Saturday, January 17, 2009

HaWAii

Recently Jon and I visited Kona Hawaii!!! It was amazing. We went to Hawaii with a lot of Jon's family for his brother's wedding. It was a lot of fun to be there with a group of people!
On our first day in Hawaii we went snorkeling! We saw a few sea turtles and a lot of neat fish. Snorkeling was new for me and I had a hard time getting use to the salt water. Once I got over that it was amazing. After snorkeling Jon and I went home and rested for awhile. We later went to the farmers market and bought some pineapple, tomatoes, avocados, and Jon's favorite... Passionfruit. When we returned home Dave grilled a pineapple and it was wonderful!
Our second day there and a day before the wedding we set out on an adventure! We drove around the entire island making short stops! The first stop was at a smoothie shop. They had great smoothies I think although Jon didn't like his very well! The shop had lots of trees and plants. The banana trees were neat and they had an avocado tree as well as a flower tree that had the flowers you put in your hair. That was my favorite! As we made our way to the other side of the island we past a lot of beautiful scenery! Our next stop was a waterfall. Unfortunately the fall wasn't very big because there is a drought occurring! However it was still very pretty. At the falls there were some really neat trees with vines all over them. They made me think of Tarzan! We got back in our rental car and continued on our adventure to the Volcano crater! It was not what I had expected. It seemed really dry and foggy. It was really neat to see! We soon left the crater and headed to the lava flowing in the ocean. Because the lava has changed directions of flow, we weren't able to see it flowing into the ocean. We did get to see little splatters here and there so that was fun! An interesting fact is when you look up at the moon when you are by the lava, there is a ring around it. Don't ask me why but it was really fun to see! On our walk out from the lava we stopped at a vendor who husked and opened a coconut for me. I then learned that I don't like coconut milk or coconut flesh. I decided I like the fake coconut from Utah! Jon and I headed back to the other side of the Island so we could go to bed. We didn't get back until about 1 in the morning but it was definitely a great adventure!
The next day which was Tuesday December 9th, 2008 was the reason we went to Hawaii. Jon's brother Paul was getting married. Jon and I both got ready for the wedding when Jon said he needed to sit down and rest for a minute. He didn't have much time because we needed to go so we wouldn't miss the wedding. I finished getting ready and when I went to see if Jon was ready he was throwing up. He had to miss the wedding. The wedding was beautiful and a lot of fun. I wish Jon could have been there! Instead Jon stayed home and threw up the entire day.
Jon was feeling a little weak on Wednesday so we didn't do too much. On thursday we decided to go back to the volcano with Jon's parents and Dave we also met Naloni and her family on the other side of the island. On our way over we stopped at the black sand beach. It was really cool but different to see a whole beach black rather then the normal sand color. After wandering around for awhile we got back in the van and headed toward the volcano. We went to see the crater again and this time you couldn't see it because of fog. We ended up going to a lava tube. It was so neat. We walked through it to where it collapsed so no one could go further. When we walked through the lava tube we had to have flash lights other wise you can't see your hand right in front of your face. After that fun we headed back to the car where we drove to the house Naloni's family was renting. We made hamburgers and the boys went snorkeling. We had to end our visit because there was a bad storm coming in and we still had a two and a half hour drive ahead of us.
Friday morning we woke up and decided to pack up because we were going to stay with Jon's cousin Kellie and her fiance Ryan. After we packed up we went out to lunch with Jon's parents and Dave. After lunch Jon and I went shopping and looked at pearls. I think we are pretty close to experts when it comes to pearls because of all of the stuff we learned. When we got back from shopping Jon wasn't feeling good (again). He had a bad ear infection and it was getting worse. He called Tom to save the day. Tom called in a prescription for ear drops at wal-mart. We left the house to go to wal-mart with all of our stuff because Jon's parents and Dave were leaving for Utah. Wal-mart took so long to get the prescription that we were late getting to the temple. Neither of us had our church clothes on so we got dressed in the car. Jon was putting his ear drops in so I ran up to the temple and walked in. The workers said they would hold the session for Jon so he could be there because it was the last session for the day. The temple was beautiful. Words can't even describe how amazing it was. The workers were so friendly and everything about it was perfect. After a great session we went to dinner. We went to Boston Basil's. They were so nice to let us eat there because everywhere else was closed. It was wonderful. The bread was amazing and the dessert was really good. After a great day we went to Jon's cousin's appartment and went to bed.
The next morning we woke up and Kellie (Jon's cousin) and Ryan (her fiancĂ©) made us french toast with some really good bread.  We then got ready and went to the city of refuge.  It was pretty fun but after we went snorkeling!  It was a lot of fun.  We stayed for a while and saw so many cool fish.  When we went to get out I had a hard time because there is a rock that you need to get on to get out and for some reason I couldn't do it.  So this nice man pulled me up on it so I didn't have to stay in the Ocean forever.  After getting out of the ocean we packed up our stuff and headed back home.  We stopped at a cute little bakery and got some yummy treats.  We decided to get some sandwiches for lunch and took them back to Jon's cousin's apartment.  We started eating and that is when it happened.  I got sick.  I ran to the bathroom and couldn't quite make it.  I threw up everywhere.  It was pretty disgusting.  After I felt a lot better so I cleaned it all up and Jon and I went back to the house so I could shower.  I still felt sick and ended up throwing up all night.  It was horrible.  We didn't get to go to the Christmas parade because I couldn't stop throwing up.  Finally I feel asleep and I decided in the morning that I wasn't going to be sick and I wanted to enjoy my last day in Hawaii.  For our last day we didn't do too much.  We did our shopping and packed up.  We walked along the beach and wished we could stay longer.  I also went boogie boarding in the ocean with Naloni's family while Jon sat on the beach and watched!  It was a lot of fun!  I couldn't believe I was going home so soon.  Our flight home was okay.  It was long and I didn't sleep too much.  When Jon and I got home we were both wishing we could be back in Hawaii on the beach.  We both miss it and hope to be able to go back real soon!