Can You Hear Me Now?

I am happy to announce that

I am now the proud owner of a...

We finally gave in and got cell phones. Jacob thought he needed one for his residency, and it turns that he doesn't. They have an office cell phone that they pass around to whoever is on call that week (for dental emergencies). This phone is mine-an ice blue chocolate. Jacob got a samsung. So it's too late now; we signed the contract. No turning back. Everyone tells us at the end of the 2 years we'll be too hooked to give them up. I think we're the last people in our circle of family and friends to get cell phones. Our parents and grandparents have even had them for a few years. I'm not so sure I love remembering to take it with me everywhere, carrying it around, and charging it, etc. But I do like being able to talk to my family and friends for free. Anyone else on Verizon? Let me know...

Last 2 Days in Paradise

Well, this is my last post about Hawaii and it makes me sad! I want to go back there so much, but at least I have all these pictures to bring back good memories.

This is the view at the Pali Lookout.

Can you see why I had my hair in a ponytail? :)
We got to hike up Diamond Head Crater. It was Jana's 3rd time. This is the set of 99 stairs after the 76 we already climbed.The view of Waikiki Beach from Diamond HeadI was taking a picture of the stairs, not the Japanese girls, but since they're in it, check out their hiking shoes and outfits. We had to hurry to stay ahead of them b/c they were so slow. (I would be too if I wore high heels on a hike.)
We went swimming at Waikiki Beach. Fun, but too crowded. Once was enough for me.

Our last day we waded out to Goat Island. Actually, Jana pulled me most of the way on the boogie board :) It was fun having our own private beach to explore. I collected lots of pretty shells from here.

Here we are trying to share the boogie board.

As you can see, we enjoyed our time in paradise. I didn't want to leave. It was fun being able to spend time with family and share the experience with them. Thank you so much Jana and Rob for being such wonderful hosts!

Hawaii Days 5 & 6

Jana took us to see the banyan trees in the Kawela forest. Aren't they cool?

We then drove to the little surf town of Haleiwa to eat lunch. my avocado burger at Kua'Aina...mmmm
eating shave ice at Aoki's (mine had vanilla ice cream at the bottom...yum!)
despite this sign......Jacob joined the masses in jumping and diving off this rock at Waimea Bay. Can you spot him in the air mid-dive?
We snorkeled here at Shark's Cove where we saw a sea turtle, a clown fish, and many other brightly colored fish, but no sharks, thankfully! This was Jacob's favorite part of the whole vacation.

walking along temple beach at sunset

Happy Birthday Mom!

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my Mom today! She is the kindest person I know and is always serving other people. She taught me good values and standards and is a wonderful example of honesty, integrity and hard work. She is an awesome cook, seamstress, and pianist. I hope I can be as good of a mom someday as she was to me. I love you Mom!!

Day 4 on Oahu

Jacob got to try surfing at Castles Beach. He didn't catch any waves unfortunately, but it's harder to learn on a short board, plus the waves weren't that great.

We got to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie. It was so fun seeing all the villages and hearing different languages and music. Here we are with our new friend from Fiji after we got "tattoos".
My bro-in-law Rob was in a fire-making contest. He won. Go Rob!
Jacob got called up to drink the coconut juice after this guy cracked one open. Jacob hates coconut juice, by the way.
Rob and Jacob both got these headbands as souvenirs for helping in the Samoan village. Aren't they so cute? haha

this guy climbed all the way to the top and then jumped to another tree... just kidding

Here we are after the Ali'i Luau, which was delicious. We got to try lots of new foods, some we liked (taro rolls and haupia), some we didn't (poi and lomilomi salmon).

It was a fun day at the PCC (especially since we got in for half price!). Definitely one of our favorite things we did in Hawaii.

Hawaii Day 3

Our third day in Hawaii we got up at 5:15 a.m. in order to catch the sunrise at 5:45. It was Jana's and my idea so we kinda had to drag our husbands out of bed :) We drove out to Laie Point and ate a little breakfast and waited for the sun to come up. It wasn't the best day with it being cloudy but it still turned out really pretty.

Later we hiked up Makapu'u Point to the lighthouse.

It was an easy hike with a paved trail but hot with no shade.
Look at that view!
We didn't actually go to the lighthouse; we just had to look at it from up above.
There were old bunkers from WWII all over this mountain.

We went to an old rope swing in Kahana Bay that Jana and her friends had used. But the branch to jump from was broken so Jacob just had to climb the rope to swing. He still had fun, I think.

Hawaii Day 2

Jacob and I went on a hike in Hau'ula the morning of our second day. It rained for a while but we didn't get too wet. It was a fairly easy trail and really pretty.

the view at the top
Later we drove to Pearl Harbor with Jana where we went out to see the USS Arizona Memorial.
The memorial sits directly over the sunken ship.
I was glad to finally see the memorial and pay my respects to the 1,177 crew members who lost their lives here.
We went to the Ko'Olina Lagoons to try and snorkel but the water was too cloudy so we just swam for a while. On the way home we stopped to see the Kukaniloko birthing stones. This plaque describes it better than I can. These were really cool to see but we didn't stay long b/c of the eerie feeling we got while walking around. (Jana had just finished telling us some spooky Hawaiian legends.) Notice the rainbow-we saw a few throughout the week. (Hawaii is the "rainbow state" after all.)