Aloha!

I finally have a chance to blog about our vacation to Hawaii! It was so nice for us to get away and just "be". The past six months have been a whirlwind of up and downs and we really needed time to take off and recuperate. It was nice to leave everything behind and have it just be . . . us. It was the first time in a LONG time I have felt like I was able to relax and "deal" (if you ever can) with the events that have surrounded our lives. We had great intentions of surfing, exploring, snorkeling, etc. but when it came down to it - we just SAT. However, we were sitting on the beach, so I guess that is okay. :)

Here are a few (yes, these are just a few) of the pictures from our week in Hawaii.

Amazing picture, huh? Jason and I spent the evening debating over who took this picture. I am still pretty sure I did.

We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island (thanks dad for the Hilton points) It was such a GORGEOUS resort. You had to get to your suite tower by a tram or boat. It was truly an escape from reality.

Nothin' like a little Tiki Man love!

Jason and I went and bought sunglasses with the money we had put aside for surfing so we could sit at the beach for longer amounts of time. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

On the Waikoloa Resort's beach they had hammocks set up in between palm trees. Yeah, that's where we spent about 80% of our time! Lazy, I know . . .

Just havin' fun!

One morning we did venture out of the resort and we did a temple session at the Kona Temple. What a cool experience.

And one night we went sailing. A word to the wise . . . don't go sailing on windy nights. That's all I will say about that.

We rented a convertible this time. Yes, don't laugh . . . it's a Sebring. Apparently they were all out of Mustangs AND PT Cruisers! Just call us Michael Scott!

We took this photo at a black sand beach.

One of the days we drove to the volcano. It's supposed to be one of the world's most active volcanoes. Jason is standing by one of the steam vents in this picture. On the two hour drive back I found out Jason was pretty disappointed in the volcano. Apparently he expected more than a large hole in the ground . . . I guess he envisioned little tiki men dancing around spewing lava. Hmmmmm . . .

The lagoon at our resort had about six or seven sea turtles you could swim with. It was a lot of fun.

Here we are at the National Park "Place of Refuge." In "ancient" days people who were accused of crimes could escape to this point. If they made it here the priest freed them of all their trespasses and they were deemed free again. I think that means a little more to me now - it truly was a place of refuge for us.

Ok - I hope I haven't bored you with all of these pictures, but we really had a good time.