More family time

Finally done with the Hawaii posts!
Apparently we were gone so long that Azure didn't even recognize us the night we got back! Sad! But, the next morning she finally came around and "forgave" us for leaving her and having so much fun in Hawaii w/o her. But, she had lots of fun too with my side of the family.
It was so good to see friends in CA while we were down. We got to see Adri and Greg and their 2 darling boys who Azure of course loved playing with.

We also had a pre 1st Bday bash for Azure since we were with family.

B/c of her love of kitties, we did a Hello Kitty theme.

Then we got to see even more family, Charles' Aunt Karlene.

And then we got to visit 2 of my best friends from elementary school. I love seeing old friends!

Day 10 &11: Wed & Thurs- Surfing, PCC

Our last full day in Hawaii was a blast. We woke up early to go surfing and Uncle Clark so kindly mentored us on what to do. "You take your car to work, I'll take my board." Surfwax America by Weezer was in my head the whole time I was surfing :)
Later that day we went to the PCC and visited the Polynesian villages, had a luau and saw a fantastic show.


Thursday morning we again woke up early (I don't think we actually ever slept in, that's mostly b/c the time is so early anyway then what we were used to) to watch the sunrise. When we got to the beach the sand was covered with thousands of CRABS, no joke! It actually looked pretty scary at first b/c they look like huge spiders. We couldn't really get a good picture to do it justice and show just how many there were.

Sunrise at Laie Point

Then we flew back to my parents house to pick up the cub. We missed her like crazy!

Day 9: Tuesday, Laie

Tuesday morning we headed to Charles' aunt and uncle's beach house right in between the Laie temple and BYU Hawaii. First we stopped at the Temple's Visitor's Center and saw our good friend Stephanie who is serving her mission there from our old singles ward, the ward that Charles and I met in. She was very surprised to see us!
Then we headed to the temple.


Then we chilled at the beach house. This is the back yard:


AMAZING! Staying here was probably our most favorite part of the whole trip.
Soaking in the sun

Charlie snorkeling.

If you've ever been to Hawaii you might remember a place called Snorkel Bob's where they rent out snorkels and other sea gear. This next video is inspired by that place.

Posing in the back yard :)

We also went sea kayaking which was really fun and a great workout. Then we made dinner and ate yummy fish and chilled with the fam, fun times.

Day 8: Monday

Monday being Memorial Day we went to Charles' grandmother's grave.Then drove down the south east coast of Oahu.

Then we headed to the North Shore and visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation (which we don't have any pictures of) and had some yummy pineapple ice cream.

At sunset we went boogie boarding at Waikiki but weren't very successful at catching many waves.

Day 6 & 7: Sat and Sun, Honolulu

We arrived in Honolulu on Friday night and Charles' parents picked us up from the airport and brought us leis, so sweet. We had a unique experience on Oahu since Charles has so much family there. We didn't feel quite so much like tourists. We stayed 4 nights at Grandpa Leavitt's house.Saturday we woke up early to go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. I had never been snorkeling before and it took me awhile to get used to the idea that I could breathe under water. We saw lots of cool fishies. Too bad we didn't have an underwater camera...
We spent most of Saturday and Sunday looking at amazing sights, which in Hawaii is not hard at all.

Sunset at Waikiki

Georgia is a friendly, sweaty bake

We interrupt the Hawaii updates to give you our most recent update. We have made it to Savannah! We've been here since Tuesday and finally found a place today and will hopefully move in tomorrow.
So, here's something kinda crazy: last week Charles and I stayed in a beach house in the middle of the pacific ocean in Laie and now this week we are also in a beach house on the atlantic coast!
No, we didn't rent a beach house ourselves since we are currently homeless and unemployed. Charles' cousin just so happens to be here in Savannah this week and has so graciously let us stay with her until we move in to our new place. Thank you! We wouldn't mind living in a beach house forever, though we must admit that Hawaii wins hands down for best beaches compared to Georgia!
In the few days we've been here we have met some extremely friendly people and have even got a hug from a complete stranger. Southern hospitality is factual. Yesterday it was 93' with about 100% humidity. This surely isn't Provo, toto! But, come winter time we will really be loving it.

Day 4 & 5: Thurs and Fri, Hilo

On the way to Lava Tree State Park we drove on this beautiful road perfectly canopied by these trees.
Fun fact: a lava tree is a tree/plant/misc living object that has been covered by lava, awesome.

Palm trees growing on top of lava
Black sand beach

View from the top of Volcanoes National Park

The Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory. Apparently mac nuts are the hardest nuts to crack.

My favorite Charlie face, dimples and all :) Oh and a little more about this pic, it's at a restuarant where they had live music so I requested Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Iz since it's one of our wedding songs. When they played it Charles asked me if I wanted to dance! He doesn't like to dance but he knew I would. He's the best!Kiluea Volcano