ALOHA OI...

I can't wait until next Fast and Testimony meeting because I have been waiting all my life to get up there and say, "Brothers and Sisters, ALO-O-O-OHA!" Now I finally can. We just got back from our week-long stay on Oahu. We got a great 2-for-1 deal thanks to Matt and Mimi and in the traditions of our fathers (and mothers) found a way to do everything cheaper than you can imagine. So, we loved it. Cadence loved it. Some highlights from the trip:

Our first night there I went into a Subway (sandwhich shop) alone and blacked out. I was able to get myself to the ground first. When I was able to get up, I could hear my arm peeling off the disgusting floor. Not great meatball sandwiches over there. It wasn't a big deal, mostly just embarrassing and gross.

The first few days were spent in Waikiki. If you go on vacation to shop at the same stores you could shop in at home, and you love to go to beaches that are so packed you can't put your towel down, Waikiki is the place for you. Amazingly, only about a mile down from Waikiki beack we found a lovely little beach that had a small number of mostly locals with their young children. If you go, it's called Queen's beach and it was perfect for a little toddler and perfect for me, too. Yay for that beach.

Polynesian Cultural Center: As many of you may know (I did not), the PCC is a cultural theme-park (no rides) run by the church to support a huge percentage of the students at BYU-H. These are students that have been recruited from Asia-Pacific that would otherwise have no way to go to college and they work at the PCC in return for their tuition. It's a pretty rockin' deal. It's a little expensive, but you see why, now. If you go to Hawaii, go. Cadence loved it, and it was a needed break from the beach. You can learn to make coconut milk, learn about Easter Island (it has a real name, but I can't remember) from a native, and have New Zealanders teach you to dance, sing, and throw sticks. Oh, there's tongan drumming, weaving, and spear-chucking, too. All sorts of things. The night show is fantastic. We thought Cadence would go to sleep during it, but she was so intrigued. She still talks about the dancers. Also, we got to visit with my Aunt and Uncle who are service missionaries there.

Yay for gorgeous landscapes and dramatic colors.

Yay for whales. March is whale season in Hawaii. The rest of the year, the humpbacks go back to Alaska. We got to see a "pod" of males trying to out-do eachother in a masculinity contest. Men.

Yay for one whole week of being together as a family! Spencer had the whole week off but he sure did a lot of work. I literally took the week off and he took care of Cadence and me.

This is a pic at the Pearl Harbor USS Arizona Memorial. She loves pockets. Just like her dad.

Yay for cute toes. I wait for years at a time for an excuse to get a pedicure. I stared at them a lot.

Yay for Matt and Mimi, who are great to travel with and who helped me out with Cadence a lot, too.

This is Matt and Mimi and C. and I planting pineapples at the Dole Plantation (above). Yay for pineapple ice cream at the Dole Plantation (below).

Okay, well, we had a blast, and actually didn't take enough pictures, although you should be glad. You've seen enough. Hawaii was awesome and exactly what the family needed at this crazy time in our lives. Yay for Spencer.

ps, we're having our sex-identification ultrasound on Friday. Any guesses or bets should be placed now!