paradise part 1

 This year we got to tag along with Brett's parents and some of his siblings to Hawaii. Brett's dad was speaking at a business forum at BYU-Hawaii- so we all used it as an excuse to go! 

It was so much fun and such a relaxing trip. It was even more relaxing because Parker didn't come :)

He stayed home with my parents and was so happy to do so! 

These pictures are in no particular order- but you still get the idea 

 The Polynesian Cultural Center was awesome. Learning about all the island cultures was so fun. Brett even did a little Fijian dancing!

 So did his dad and brothers :)

This was our backyard of the house we rented. It was on the north shore of Oahu, and it had a perfect beach in the back! So dreamy

the men- with landon acting out how he got crushed by a wave

we hiked Waimea falls. the waterfall was a little weak but we still swam in the water

Denae & I in our matching 10k race t-shirts.

we went to church on the north shore- such a cute ward

these are Portuguese donuts called masladas. They are delicious!! You can get them filled with custard or chocolate, or plain. They are delicious. Brett loved them because he says they are exactly like something he had on his mission in Chile, now he wants me to learn to make them ;)

we ate so deliciously while we were in hawaii- this was one of my favorite meals though, at a small cafe. It was crab cakes with the best asparagus I've ever had. At one point I dropped a piece of the asparagus on the floor and I was seriously contemplating picking it up and eating it, until Denae and Jill talked me out of it!

we were to late in the day for a full tour of pearl harbor, but we were still able to walk around and see lots of things there.

we got shaved ice allllll the time! Denae has a blackmail photo of me- in the car at 10 am, parked in the local town, eating shave ice all by myself. That's right, I drove by myself into town and got myself some shave ice. It was the best!

(btw- pictures from here on out are courtesy of Denae :)

the girls at the beach

(even though I look pregnant in this picture, I am not :)

Boogie boarding was so much fun! Denae and I were trying to "keep up with guys" and out- do them. I think we succeeded.

The guys favorite thing: trying not to die from crashing waves, this can cause wives/mothers serious worries

This was at a cool little island called goat island. And you actually wade out to the island, you can walk out there! It was fun and at points the water was up to my waist!

This is the back of house we rented

And this is the front, it was so cute!

More pictures to come