Trip to Oahu

Since moving here, Oahu has meant long days in conferences for school. Nic and Heidi helped change that perception by arranging for us to come with them to shop and play just before Christmas. Ty was sick the entire time, but still a good sport.The first day, Heidi and I shopped around Waikiki, looking for cribs and clothes. I agonized over which crib to buy, and couldn't end up making a decision until Brady came. We picked the boys up from the airport that night (after work) and settled in for a dinner at Cheesecake Factory.

On Saturday morning, we ran along the beach in Waikiki, watching all the meditators and yoga masters (there were a lot of them!!!). The boys got in a few minutes of shopping, and then we took off towards the North Shore to attend the temple.

In 1865, the Church purchased 6,000 acres on the North Shore, and the temple was built by 1919, followed by the beginning of BYU Hawaii. On travel websites, it is cited as the second temple built outside of Salt Lake, but actually it is number 5. I have always seen these gorgeous landscape pictures, but of course it was better in person! We were surprised by the small size of the building and rooms.

The highlight was staying at Turtle Bay Resort. Nic and Heidi accumulated a few free nights, so we were able to go high class. Here's a picture of Heidi, Nic, and Ty (and Brady's in there somewhere, too) from our hotel lanai.

Turtle Bay boasts that "every room has an ocean view." No cheap, interior rooms here!

Not losing our roots in the process, we all plopped down for the BYU bowl game. At the half, BYU made a ridiculous decision that led to a touchdown for UCLA with seconds to go. This game came down to the wire--and BYU won after UCLA missed an easy field goal with no time left. Whew. It was nice to take down UCLA, after they beat is in pre-conference play. Hopefully, our rankings will be a little higher next year.

Saturday night, Brady and I found the coolest spot in Oahu while Ty was going to bed. It is possible that we were trespassing, but I'm honestly not sure. There were a bunch of hammocks right next to the ocean, and the breeze was blowing, AND there was a full moon. It was fantastic.

Sunday morning, Nic and Heidi showed us their old tromping grounds (they both attended BYU-H for a semester). We were also able to attend church, where they had a special Christmas program. At the end, the ward divided up into groups and sang "Silent Night" in 5 different languages. It was really neat.

No experience in Hawaii is complete without a sunset, and we were able to see several.

Mele Kalikimaka!

Our blog posting has been a little tardy, so here we are the day after Christmas with a fresh post.

In the past, our tree has fit our small living arrangements well. Unfortunately, this year, it looked like a mini. We still liked it, and with the Mistletoe candle burning, we felt like it was "real" enough.




We came home from Oahu in the late afternoon on Christmas Eve, and had several couples over for dinner and games. We actually didn't contribute anything but the salad and house, and had a tasty traditional meal of lasagne and cranberry muffins. Yum. (We are really terrible about remembering to take pictures. This is one of the only ones that turned out that night.)



Christmas morning, we woke up and started orange rolls for breakfast. (Thanks, Ang!) We tore into our presents--already knowing what most of them were. Brady surprised me with a jewelry organizer, which added to my fantastic stash that included an IPod, car stereo converter, and some new shoes. Brady's only surprise from me was some cologne. Our favorite gift is seen below--my parents made a BYU blanket for Zachary! We also loved the knife from Cory and Kristen (cutting off Brady's neck) and the Michigan memorabilia from Mom and Dad Edwards.


We had four couples over for a yummy Christmas breakfast, and then went up the North Shore to practice surfing. Don't be too impressed--the waves were not even one footers. It was a blast, though, and we are getting more comfortable standing on the boards. We finally don't look as unsteady as most beginners (like, for instance, the girl to the right of me who is just about to fall).

We missed seeing little neices, nephews, and siblings open gifts this year, but we look forward to seeing many of them in a few weeks!

Merry Christmas!

Best Discovery of the Season

Candy Cane Hershey Kisses: go try them. You will fall in love with these things.

Thanksgiving Highlights

Brady and I decided to head to Utah for Thanksgiving this year. The whole Edwards clan made it, with the exception of Mom and Dad! Thankfully (haha, catch the pun), Angela aced the organization and made it a fabulous meal. (This is the least work I have ever done to participate in the preparation. I had a miserable cold, and didn't get up for the day until 1pm--and we ate at 2pm! Prepping for dinner was never easier.)

Some of the highlights include:

The dinner, of course, complete with the bird, gravy, homemade stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, salad, jello salad, spinach dip, veggie tray, and all sorts of pies.

We met Logan for the first time...

We got to see how girls play together--somewhat of a novelty in our family of mostly nephews. They found stashes of make-up, played with their "babies," and were joined at the hip.


We raced the Edwards boys in a 4X400. The boys pulled a victory, and the girls lamented their racing style the rest of the day, each of us convinced we could have done better. Maybe next year?

We played the cup game for the second year running. Notice Ryan's tongue...

Paul and Ryan worked hard and made it possible for us to attend the BYU v. Utah game! We watched the Utes lose another heart-breaker in the final minute of the game, going down 17-10. What a rush! I forgot just how high I could jump when I am standing on bleachers.

We were able to see my Utah siblings--Emily, Kevin, and Natalie. (Scott was in ID getting his teeth pulled.) Emily introduced us to another nephew, Quinn, who is now a year and half. It is crazy to meet a nephew for the first time who can run around all over the place and is saying words! (I would include a picture, but it was very unflattering--complete with Hawaii chocolate all over his face.)
Post-game excitement stayed high as we watched BYU basketball take on North Carolina in the Vegas tourney. We lost, but were able to stay with them for most of the game.

Sunday, I came upstairs and saw the kids all reading books together. I thought that was a pretty sweet moment.

We took our family shots outside, and decided it was way too cold to stay out for long.
Sunday night, we went to Temple Square to check out the lights. They never disappoint!

It was a good trip, and we are excited to come back in January!

Just Your Lazy Saturday

It's been a long time since we traveled north, so after doing some Christmas shopping, we went to Hanalei for a hike. We had perfect weather for our 2 mile ascent, and passed very few people throughout. Those are two main ingredients in our definition of a good hike.

From the lookout, you can see 1/5th of the island. From that vantage point, it really does make you realize you are on an island, with so much of the coastline in view.

Brady spotted these strawberry guavas. We ate tons of them. They are sweet, with a little tang.

One of the "few people" we passed snapped this one when we were coming back down:
After our hike, we went over to Hanalei Bay. We have been there one other time, but it was cloudy and did not stun us. This time, we ate our sack lunches and walked the beach for over an hour, and loved it. Hanalei means "crescent," and the beach here is long and shaped in a c-curve. We enjoyed watching surfers of all levels, and we sincerely wished we had our boards, too. We really need to get on this surfing thing if we have any intention of getting decent at it.

Yum.

Sand and 'Smores

We arrived at the beach after dark. Our first priority was setting up the tent...setting it up far enough away from the water. In the middle of night, the crashing waves seemed to be getting closer and closer, but I figured I was worrying too much. When I got up in the morning, I found the water came fifteen feet from our tent in the middle of night. That was close!
Below, the gang(Nic & Heidi & Ty, Matt & Megan, and Karen) contemplate if the rip-current is too strong. Matt went for a little morning swim and we're glad he made it back...the ocean is pretty strong here. We ended playing football at the waist deep level.

Matt and Megan patiently waiting for Brady to cook their pancakes.
Nic didn't sleep too well because of the waves and slight breeze. He was trying to wake himself up all morning.
Doesn't this look refreshing?So does this.
After the beach we headed up Waimea Canyon and found another hiking trail...try this one, "The Po'omau Trail". Among the vegetation we found these cool upside-down flowers. I thought about bringing some home and putting them in a vase for Karen, but I couldn't figure out how that would work. Ha ha.

The ridge in the center of picture was our destination--the Po'omau Scenic Overlook.

This waterfall below is the last picture I took before my camera battery died. The overlook gives view to three waterfalls from one spot. The other two falls are even better. Karen and I are planning to hike the trail again and go further in. I'll be sure to charge my batteries.

A Sugar High

We've been training together for most of the fall to prepare ourselves for the Old Sugar Mill Run. This past Saturday, the race commenced and we hit the pavement hard for 10 miles. We actually both exceeded our expectations for how we would perform. The competition was fierce...all 50 of them. Karen was the first woman to cross the finish line and actually finished fourth overall with a time of 1 hr 13 minutes (7:18 miles). I tried to take on a 50+ year old for first place, but ended up eating his dust and took second with a time of 1 hr 11 minutes (7:06 miles). Admittedly, the training was fun (don't tell Karen). She's already trying to find some Turkey Trot in Utah for Thanksgiving. I'm still trying to walk normal.

The sweet part about winning is we got these awesome mugs, in case we want some hot chocolate in Hawaii.

Edwards Eerie Edibles

Family tradition dictates the celebration of Halloween with an Edwards Eerie Edibles event. As we understand it, quite a few of the siblings are also embarking on their own Eerie Edibles, but we are the first to post, so you will all have to try and keep up.

Last night, we had a few couples bring a creepy side dish to the main event. We spent the day prepping--cooking and decorating a bit. Brady is exceptionally proud of this idea: the fan rotating with the ghosts. It was a great effect.


The main dish? "Bat blood with Bat Livers and Werewolf Meat" (a.k.a. white chicken chili). We also had "Pumpkin Guts with Bat Turds" (pumpkin rolls with chocolate chips) and the spread seen below. Our favorites (of our ideas) were the "Goblin Foot Fungus" (brocolli) and the "Ghost Snot--2 varieties" (dip).


While we were quite proud of our creative efforts, we were more impressed with everyone else's contributions. Everyone seemed to get it, and came up with fantastic sides:

Mandy and Rusty with their "Coagulated Blood Balls" (meat balls),


Megan and Matt with "Bones" (rolls),


Holly and Mike with their "Mummy Wraps" (crescent rolls) and "Brains with Poop" (caramel apple salad with candy bars),


John and Wendy with their "Bloody Fingers" (sausages),


Heidi and Nic with their "Spidey Nanna" (banana cream pie), and


Brooke and Thomas (and Isaac, who is typically dressed but it's a long story) with "Witches Eyes" (develed eggs) and "Dirt 'n Worms" (Oreo pudding with candy worms).

After eating, we made everyone participate in games. The first was Jeopardy--stealing from Cory and Kristen's success last year. The categories were Kauai Guidebook Adventures, Water Falls (a play on words, not a misprint), Food in Kauai, ESPN, and Halloween. The best moment was when Megan beat one of the guys on an ESPN 400 question. We tactfully left out his name.

Next, we competed to see who could balance a ball between their foreheads the longest, while doing other random activities (twirling, balancing on one foot, etc.). John and Wendy won this competition.

Here's a goofy picture to get a better idea...

Finally, we raced with candy corn. This got boring fast, until the pushing and cheating commenced.

The night was complete with a full moon, howling wind, music from scary Halloween movies, and a lot of laughs. Next year, we might make everyone dress up. We'll see.

Happy Haunting.