of events ever since, but when Elba invited me to stay with her, and Adam decided to come with me, I decided to make the committment and go to the wedding,,, in Hawaii!!

Rachel had busy getting ready for the big day stuff Thursday and Friday so Josh gave Adam and I an insiders tour of Hawaii, it was a dream come true...he still had his car so he drove us around and he also had food so he took care of breakfasts and lunches for us. I ended up spending only 45 dollars in food for the entire trip Wednesday through Monday morning! Is that crazy or what!

Oh, detail to make the above paragraph make more sense...Josh and Rachel decided to move back to the mainland, Twin Falls, ID after their honemoon on Kona, so Josh sold his car Friday night, and had to get rid of his kitchen food by then too.

So Thursday Josh took Adam, my baby, and I to go to the Dole pineapple plantation, beautiful waterfall hike through a botanical garden, Waimea Beach on North Shore snorkeling, and awesome crazy snowcones with icecream, japanese red beans soaked in sugar, and sweetened condensed milk. All that before heading back to the hotel where Rachel and her parents and sisters were staying along with Ted and Kaylee for a photo shoot on the beach with Rachel in her wedding dress and dinner at Tony Roma's. It was a busy day....Can you say Jet lag??!!!

We made it!

This is Elba, who Adam and I stayed with in Hawaii, with her friend who helped drive us from the airport to Waikiki beach, (because Elba drove her Miata to the airport ;o ) Incidentally, we flew from LA to Hawaii on the same flight, but were unable to sit next to each other. Elba lives in a gated community in a home across the street from the ocean on a private beach, it was sooo peaceful and beautiful. She was such a gracious host and I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with her. (Guess I'll have to come visit again!!!)

Hawaii

I just got back from Hawaii for my brother's wedding. I got to travel with my brother Adam who is 25. I brought my baby who is 9 months old along for the ride. I could not have done the trip without Adam! He was a lifesaver, I just hope he'll still come around after spending 24-7 with me for almost 6 days straight!