Hawaiian Thanksgiving

I don't think I would mind repeating this Thanksgiving Day tradition one bit:

First, wake up and go to the beach.

Next, fill up all sorts of devices with sand.

Find a "woof woof" that makes the one year old squeal to no end.

Become a master hole digger (and roll eyes at husband who threatens to use picture of wife as Facebook profile picture).

Contain Nash from the "dangerous current" in a sand hole.

Then, head home and play in the yard until the feast is ready.

At last, carve the turkey that has been cooking all night in an underground Hawaiian Imu Pit. Gather around the feast at the dining room table with the windows open and the fans circling. Admire the fresh flowered centerpiece (especially since picking the flowers resulted in mom² falling and shattering the bottom halves of her two front teeth - that part could probably be omitted from future traditions).

Last, relax with husband who has patiently waited for hours to watch the Lions game.

Most of all, create warm memories with family.

Laie

There's nothing like walking up the road to visit the temple grounds, and overlooking the ocean at the same time.

Beach Hopping

Before I dive into the pictures from our tropical escape, I must first give a disclaimer.

We don't go on vacations anymore. Now that we have children, we go on trips.

Even though our surroundings were warm and beautiful, the behind-the-scenes was a whole different story. We dealt with whining, terrible tantrums, mornings that started before 5am due to the time change, fighting, exhaustion, Nash climbing out of his pack 'n play every 3 seconds, and a 6.5 hour flight with a double ear infection and zero naps. 

Ok, now that the truth is out there, I can move on to the pictures guilt free. Because in between all of the drama, we were able to do some pretty amazing things and see some spectacular sights.

We were greeted at the airport with real leis after our long flight. Mine was so fragrant; nothing like I've ever breathed in before. I kept preserving it in the fridge overnight because it was too beautiful and aromatic to throw out.

We started off our 10 day beach hop at Hukilau Beach.

We also spent a day at the beach where they filmed Lost.

And the boys did some "shore" boogie boarding.

Blake could not have been more happy about the waves crashing and lifting up the board.

We visited Turtle Beach where we came face to face with this guy:

Nash was pretty excited about that sea turtle even though he made woof-woof sounds.

Having fun is hard work.

Evening beach walks are the best.

We lost Nash's sandals on day one. Thankfully he didn't have to wear walking shoes the whole time. Uncle Todd flew in few days after us and grabbed an extra pair of sandals from our house on his way to the airport.

I don't know how we could have done this trip without loving grandparents who let us destroy their home, wake them up in the wee hours of the morning, provide countless meals, and guide us all over the island.

They even let us escape a few times so we could participate in activities sans children. One of the best getaways was our relaxing day at the beautiful Hanauma Bay.

Hanauma Bay has the best snorkeling in all of Oahu.

The coral reef stretches across the entire bay. Colorful fish were everywhere and they came right up to our faces. We even spotted a sea turtle. That whole day I kept thinking to myself, "Soak this in now. Because you have a long winter ahead of you back home."

Greetings from Paradise

We spent Thanksgiving in beautiful Hawaii.

Paradise I tell you.

Much more to come.

Thankful Turkey

This is the time of year where I can’t help but feel thankful. Thankful for health, happiness, the beauty that surrounds us, good friends, and a loving family.

I'll admit that there are days that challenge me. Challenge me to be as good as I can be. Sometimes it is hard to be thankful when I feel that everything has gone wrong and that I've not lived up to my full potential.

But whenever I am feeling that way, I am reminded that there is always, always, always something to grateful for. 

The small act of stopping to reflect upon my blessings makes me realize that each day is a gift. And we are blessed beyond measure.

Even the smallest members of our family participated in adding feathers to our thankful turkey.

(This turkey was made by hot glueing two decorative grapevine balls together. I cut out feathers, glued them to toothpicks, and we pushed them into the gaps after writing what we were thankful for. That's it.)