Hawaii Professional Photos

I am setting the time and date for this post so it shows up in 2018, but I am actually writing this on Fri., Feb. 22 from Kona, Hawaii. I am here because CJ and Edie got married yesterday! I took a 6am flight, arrived at 12:30pm and was at their beautiful beach wedding at 5pm last night. My flight home is at 6:40pm tonight, and I have spent the day enjoying the beach and relaxing. It has been wonderful. The wedding was even more special that I had anticipated and CJ was beautiful. Edie cried a bit when he saw her for the first time which made me cry too. More on that in a dedicated post to the wedding.

Anyway, since I have a few hours on my hands before my flight leaves, I am using it for blog catch-up. As I reflect on our Christmas 2018 Hawaii trip, it brings back such wonderful memories. It made me feel confident that our little family can travel together and begin exploring the world. The kids did so well with the travel and they have already been asking about when we can come back. It also made me feel like Grant and I should plan more extended vacations. We were both able to recharge more than is possible during a one week vacation. Our jobs don't lend themselves easily to extended time away, but I want to try to make it happen. I also loved exploring God's creation. It truly is beautiful here and it makes me so excited to spend eternity exploring the beauty of God and what He creates.

Hawaii Day 16: CJ Home Tour and Headed Home

Happy Birthday Grant! My Mom had made us all "Big Island Christmas" shirts and we hadn't taken a pic yet and it was time to go. CJ and Edie came over just before the first group headed to the airport so we rushed to drag everyone to the front of the house for a pic. It isn't the best, but so glad we have it. The Walsh crew was the last group at the house. We stuck around and swam until about noonish. Then we met CJ and Edie at their new house that is under control. It was so great and Grant, CJ and Edie spent a long time talking about potential and projects.

We then headed to Splashers for a late lunch. During lunch, Grant was on his phone and I asked him what he was doing. He said he was looking at flights for the next day in case we wanted to stay longer! While I love that he had such a fun trip, I told him we needed to get home. After 16 days in Hawaii, I thought we would all be itching to get home, but I honestly related to the way he felt. It was just a wonderful trip. It was special to get time with just the 5 of us, and then we had a wonderful time with my family. I think we all love Hawaii. Even though I guess we could have stayed longer, I wanted to get home and start to get the kids back on a schedule before school started again. They were perfect on our direct, red-eye flight. They all slept a bit and then Peyton picked us up at the airport. Getting our luggage was a bit of debacle, but we eventually made it safely home.

The kids opened their presents that Santa had left while we were away, and then we all took naps. I woke up at about noon feeling rested and happy to be in our yellow house.

Hawaii Day 15: Snuba and scuba

Papa Ron, Cadie and Samuel did snuba! I was so impressed with Samuel. He was GREAT and super comfortable in the water and adventurous. JR was planning to snuba but he got upset as we were going into the water because of all the equipment and some sand in his swimsuit so he retreated to the beach to play with Colton and Josiah. Grant and I had rented scuba gear so we were able to swim beside the snubaers. I held hands a bit with Samuel just so he didn't have to swim so hard and to make sure he felt comfortable. Honestly, he probably didn't need me because he did so well, but I enjoyed the time with him.

That evening, Grant and I got to have a date night! B and Nathan (and I am sure Nina and Papa helped) watched our kids so Grant and I could have a pre-Grant birthday adventure. We went on the black water night dive and it was incredible! We went about a mile off the coast right at sunset and then waited for it to get pitch dark. The boat ride was beautiful and there was beautiful phosphorescence in the waves. The water was so calm it was like a lake. We were tethered to the boat and were able to go down about 45 ft. It felt like an alien world with jellies creatures floating past up. They were so strange and beautiful that it is hard to describe.

After the dive, we met Anna, Eric, CJ and Edie for dinner at Kona Brewing Company. Anna told us that during the evening the blender got broken and the TV in Cadie's room was broken. It sounded like a stressful evening so Grant and I felt a little bad. We stopped at WalMart on the way home to get replacements for everything that got broken. It was worth it to get to go on that amazing dive!

Hawaii Day 14: Mele Kalikimaka

After exchanging a few small gifts and eating CJ's delish cinnamon rolls, we loaded up enough gear to last us a month and headed to the beach! The waves were huge and I was on diligent lifeguard duty as Grant, Cadie, Anna, and Eric got tossed by the ways. Samuel retreated after getting tossed a time or two and Ranger mostly stayed near the shore and body boarded.

We set up a camp that kinda looked like we were permanently planning to reside at the beach. I think Colton's favorite part of the beach day was sitting on a beach chair wrapped up in a towel being fed by Nina. I think he ate about 10 Hawaiian role turkey sandwiches. Samuel and JR had the best time playing with a beach ball in the waves and then burying themselves in the sand. They would throw the beach ball out into the ocean and then watch the waves wash it back up to the beach. Cadie's favorite part was wave jumping with Grant.

There were some silly young girls posing and taking pics of each other in some rocks on the beach. Grant and Nathan obviously had to recreate the scene which resulted in some wonderful pics of Nathan. Feel free to reprint and frame them for your own enjoyment at home.

Hawaii Day 13: Christmas Eve in Paradise

Nina, Bethany, Grant, and I and all the grandkids did a glass bottom boat tour. There was a knowledgeable and enthusiastic tour guide that made the trip really fun. We cruised along looking at the beautiful coral and fish and then spent about 20 mins watching the spinner dolphins playing in the harbor. Getting to the tour was a bit stressful because parking was challenging and the boat wasn't visible from our vantage point in the harbor. However, Grant and Nina got the cars parked and I found out that we couldn't see the boat because it was actually out for tour and would pick us up at the end of the pier in just a few minutes.

After the boat trip, we walked to downtown Kona for some ice cream and shave ice before heading back to the house.  That evening, the adult children went downtown after dinner while Nina and Papa stayed with the little kids. I always love spending time with my siblings!

Hawaii Day 12: Family Day on the Boat, Family Pics, Parents Night Out

The family day on the boat was so fun! Lots of dolphins, some even playing in the wake of our boat and jumping up into the air. Snorkeling for everyone except Colton, JR and Josiah. I even threw Colton off the boat just so he would swim back to it, but that is the only time he got into the water.

At the end of the day, we went into a cove and jumped off rocks about 20 ft into the water. Captain Mike said they had never had so many people jump off the rocks and that typically only 1-2 are brave enough. Even Cadie and Samuel jumped. I was so impressed. The Crew, Rachel and Aaron, were really nice and great with the kids.

After the boat, we all cleaned up and went to a beach for family pictures. I really hope some of the family pictures turn out! The photographer seemed to know what he was doing, but it was a rugged affairs with lots of climbing on lava mounds. CJ had asked us to bring white shirts and wear solid pants/shorts which turned out to be a difficult task. Half of us forgot the shirts. I bought white shirts for the boys at Wal-Mart and bought a white cami for myself that I could wear under a swimsuit cover-up that happened to be white. Courtney bought a shirt for Eric, and Nathan wore a white tshirt of Grant's.

Faith watched the kids and it sounded very eventful. Eric and Anna had given the kids Christmas presents earlier in the day and the 4 boys all got Laser X lasertag. During the lasertag games, a picture was knocked off the wall and the glass broke. The art inside the picture frame is unharmed, thankfully.

The adults had a fun night at Mia's and, as always, laughed a lot. I had a headache that evening and was thankful Bethany shared her migraine meds with me.

Hawaii Day 11: Black Sand Beach, City of Refuge

Good-bye to the Treehouse! We had such a lovely time sleeping in the sky.

We made a lot of fun stops on the 2 hour drive to Kona where we met my family at the rental house. We turned a 2 hour drive into a 8 hour drive - one of our many talents. The first stop was the black sand beach. We didn't wear our swimsuits so only stopped for about 30 mins. There was a huge turtle basking in the sun. The kids really wanted to get close to it which isn't allowed and resulted in a frustrating parenting moment. The sand was beautiful though!

We stopped at the Painted Church after the Black Sand Beach. I don't think the Painted Church is that special, but it was on the way and free so it didn't really hurt anything to check it out.

Next up Malasadas at the Punalu'u bakery. Delish! After lots of sugary energy loading, we were ready for the City of Refuge. The City of Refuge was shut down due to the partial government closure. However, we were able to walk in and enjoy a self-guided tour.

Then we stopped at the Coffee Shack for lunch with beautiful view. By the time we got to the house, the kids were ready to enjoy the pool while Grant took a run by White Sands beach and I got everyone unpacked and settled.

It was a fun day with lots of snuggling! Since we have a Jeep, I sit in the middle in the back with Colton on one side and JR on the other. Cadie sits in the front with Grant. Every time we are in the car Colton is snuggling me and often has his head on my shoulder. Another highlight from the day was a fairly lengthy discussion about dating and finding the right partner in life which resulted from the kids asking how CJ and Edie met. It is really lovely to have plenty of time to talk and dive into deeper topics.