Hawaii!!!

Well we got back into town on Monday morning (although I am so disoriented with my days-I'm fighting to give up "island time") What a wonderful trip!!! We got to Maui last Tuesday and had enough time to pick up some liquor and groceries before going to a "rehearsal dinner" Matt also had to find a couple of Hawaiian shirts! Anyway-we got to our hotel and just went "ahhhhhh" it was called the Napili Kai and we had a suite that overlooked the ocean. It was a really neat hotel-not a huge high rise or anything-looked more like an old hawaiian village that was more secluded-very romantic and peaceful. (This picture is of our hotel (with my brother in the foreground)-our room was way off the the left...very nice.)
These are views from our hotel room...it was nice to fall asleep to the sound of crashing waves, birds, and the breeze.

















Wednesday was the wedding-we started the day off snorkling in the cove near our hotel and catching up with a bunch of friends that I haven't seen in years-poor Matt tried to keep his energy (and patience) up while spending so much time with my family! The wedding was beautiful!!! They had it at a hotel in Kapalua and the ceremony lasted about 15 minutes-the minister was awesome he gave them a blessing in Hawaiian and was just really laid back-I loved everything he included in the ceremony-after the ceremony we had what felt like 3 hours of photos....most of which my mom took! After that we went on a sunset dinner cruise and then out to a bar to celebrate.


On the cruise-I'm wearing a bridesmaid dress-very comfy!!

My brother and his wife Ellie-she's the best!





Thursday we drove up to Haleaka Crater-quite a drive from sea level to over 10,000 feet -beautiful though to go though all the different terrains from sugar cane fields to forests to barren volcanic rock...it was a laid back day-everyone was tired from partying the night before and we rushed back to make it to a luau that night-it wasn't the traditional luau-more of a dinner show...called the Feast at LeLe it was a five course meal that sampled cuisine from multiple polynesian islands and then had dancing and music from the same regions-it was beautiful!!! The boys at the table (and the girls too) were all trying to pick their jaws up off the table because the dancers were so beautiful!! My grandmother actually said she was hoping for a strong breeze when the men were dancing in little more than a loin cloth. It was a very nice night and Matt and I made it back to the hotel exhausted!!










Friday and Saturday we relaxed on the beach and went shopping in Lahaina for some goodies...we were ready to slow down and spend a little time on our own-Matt found some hand carved tiki figurines...one is for family protection and one is for peace, love, and prosperity-we keep rubbing them everynight hoping I get a job and that the Tacoma house sells. (Matt said he got an offer yesterday and so he's working on the numbers to see if it will work out-fingers crossed!!!) We also drove up to "the blowhole" it was a really pretty drive up the coast and then you get to a point where there's an underwater cave that has a hole in the rock above-waves come in and are forced up-very cool to see...Matt's favorite of the trip. we were hoping to do the drive to Hana and just couldn't fit it that long of a drive-we were also told that a bridge was out and so we wouldn't have been able to make it to the seven sacred pools-bummer...Matt just keeps saying that that keeps things on the list for next time.

We both loved it so much-we felt ready to come home by Sunday but of course now that we are back we are a little bummed about not being on Maui still. I will have to bring more picture to Washington-I kept trying to put more on the post with little success.....I'm excited to see all of you! Talk to you soon...

P.S.Larry had his first birthday on Halloween-and yes it was my idea to put a big stupid hat on him-I promise I don't usually dress him up!! Isn't he cute though?