"In our search to obtain relief from the stresses of life, may we earnestly seek ways to simplify our lives. May we comply with the inspired counsel and direction the Lord has given us in the great plan of happiness. May we be worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost and follow the guidance of the Spirit as we navigate this mortal journey. May we prepare ourselves to accomplish the ultimate purpose of this mortal test- to return and live with our Heavenly Father."

-L. Tom Perry

Friday, July 22, 2011

Hawaii

Chad and I had a blast in Hawaii! We spent our days riding around the island of Oahu on our rented moped, eating and lounging in the sun. It was a dream for sure. I had mixed feeling about going and I thought for sure my anxiety over leaving my children would ruin the fun but once I got there I was able to relax and just enjoy! We saw so many things that it is hard to remember. There is a 5 hour time difference between Texas and Hawaii so our schedules were pretty mixed up. We were out the door by 6:00 a.m. every morning. We only had three full days there so we wanted to be able to see as much as we could.


This is called "China Man's hat" it was one of the views we saw while driving to the temple Tuesday morning.






The two pictures above were taken at the International Market place. Basically a big outdoor flea market with tons of touristy junk that I was convinced I had to have. I am such a sucker for things like this. It was located pretty close to Waikiki Beach (which was way too crowded for my liking)


These are all outdoor views from our hotel. (not our room though) They had dolphins that people could swim with which was pretty cool to watch everyday. The beach was my best friend, I didn't nearly spend as much time there as I wanted.



This wall of flowers was basically right off of the lobby of the hotel. It was so pretty. I wish I could have a wall of flowers in my house!


These were taken at Hanauma Bay and a scenic view just past Hanauma bay. We only snorkeled for about 20-30 minutes. The water was kind of chilly and I am not a huge fan of snorkeling. But we did see some pretty cool fish!



This was at a botanical garden we stopped at before Hanauma bay. There wasn't as many flowers as what I thought, but it was still pretty. The snail that is pictures was almost stepped on by Chad. I'm glad he didn't because it was huge and probably would've made a loud crunch!






The two collages were taken on the hike to Manoa Falls. It was really fun! We didn't really know what to expect but we read it was a simple hike and that is what we were looking for (we were on vacation, no strenuous hikes for us!) There were tons of cool trees and plants. The waterfall was pretty but not as big as I thought it would be.






These were all taken on our many adventures on the moped. We rented it for three days and had so much fun driving around at our own pace. We drove up to the north shore one morning. We planned to go to the temple and just sight see. We left at 6:00 in the morning, it was a little chilly but so gorgeous as the sun was rising. It was very convenient that I could snap pictures from the back of the moped.




Here we are at the temple. We were able to do some sealings.






This was at one of the restaurants at our hotel.






This is a view looking at the hotel. We stayed in the tall tower in the back.



This is looking opposite of where Chad was sitting.


Chad was being a goof.



This was our last day :( It was so much fun, I can't wait to go back. Maybe next time we'll take the kids :)


Monday, July 11, 2011

Billy and Phil















Saturday, July 2, 2011