Look a like...

Here is a picture of Cole from the 4th of July. He has been growing his hair out for quite some time. In the beginning he wanted to do it to look different from Noah which I thought was a perfectly good reason. I actually like him with long hair. He has been learing to play the guitar so it's a good rocker look too. Recently he was asked a few too many times if he was a boy or a girl (I don't think he ever looked like a girl, but long hair usually = a girl, or so the stereotype goes), so he kept thinking about cutting it. Last week Mike was giving himself and Noah haircuts and he told Cole he would pay him if he let him shave his head. Cole debated in his mind and finally gave in. Well, in the middle of the hair cut he changed his mind. So Mike left some of it a little long, kind of a skater hair cut. It's kind of funny since Cole wants nothing to do with skateboarding and Noah is the one totally into skateboarding right now. Anyway,, when I saw him I instantly thought of a picture of Mike from about the same age with a similar skater do. I can not seem to locate the exact picture I am thinking of but found one that was close. I have always said Cole looks more like Mike and now I see it even more. What do you think?!?!

The Torch has been passed...

Mike taught Cole to mow the lawn the other day. Since we have such an insane amount of grass(ha, ha) he figured it would be a good idea to get some help.




Of course, Jenna had to get her turn as well.

Coming home

Well, getting home was a lot easier than getting there. Rylee and I got to go first class which was nice since it was an overnight flight. I think Rylee was so spoiled the whole trip that I am a little worried about getting her grounded again. No, she was awesome! It was so fun to go with her and have these memories that we will have forever! Here are few more pictures.

Pearl Harbor

On Friday we went to Pearl Harbor and it was an amazing experience. We went to the aviation museum first and then to the USS Arizona Memorial. We saw 2 different films about Pearl Harbor that were very informative, I learned a lot. Then we took a boat over to the memorial. They ask you to be very quiet and as we walked to the back wall with all the names of the soldiers who died that day it was peaceful. Knowing that these selfless soldiers are still buried there with their ship and seeing all those names written was very humbling. I am so glad we went and that Rylee was able to experience that.

On to O'ahu

On Thursday we left Maui and flew to O'ahu. We got checked in to our hotel in downtown Honolulu right near Waikiki beach. After only a few minutes of being there I was wishing I was back in Maui. Honolulu is a big crazy city. Traffic, people, scummmy neighborhoods, just not what I picture when I think of Hawaii. We went for a drive around the island and it was beautiful once we got out of Honolulu. We went by BYU Hawaii, the temple, and the Dole plantation.



Here is a picture of BYU Hawaii, I was surprised how small it was. I told Ry she should go there, that way we can come visit.
Ry and Shannon outside the temple. The temple is closed for construction right now. The outside is all rough and the whole inside has been gutted.
Ry and I at the temple.
Ry & Shannon at the maze at the Dole plantation. We got there an hour before they closed. They give you a card punched with the time you got there and then you have to find 8 different stations in the maze. Then you are suppose to come back to see if you found them all fast enough to get a prize. The girls finished in an hour but by the time they came out the girl at the booth had gone home, oh well they had fun doing it. We had Dole whip, yummy!!!!! I wish I could get that here.

Snorkeling

On Wednesday we went on a snorkeling trip. Our ship (the Alii Nui, a beautiful catamaran) sailed out at 8 am and we headed to Molikini Crater. They fed us breakfast and a yummy lunch. Everything was included down to the sunscreen and towels. It was amazing!!! I can't wait to get the pictures from our underwater camera developed and see how they turned out.

This is a view of the crater as we were leaving that afternoon.

The waters was so clear. Here is a pic of a fish from above the water.
Rylee diving off the front of the boat. After we were done snorkeling and had all eaten lunch everyone was having fun jumping off the boat.
Me and Rylee
Our captain, Chris, steering the boat with his feet, he was HOT, I mean a great captain.

The Road "home"

The drive from Hana back to where we were staying was just as beautiful as the road there. We passed some old churches, lots of little cemeteries, cows (a lot of the land on the way to and from Hana is used for cattle), and more beautiful scenery.

The Seven Sacred Pools

A few miles past Hana is Haleakala National Park and the main "attraction" at this part of the park is the seven sacred pools. It is like a half mile hike to the pools and then you hike through some of the pools to the upper ones and you can swim. It was amazing! So beautiful and the water was cool and refreshing.

Here is Shannon & I swimming

Rylee and I swam across one pool and climbed to this waterfall.
Rylee near the bottom of the pools where they meet the ocean
Some of the lower pools
Here is a picture of the upper pools. We didn't climb to the top one but the one below that and that is where we swam.

Black Sand Beach

Another stop on the Road to Hana was this black sand beach. The water was so blue and clear.

The Road to Hana

On Monday my sister in law took my niece and her friend over to BYU Hawaii for EFY so the rest of us rented a Jeep and went on the Road to Hana. We took the top off and headed out and it started raining. We kept driving and after a short time it cleared up and it was beautiful!!!! I think this was my favorite day of the vacation. The road is narrow and winding, the speed limit is only 15 mph and its over 50 miles long. There are 54 bridges and over 500 curves on the road with lots of waterfalls. It was like driving through a rain forest, amazing!!!
One fun thing that happened was when we stopped at one of the little roadside vendors to eat we saw Jim Nabors. (gomer pyle from the adny griffith show) He leaves near there and was sitting enjoying his food and some company. I wish I would have taken a picture.

They have the coolest pine trees in Hawaii.

One of the many waterfalls we say that day, coming below on of the bridges.
Another bridge
There are lots of stops along the way to see things. One stop was an arboretum and we saw these amazing trees. They are called painted gum trees and come from Indonesia. They almost look fake and they were so cool!
Isn't it beautiful!?!?

Beautiful Scenery

On Sunday morning we went to church then headed up to Iao Valley State Park to do a little hiking and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Then we drove around and saw the incredible wind surfers.


Here is one of Rylee

The amazing wind surfers!
Me and Ry at Iao Park
Isn't this amazing?!?! I kept thinking of LOST while I was there.
Here is one of the whole gang.

Finally made it to Hawaii/Heaven

The first day there we hung out at the beach and the pool. The next day we went to a mall and watched some hula dancers and enjoyed some island music then headed to Lihaina to do some sight seeing and shopping.

A sunset from the beach near our condo in Kihei.

There are so many beautiful flowers in Hawaii. My favorite are these white plumerias.

Here is a picture of the hula show. Who does this guy remind you of?!?!
Here is Ry being silly at the beach.