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.