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Beach House Itinerary-

 I wrote this several days ago......but I had it scheduled to post at the time we would be picking Mason Up.  So right now......this very moment.....I'm hugging my Missionary! 

 
 Picking Mason up right now.

When we get home....we will have a couple days to unpack and then it's packing up again.  All my children and their children will be here and we have a fun trip plan to a  Beach house rental.

The invitations have been send- Invitations-

I packed up everything I could think of before I left, so the tubs are packed with fun ideas and prizes. {Getting ready for this; has felt a little like getting ready for girls camps;  you women out there that have worked at girls camp will understand.}

One thing we always give the girls when they first arrive is a little notebook with their itinerary in it.

So......I made Beach House Itinerary notebooks for everyone, boys too- got the idea here.  Such a fun site.

On the first page- a summary of what we plan to do, with extra pages to take notes or write down funny things that happen etc.

 
 
Here's a list of just a few of the things we will be doing-

• family pictures
• hot tub
• family talent night {everyone to share a talent}.....so excited for this.....Danny has been working on his talent...so cool, and I've heard rumors that Denver and Bree need a stage  =)
• treasure hunt
• Sam and Heidi have something planned for us
• Kent and Denver are working on a family movie that we star in.... say what?

and much more.....I really wish I didn't need to sleep....don't want to miss a moment.

Happy Day  I with Mason today.  =)

 

Maui- the Rest of the Story-

 
Yes, today I will finish with the travel log; this blog is used as my scrapbook, so I wanted to get it all down on paper before  too much time had passed .....plus we are picking Mason up tomorrow from his Mission and that is a day I have waited for; for two years.....what Joy!

We had such a wonderful relaxing time together; and it couldn't of come at a better time in our life.  We feel blessed and know we have a lot to be thankful for.   That being said, there are just a few more things that I would like to document.

Our place was fabulous- the staff and room were perfect.....loved sitting here,  enjoying the sea breeze.

Loved our walks together each day- {picture in front of a Banyan Tree}

 
 
 
Exploring with Dan is always interesting and fun....he even had us go through a couple model home open houses.....he always knows what I like.  =)

 

  

The architecture there was very "plantation island" style.

 


Everywhere we went,  fresh flowers were on the tables....even some road side shacks had vases of flowers....and if you know me....I love using what is around your yard....even if its just one simple flower. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This little guy, only about two inches, just amazed me, not sure why, but fun to find.

So this is the end of my story....we had a fabulous time, any vacation that can get Dan to stop long enough and read during the day{for pleasure}....well.....is so worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
We are still in the clouds =) 

Happy Day!

Maui- Waterfalls & Food

On the Road to Hana we were able to see lots of fabulous waterfalls- here are a few of our favorite.

 
 
 
 
At the bottom of each of the falls was a lovely little pool....fun for swimming in.

 

A fun part of the trip was trying new food and enjoying all the great fruit- here is a list of some of our favorite things we ate on our trip.

Virgin Lava Flow was one of our favorite drinks.....they had it at several different places....but I think this one from our place was the best.

Hula Pie....to die for.  This really could of been for a family of 4....but the two of us polished it off in no time.  =) 
 
Wonderful desserts- on the left side of the plate are two round green colored fruits....called dinosaurs eyes....very very good, but unusual. {they have a hard shell that you take off...inside a clear gel like fruit....when you bite into it.....it looks like an eye looking back at you. Yummy}

 

We ate fish everyday and always with vegetables from the area. On the top of these vegetables is a fern that they cook and eat.

 

Road side stands were everywhere... this was one of our favorites.....yummy banana bread there....we stood there and ate a whole loaf....{it was still warm...had to eat it while it was warm =)

 
This was the garden by the side of Julie's banana bread shack....it's hard to tell where the garden stops and the jungle begins.

 
 
The day before we left we stop at the Pioneer Inn and had macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup...tooooooo die for. But, Holy Cow sooooooo much to eat....I could only eat half and that was pushing it.

 

 

Part of the fun of traveling is trying new things and foods- =)

Here is a list of some of the foods we ate-

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Banana, Taro and sweet potato chips
• ginger and Ogo Seaweed Salsa
• Roasted Kalua Pig
• Heart of Palm salad
• Island fish- with mango sauce
• Poi- {not a fan}
• Sea Bean Duck
• Salad with Poha Berry Dressing
• KuKu Patties
• maori Fishcakes with mussels
• Salmon and Scallops
• Pohole Ferns
• coconut bread

Some of these we have had before, some new; we also had the best ever fish and chips! {yes, we both gained weight....but well worth it.}

 

Maui- Road to Hana

On Tuesday we started our adventure on  "The Road to Hana"  Typically people go on tours for this drive....mainly, I think because the road is narrow, close to cliffs and lots of one way passes and hair pin cruves. ......but we hate group tours, Dan's word for them {cattle} sorry, so, anyways....we got up early to get ahead of the tour buses. 

What a fun drive....we stopped as we wanted, when something stood out to us we would check it out.

One of our first stops was down a little narrow pathway.....beautiful trees there. I believe this tree is a "gum" tree.  We ran into a local at this spot, she gave us some pointers and told us not to miss Oheo Gulch and if we got there early we would have the place to ourselves {and we pretty much did}

Here are some beaches we saw on the road to Hana-

 
 
 
 

The waves were higher and faster on this side of the island.

 
We went to one beach that had sea caves, blow holes, and the famous "Bunny" ears.

 
 

Nice hair....don't you think? {I learned that there are not good hair days in Maui =)

 
So fun exploring the sea caves-

 
After exploring the beaches we decided to do a little hiking- 4miles round trip.....took us about 1 hour to hike up and a little less coming down.

During the hike we came upon the Bamboo forrest- so much fun.  I tried to film a little so you could hear the sounds....but it didn't turn out like I hoped.....but here's a little look. Very interesting place, when the bamboo hit each other; it sounded like bamboo chimes.

 
We also came across this tree, which we named the "Avatar" tree-

 
 
There were several "pools" along the way. 

Once we got to the top of the hike....there was a large pool and a waterfall....perfect for cooling off. {lots of waterfalls on this drive- I plan on sharing in another post.}

 
 
 
Beautiful, beautiful drive.... we left at 6am and didn't get back until after dark.  Just taking our time and exploring.

 
Also on this drive we:

• We ate coconut bread
• Had a fabulous smoothie....from a road side hut.....made by a really nice "beach bum"  =)
• Had Hawaiian style pork sandwich
• Made friends with a couple (on their Honeymoon} from Australia
  We ran into this couple several time during our stay....{notice Danny in the far right corner}after the third time....we decided it wasn't by chance....there was a reason for us to keep running into each other....we had some nice conversations with them.  Heavenly Father, I believe, puts us in the places we need to be at the right time.

Beautiful day-

 

 

Birthday, Filoli and Easter Party-

 A lot has been going on this month. It's been a month of wonderful things. There were a few things I hadn't had time to share, so today I thought I would catch up.

First off-

Carlee's Birthday-

Sam and Heidi invited us over to their home for a very sweet little birthday party.  Carlee was adorable as usual.  John and Libby were there with their kids.  Ashlee is becoming  a big help with the little kids.... she pretty much took care of Audrey the whole party.

 
Next-

Stake Primary Traveling meeting to Filoli- {Just for fun, who says you always have to have a formal meeting? =)  Great day-

 

 


I was so inspired by the place that I came home and did this-

 
And this-

 
I made a couple centerpieces just using the flowers and foliage from my yard.

Next-

Our Spanish Branch Easter Party- {held at our place on Saturday.}
 
-Food, Easter egg hunt, and paddle boating-

Sam and Heidi came to help out and to join in on the Easter egg hunt.

 

You're never to old for an Easter egg hunt.

 
 
We had a little drama when one of the canoes tipped over....but all was well.  Just got wet and a little cold.

 
Thanks to family and friends for helping-

 

Beautiful fun filled month....and in just 3 days I will have Mason in my arms. SWEET!

Maui- Flowers

 
One of my favorite things about Maui....the flowers, just wish I knew the names of them.

We used this flower as our "Hawaiian air-freshener"....works great. {I think this flower was call the Hawaiian passion flower.}

 

Here are few pictures of our favorites.

 
 
Some of these pictures were taken at the Lavender Farm-

 

 
 
Wonderful succulents-

 
 
 
These plants were found up at the Haleakala Crater- called silver bush. {in person they really do look like metal}

Beautiful centerpieces through out the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
This pond was close to our room- filled with fish.

This tree was Dan's favorite-

 
They were everywhere on the road to Hana- up close the red flowers look like butterflies.

 
Flowers everywhere.....even on your bed. =)

 

Have a wonderful Easter Day-

Maui- Snorkeling & Whales

 
 On Thursday We took a sail boat out to Molokini crater- to do some snorkeling....as an added bonus we saw several families of whales on the way out.

  

 
 
The snorkeling was great....we even came face to face with some sea turtles. {wish I had an under water camera}

 
The crater is about 13 miles off shore.  Beautiful spot.

 
 
We spent about 6 hours in total.  The water was very calm...the captain said that it was very rare...happens only about 20 times a year.  Lucky us =)

 {The crew served us lunch on the boat on the way home...not bad}

 
It's amazing how quiet it is when you are sailing.

Drive to Haleakala Crater- Elevation- 10,023 feet

Okay, if you didn't know where you were going....this sign should give you a clue that it was was going to be a very "high" place. {this sign made me smile}

The drive to the crater very interesting- first of all the road is very "curvy" and in 37 mile you go from sea level to 10,023 feet.....crazy.  
{the whole drive up there- Dan and I kept saying- "I can't believe Shannon road a bike down this hill" we were impressed to say the least.....after seeing the road; sorry... but there's no way I was going to do that. } Shannon earned some "way to go points" with us that day.

 
You get to a point in the drive where it  looks like you are looking out the window of an airplane- seriously crazy!

When we first got to the top of the crater- for just a few moments I felt a little like an "earthquake" was happening...after that I was fine.

A little bit colder up here.

 
 
Danny was trying to get a picture of me falling from the sky. =)

 

 

 
Now I can say I "sky dived" from 10,023 feet =) 

 
More pictures from the crater-

 
At the summit of Haleakala Crater- you can see forever...we were lucky enough to have a couple of minute of cloud breaks.

 
They do some awesome "sky searching" or spying =) at the top.

We had lots of fun, just took our time and enjoyed the ride down....trying not to run over the people on bikes . =)  {Shannon you were brave!}

After this trip we just drove around looking at things- came across a lavender farm...more on that later.

 

Maui- Beaches-

The beaches of Maui were outstanding!  We drove completely around the entire island (all but 10 miles of dirt road}- we saw; white, black, red and yellow sand beaches. Some crystal clear blue some dark green.  Some had arches some had caves....some layers of blue.

Here are a few of my favorites-

Most of the white that you see is coral that has washed up on shore- This beach had an usual sound....kind of like rocks tumbling in a dryer.

 
I loved the layers of blue at this site- and actually I'm having a couple of these pictures put on canvas....for the cottage. {I think the sand almost looks pink.}

 

 
Snorkeling heaven.

 
This "yellow" sand beach or "big beach" was one of two  beaches where Danny would take his shoes off.  The Sand was super soft. {Danny has tender feet =)

 
Beautiful white sand-

 

Most everyday was perfect "82"  never rained & just soft gentle breezes.

 
Beautiful Black sand beach on the road to Hana.

 
Loved the arches at this beach.

Theres something about the shore line that makes me feel at home.

 

Maui.....Sunsets-

We are back from our fabulous trip to Maui.....and I'm finally feeling "grounded" so I thought I would start documenting our trip.  I wasn't sure how to document everything; all the sights, smells, feelings of our trip......but  here I go.

Sunsets-

 Our first night in Maui we had dinner at the Sea House restaurant- this was the view from our table.

Our second night in Maui- we decided to take a sunset cruise- us with the boat in the back.

Danny right after they put up the sails- it was a little windy- but beautiful quite and smooth. {Dan lost his hat to the sea later on in the evening =)

 

A perfect evening- beautiful between sunset and dusk-  The magic of Twilight.
 
 
 
 

 
Friday evening we when to a Luau, Feast at Lele-  Just before sunset we had our pictures taken on the beach-

This was our view of the sunset that evening-

 
 
Wonderful evening there, great food....some I had never had before, like a fruit called dinosaur eyes.

 
  

The entertainment was top notch and fun....this was an evening that was sweet, soft and warm.

"Sensual pleasures have the fleeting brilliance of a comet; a happy marriage has the tranquility of a lovely sunset." -Ann Landers

 
This was the view of the sunset from our room- we were just steps from the beach and each night we took the time to walk some part of this area.

 

 

Just relaxing; watching the sun go down.

 
I think one of my favorite things to do on our trip was....Watching Danny, watch the sun go down.

 
Just steps from our room.

The sunsets were one of the highlights of our trip- there's nothing quite like a soft, quiet sunset.