Big Island

On Friday, June 12th, Adam and I had the opportunity to go to the Big Island for the first time. The main purpose of our trip was to go to the Kona Temple. We haven't been to the temple for more than 6 months because the La'ie Temple is closed for a year and a half for major renovations. We left at 4am to get to the airport by 5am, and our flight left at 5:52, so we were pretty tired the entire time, but it was well worth it. After a 40-45 minute flight, we arrived on the Big Island, rented a car and headed to the Kona Temple. We went through 2 sessions, at 9 and 11, with the other 13 people from the ward who came. We had been looking forward to going to the temple for a long time, so it was awesome to finally be able to go. It may not be for another year (when the La'ie Temple reopens) until we can go back again.



Oh, and just across a wall to the temple grounds, there were 3 horses, so we petted them and fed one of them a piece of banana.



Having such a great experience at the temple, we went with Erik from our ward to Kahalu'u Beach to go snorkeling. I had read online that it had great snorkeling there, but I didn't realize it would be so amazing. The fish were twice as big and numerous as I had ever seen on Oahu, there were so many brightly colored corals and we got to hang out with some sea turtles that weren't afraid to get close.



After snorkeling, we went to eat at the Big Island Grill, right by the temple. I got a Hawaiian plate, which consisted of lau lau, poke, macaroni salad and rice. It was all pretty good. If you're ever in the area, I'd recommend it. After finally being able to attend the temple after so long and having the best snorkeling experience ever, I hope we can go back to the Big Island soon, but it probably won't happen since we had to sacrifice a little to make it there this time.

Limu

The other day we decided that we wanted to try to replace Mochi, so we got another lovebird. His name (we're not sure if it's a boy or a girl, so we'll just say "him" until we figure it out) is Limu, which is the Hawaiian word for algae or seaweed. We thought it was fitting since he is green like some limu. He has been pretty fun to have around so far, but he is still getting used to us. Hopefully he'll start warming up to us soon; he's still scared of us, but it took Mochi a couple of months before he would come anywhere near us. It's fun to have him around.

Just Us Two Now

Our bird Mochi flew away today. Here are some pictures in memory of him. We are so sad that he escaped our apartment and flew to the other side of town. We haven't seen him since.

Visit From Kerry and Brenda!

Kerry and Brenda (Adam's parents) have been on the island for almost a week now, and we've been having a lot of fun visiting with them. They were staying at the Marriott on the other side of the island, but they came to stay with us for the last few nights of their trip. We stayed in one of the rooms of their timeshare a couple of nights, and it was pretty amazing. There were pools everywhere with bridges, tunnels, and waterfalls in them. There is also a few lagoons that we didn't get the chance to play in because of Adam's work.



Yesterday we all went to Pearl Harbor. We ended up just going to the Arizona Memorial, which was fine with me because that is my favorite thing there. First, you watch a short film with footage from both the U.S. and Japanese media/government that explains the events that lead to the attack on Pearl Harbor and what happened as a result of it. Then, they take you on a ferry to the Arizona Memorial that was built over the sunken ship.







After Pearl Harbor, we went to the Waikiki Aquarium. Even though I'm there every week volunteering, it's always fun to go as a visitor. It was also fun to share some of my knowledge about the exhibits.



We had to cut the day short because Kerry and Brenda were tired from all the fun they had earlier in the week and Adam had to get to work by 5:00. By the way, along with working during the day landscaping at BYU-H, he recently picked up a job working at McDonald's at night to make a little bit more money. It will just be for the summer when he's not in school. For me, the school year just ended today, but I applied to substitute teach for summer school as well. Hopefully I get called in to work at least a couple of times a week.

Spring Break

We started out Adam's Spring Break by celebrating Easter. We went to sacrament meeting at the family ward we used to be in. The speakers gave great talks on the Savior and the atonement, and it was nice to see some of our friends again. That evening, we had dinner with our friends Matt, Sunshine, Steve, Elizabeth, Jen, and Li. It was all soooo good.



Adam took the next couple of days off of work, and we explored the island with everybody who we had Easter Dinner with. On Monday, we went snorkeling on the north-west peninsula at Electric Beach. There was one spot where you were surrounded by schools of a bunch of species of fish. Adam and I got to follow a sea turtle around for a little bit, and Adam got "inked" by some baby squids.


After that, we explored a cave we saw off the highway and a couple of beaches on the way. I saw an eel laying on one of the beaches. It was still alive, so Adam threw it back into the water.



The next day, we went hiking to Manoa Falls with Jen and Li. Halfway through the hike, it started getting really wet and muddy. We got kind of dirty, but the trail was so pretty. The falls weren't terribly impressive, but it was a nice hike.

March 2009

Adam finished his hula class this week; he got an A! Jenni got her cast off on Thursday. Her wrist is still healing, but it is doing well enough that she only has to wear a brace.

Our ward won the Iosepa Cup, which is the award for the BYU-H ward that earns the most points for participation and placing in sports. FYI - the cup was named after a traditional Hawaiian sailboat, the Iosepa, that resides at the Polynesian Cultural Center and is sailed only occasionally. We helped by playing dodgeball together, and Jenni played volleyball. The prize is that we get our ward name added to the plaque and our whole ward gets a banquet with the president of the university.

The BYU-Hawaii basketball team was in the Division II regional championship, so we decided to support them. It was a pretty exciting game; we were ahead the entire time until the last 30 seconds. Unfortunately, they let up the last 7 minutes and lost it by 1 point. It was fun anyway.



For those who haven't heard, Adam got accepted to BYU-Idaho. We were expecting to go back to Rexburg in July, but he got accepted for the Winter/Spring track, so we get to stay in Hawaii until the end of the year!!! So, that means everybody has until then to come visit us here.






(Random picture of Mochi that Adam wanted to add)

February 2009

This month was definitely more memorable than January. First, we had a really nice Valentine's Day. Adam made breakfast for us - heart-shaped pancakes. We spent most of the day just hanging out and playing games at home. Then, Adam made pizza and ravioli for dinner, so I didn't have to cook all day! It was a nice break.

I finally started working on the 20th. My first job was a high school P.E. class, so I thought it would be easy. First period went great, and second period started out well, until I jumped up to catch a football, slipped on the wet grass when I came down, fell back, and was at the hospital a half hour later. I ended up fracturing my wrist and tearing some ligaments. I haven't been back to work since it happened because I've been on pain medication most of the time and am STILL waiting to get it taken care of after almost two weeks. It has been very frustrating for both Adam and me since there is quite a bit I can't do with one hand, but the good part is that Adam is learning how to cook and wash dishes and I am learning a little humility.

The month ended with my birthday. It started out with Adam bringing me a bunch of balloons with a note inside each of them. Then, after his long day of school, we went with some friends to Outback Steakhouse. It was a really good day overall.