Aloha Hawaii

Aloha everyone. We know its been a long time since we posted anything, but now that life has settled down a little we are definitely going to do it more frequently. For all of you who were wondering, the wedding and everything all went very nicely. There were times when we weren't sure if we were going to make it, but we made it. A big mahalo/thank you for everyone who pitched in and helped; we couldn't have done it without you.

Many of the pictures from the trip are scattered on several cameras among our families, but here's some of the pictures that we have.

First order of business when we got to Hawaii was learning how to surf. It was something that I had always wanted to learn how to do and figured that then would have been the perfect opportunity. So, here I am, after getting a few instructions and coaching, riding a wave in.

We also decided we wanted to go to the USS Arizona with Grandma and Grandpa Brems. Knowing of big of a part it played in their lives, and trickles down into our lives, it was a really neat experience. Sad on one part, but still a neat experience going with Grandma and Grandpa
Here is a picture of Emily on the memorial.

All the girls got together for a picture too.

Later we took a tour around the island with Jodie's parents acting as tour guides. We went to an outlook of Rabbit Island. I think Jodie got a little bored with driving though...

It was a really cool view from on top of the cliff.


There were also a lot of bunkers that were built during WWII in the area. From the looks of the picture, Jodie's brother Shaun also got bored of the driving too. Too bad it was just the beginning of our tour around the island.

We also stopped off at Pali Lookout. It was on this cliff that King Kamehameha the Great fought the warriors of Oahu and those who didn't surrender were forced over the cliff. It was a really cool place because it was really windy. Plus, the golf course at the bottom of the picture was actually where we had our reception.
Here's an example of the wind.
We saw many things around the island that were very cool, thanks mom and dad for showing us around. On Thursday, the Brems and Bagley families went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was really neat to see some of the different customs and cultures from around the different islands of the Pacific. One really cool thing was the Samoa village were the guy climbed up the palm tree. Jodie said that when the palm trees are closer to each other that they will jump from palm tree to palm tree- pretty intense if you ask me.
Later at the Tahiti village, we, well, at least I learned somewhat how to dance. They had all the guys stand up and we had to follow along.
Then it was the girls' turn. It was fun seeing Jodie do it because she knows the basics and made it look so much easier.
They also asked Jodie and Maddie to go up and dance in front of everyone.
Later that day, we went to the Luau for dinner. One of the best parts were their smoothies served in pineapples. We got a Mango and a Pina Colada, both were very good.
During the Luau, they called up anyone who was celebrating a wedding or an anniversary to dance to the Hawaiian Wedding Song. It was a fun little surprise.
Striking a pose on an island in the PCC.
Ok, that's the end of the pre-wedding pictures. So, the rest is from the honeymoon on the big island. Our first day there, we went to the city of refuge. The royal family had their homes there and there was sacred ground that if a law breaker reached, they were untouchable. They could also have a priest forgive them of their crimes and they could go back to their home. There was a story about one of the queens, who after getting in an argument with her husband, swam across the bay to the city of refuge in order to be protected from any harm until things cooled down. Here's a game that the royal family loved to play- they carved little divets into a big rock and played with small black and white stones.
We also saw some tree molds where lava had flowed a few hundred years ago and wrapped around the palm trees and later decayed. They were pretty cool.
Jodie striking a Tiki pose.
A sea turtle warming up on the beach.
Lots of Tikis
This big stone, according to Mark Twain, was the favorite sitting spot of King Kalakaua, the last king of Hawaii.
This was the wall that separated the place of refuge from the royal family's homes- it was an intense wall.
The next day we went to the volcano Kilauea, it was really cool. Earlier this year, they had the first eruption since 1982, first explosive activity since 1928, and the first time it happened with no warning at all. It was really neat to see some of the activity that is still going on now.

We also met up with Robert and Emily at the park and walked through a lava tube. It was really cool because the first half (about 300 yds) had lights, but the last half didn't. So, we were able to get into complete darkness; it was really cool.
We also saw some of the lava flow from previous eruptions.
Here it covered part of the old road.
At the very end of the day, we decided to stop off at the Mauna Loa factory- it was really good. Free samples and products that aren't available in the US.
They also had a self guided tour of the factory. So, here we are watching it; Robert looks kind of like he is craving some chocolate.
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped off at one of the black sand beaches. It was pretty cool to see.



Another day, we also went and saw Akaka falls. It was very pretty.

We also found a rope vine and swung a little bit too.
This is a picture looking up from the vine; its pretty long.

Later, we drove up to Mauna Kea, the observatory atop Hawaii's highest peak, nearly 14,000 feet high. It was really cool because we found snow up on the top and here is a picture of me throwing a snowball that I made.


Another day, we went to a beach and went snorkeling. The water wasn't really clear, but we did get to see a sea turtle which was pretty cool. We also saw this sign and it made us laugh.
Later that day we walked around Kona and Jodie won the prize of finding the biggest sea turtle.
That evening we ate at a restaurant in Kona and this was pretty much the view from our table; our table was about 5 feet away.
This was the airport in Kona. I thought it was really fun because it was all outdoors and just different from all the big airports you see here on the mainland.
The only other time I had boarded a plane like this was on the mission. It always reminds me of Air Force One when the President gets off- just kind of different and fun.

Well, that's all the pictures we have from the trip. Hope you liked them and sorry its taken so long to update things.