Houston Rodeo!

Round 1

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is one of the largest in the country. We always went growing up. The animals and rodeo events are fun to see, but every night there is a concert that attracts most people. A big group of gals from the ward, about 20 in all, went for a Girls Night Out when Sugarland was playing. We had a great time!!

We did some dancin'...

And tried fried foods on a stick!

Here we have fried snickers, twinkie, cheesecake, and brownie. Anything you want, you can find dipped in batter and fried up at the rodeo! I hadn't ever tried any of these, but heard they were so good...

Well, they weren't! I would not recommend any of them. They weren't terrible after a few bites, but definitely not worth the hype. But fun to eat! ;-)

Then some of us went on a few carnival rides. This was a ton of fun! I haven't been on a carnival ride, or even a roller coaster, in years. It was scary and hilarious all at once... we couldn't stop laughing!

ROUND 2

A few nights later, a couple of us went to see Tim McGraw. Come on, who doesn't want to see him! He is so cute, and it was another night of fun!

Nora Robinson, Me, Teri Graham.

Of course we ate more yummy rodeo food.

And when the concert was over we even got to do a little line dancing! The rodeo goes on for about 3 weeks, with a concert every night. It would have been fun to go to even more, but I guess we'll have to see what we can get into next year...

Fun in Oahu

Before we left for Hawaii my sister said when we rented a car we should for sure get a convertible. We took her suggestion, and it was well worth it. This was definitely the way to go. It was so fun!! We could see things a lot easier as we traveled around the island, and it made the drive part of the excitement. With the gorgeous weather, it was well worth the little extra to get it.

I love this! When Sam went to rent the car, I laid on the beach and read a book. At some point I looked up and noticed there was a rainbow just in the middle of the sky. This was the view from my relaxing wait on the beach.

A night out in Waikiki...

We stayed 4 days in Waikiki at the Marriott, and then we moved out to Marriott Ko Olina for a more relaxing environment the last 3 days. It was a about 40 minutes from Waikiki and a beautiful resort. It has its own lagoons, tons of swimming pools, and of course restaurants, shopping, and a golf course right on the resort. It would be the perfect place if we took the kids, you'd never have to leave.

Our last activity was to go kayaking in Kailua. For some reason, I have always wanted to kayak. I would love to live by a nice lake or river where I could do it regularly. Well, it was a little scary out in the ocean. And it's safe to say Sam and I will never be going on the Amazing Race! We kayaked over to this place, called Flat Island.

Then we kayaked to Laniki Beach. It was the prettiest beach we saw throughout our trip. It had the softest sand I have ever felt. It was gorgeous, as you can see.

And then came check out day. We were gone a long time, so we were excited to see the kids, but it was also hard to leave such a nice, fun, relaxing, exciting vacation. It really was the perfect 10 year anniversary trip!

Gorgeous Adventures

One morning we got up and hiked Diamond Head. It wasn't a long hike, we used it as our workout and tried to do it quickly, but it wasn't easy either.

There were a lot of stairs. About 300 steps I heard them say.

And there was a tunnel to go through. On the way up it was totally dark and I couldn't see the light at the other end. It was actually scary. The thought of being in the middle of the mountain and how it could collapse at any time. I can probably thank Hollywood for those thoughts and all the new exploring movies!

But when we got to the top, it was gorgeous! Off one side you could Waikiki, and the other side was a more remote park of the island. We even saw some whales in the water.

After leaving Diamond Head, we came across this scenic area and stopped to check it out. It was different with the rocks and cliffs and waves breaking over them. It was really pretty, in a different way than the white sand.

Then we were on to Haunama Bay. It is actually a wildlife reserve for the reef that is there. Almost the whole Bay is covered in reef. You had to be careful where you swam because it would get shallow on top of the corral real quick. We went snorkeling and even saw a sea turtle! That was my goal. I really wanted to see one, and was so excited! We spent some time on the beach between swimming and really enjoyed our time there.

Probably Our Favorite Day

"The temple is a sacred edifice, a holy place, where essential saving ceremonies and ordinances are performed to prepare us for exaltation."

One of the most beautiful things we saw while we were there was the Laie Temple. Our church currently has 134 Temples operating world wide, but this one has to be in the most beautiful setting. Even though I am in them, these pictures look more to me like screen savers. It truly was that amazing! The white temple, blue sky, blue water, green grass.

This is the view looking the other direction, from the front door of the temple. The grounds include this long corridor of palm trees that go all the way to the ocean. We were told that several years ago President Hinckley (who was then the Prophet of our church) came to the temple and asked why it didn't extend the whole way. Then he decided it needed to change!

After the temple, we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, owns this amazing tourist attraction. The center offers a view into 7 polynesian cultures. I didn't know if I would really like it. I thought it would be like a museum where you walk around and read about the tribes and island people, but it was Amazing! It's more like a small theme park. They did a show on canoes. Each village came out separately and did a dance as they ventured down the river. Half way through the show I got emotional as I thought of how many people there are around the world and how different we really all are, but that the Gospel of Jesus Christ fits everyone, and that Jesus suffered and died to save us all. It was a good reminder that there is more to this life than what I am use to here in the land of plenty.

This is a traditional Hawaiian food called Poi. It was about as good as it looks in this picture. :)

Of course you had to learn a little hula. Which was also very different than what I previously though.

At the end of a very good day, we went to the Luau and show that the PCC puts on. The Luau was fun, and the food was good. But the show was awesome. 70% of the employees at the PCC are students who attend BYU Hawaii and who work there for tuition and scholarship money. So to see such a professional, moving show was astonishing to me. These students put on a show just as good as any broadway I have seen.

Everyone celebrating an anniversary was called up on stage during the luau. So we even got to do a little dancing!

Vacation Begins

We've been home from our vacation for a week now, and it's taken a few days to get back in the swing of things. It has taken even longer for me to get anything posted to the blog. After being gone a week, seeing and doing lots of fun stuff, and taking tons of pictures, I feel overwhelmed on how to choose and organize the pictures. And when I feel that way about anything, I tend to ignore it! So, in an effort to get started, I have decided to break the pictures down into a day or two at a time.

We had a wonderful vacation. It was the perfect mix of busy adventure and relaxing beach time. We stayed 7 nights and enjoyed every minute of our 10 year anniversary vacation!

We got there on a Tuesday at 2 in the afternoon. After sitting on the plane for 9 hours, we decided to get our and take a walk and just check things out. We stayed the first 4 days in Waikiki.

The second day we picked up our car, and did some sight seeing. We went to Pearl Harbor first. They have made a very nice Memorial to the men that died on that day, and all those who fought in the battle. We enjoyed learning more about it and seeing where it all took place. It was also a good reminder that we have had another tragedy take place just 10 years ago that was an even bigger devastation. I hope they make something just as memorable at Ground Zero.

Then we went to the Dole Plantation. I honestly didn't know pineapples grew on top of the plant. Aren't they too heavy to just hang there? Interesting! But other than a quick peek, and some pineapple yogurt, we didn't spend much time here - there's only so many pineapples I care to see!