40!!! Hauʻoli lā Hānau!

This poor blog has been neglected for quite a while.  Like 6+ months.  *sigh*  We've been in the middle of a finishing a basement and remodeling a bathroom since January.  I've spent way too much time on the computer researching colors and cabinets and built-in bunkbeds and who knows what else.  But.  We are almost there.  I feel like I've said that for a month straight.  All we have left is grout, touch up paint, installing some appliances and some brickwork.  Hallelujah!  I can only spend so much time on the computer without my eyes bugging out of my head and my family screaming for my attention.  So the 'ol blog was put on lower priority.  I did put in some skeleton of posts (like this one) but never got around to typing it.  And honestly, I'm not sure where to go from here.  One thing I noticed however, is writing on a blog definitely helps me count my blessings.  And helps my memory.  Instagram and Facebook don't quite do that for me.  But I always do feel behind.  It seems an obvious answer to just write less often, but my perfectionism self kinda struggles with leaving things out.  Anyway, it seems like a good day to catch up a bit and then think some more on what do to from here. 

Isn't this the AWESOMEST
shirt from Greg and Linds!

I uploaded these pics from my 40th birthday a long time ago.  And just looking at them makes me smile.  I've wanted to go back to HI so much since we left there and for one reason or another, we couldn't make it happen.  I was determined to go for my 40th (even though I felt like I was being a little spoiled).  Because of some future vacation plans, we couldn't take the whole fam.  And I missed those kiddos so much.  I wanted to show them where they went to school and lived and were born.  And introduce them to all those fantastic people who loved them so much while we were there.  One day, we'll all get back there.

sunrise at Turtle Bay
With the time change, we are up super early and I love catching things I normally don't

First stop - grocery to buy 2 gallons of POG.
And ahhhh...the smell of plumeria!

Hike to Lai'e falls.  7.9 miles, lots mud, gorgeous views!

One of those hikes we never got time for, but always wanted to try

yums - 7 brothers at the Mill

swap meet on a rainy day

yums at Haleiwa Cafe (can you tell I missed all the yummy food!)

visited Punchbowl Memorial Cemetery - they'd just had the Veterans Day ceremony
Gorgeous flowers everywhere...always love this place

isn't this a cool quote!?!
I've never heard the word recrudescence - but still

"The Larry" at Shimazu Shave Ice

birthday dinner at Haleiwa Joe's with my buddies - oh how I love those girls!
(and all those waterfalls down the cracks of the Ko'olau's)

Stake Conference - how we love our old bishop and his wife!
Fun to see so many people we love

One of George's favorite mornings was watching the local boys surf in the morning before school.

snorkeling at Shark's Cove

loved watching some surfing.  start was kinda delayed, but finally
they got some good wave so we caught a couple hours before
our flight to the Big Island.  And I bought a shirt which was super
important ;)

Boogie Boarding and Beach time at Hukilau

bishop was so kind to give us the tour of the back workings of the PCC, treated us to the luau and Ha! night show.
Always love the PCC!

After some time on Oahu, we hoped over to the Big Island to meet up with our great buddies - the Kau's (we knew them in Kaneohe) and the Cains (we knew them in San Antonio).  Crazy how people overlap and what a small world it is!  They were so good to us and went around like tourists with us plus fed us great meals!  So fun to see their cute children and how much they'd grown!

Akaka Falls

Moon & Turtle Restaurant
This is served family style with an ever-changing menu.  I think we ordered one of everything and it was fantastic!

Lava Tree State Park - gorgeous!

snorkeling at Kapoho Tide Pools
This area was gorgeous...totally different now - lava covered.  :(

Tovi took us to the Mauna Kea Observatory.  They were having a stargazing party and showed us various constellations and told a few stories.  First time for us and it was SO COOL.  It was a gorgeous clear night and definitely worth the trip.

birthday breakfast (on my actual birthday) at Hawaiian Style Cafe.
Check out the size of those haupia pancakes (absolutely amazing, btw)!

flight back to Oahu was pretty lame.  We were on standby (thanks to our generous friend) but an airline had closed so they were flying lots and lots of people home.  But....we made it back in time to enjoy dinner at Azure at the Royal Hawaiian.  This place was pretty fancy.  We ordered the 7 course dinner and by the portion size, I thought we might have to stop at Zippy's for a meal afterwards.  But it was surprisingly filling and oh so delicious! 

Thanks to Greg, we got a screaming deal at the Royal Hawaiian hotel.  It is an old historic hotel in Waikiki and is gorgeous!  So many details to take in...even the doors are handcarved wood.  They showed up with a slice of birthday cake (that I ate for breakfast the next day).  We walked all around remembering coming down to those fancy Waikiki hotels for Lucy's hula performances.

Tried to boogie board on Waikiki but it was pretty lame.  I'm not sure if I stunk at it or if the waves were crummy
(probably both) but my favorite beaches are still on the other side of the island.  Lovin' that view of diamond head though.

had to get my favorite drink (lava flow) while this guy caught up on some sleep.  

one of our favorite things at Christmas were the sand sculptures at the Sheraton

We hung out with the Tuitele's and Laulu's after church on Sunday - talking story for a few hours.
I love the "hang out" culture of the poly's.  Something I miss for sure!

spent half the day with Mataele's...how we love them!
They were sure missing their baby Cole!

We had an amazing time and loved driving by or visiting some of our favorite places.  We loved seeing our old house - so many wonderful memories.  Our time in Hawaii was definitely was one of our favorite phases of life.  This vacation was different in that we weren't rushing to see this place or that place - it was pretty chill.  And my favorite thing was catching up with some of our old friends that became like family and feel the aloha. 

A Hui Hou Kākou!