HAWAII

Hawaii was........

The best and the worst. Most of you have already seen or heard about my knee injury. I had a spectacular spill at the end of a waterfall hike. Luckily, it was at the end of the hike so we had already enjoyed jumping and swimming in waterfalls (although I still had to hike back out of the canyon), but unfortunately the hike was at the beginning of our vacation.

So I spent the entire week in a leg brace. Uuugh. The first day was a little "woe-is-me" but then I forced myself to stop the self pity because I couldn't change what happened and I didn't want to ruin my vacation or anyone else's. Besides, there is plenty of time for self pity when you are sitting on your mom's couch and it's 115 degrees outside and you can't go anywhere. So, vacation was a little more challenging than planned, but we still had a great time. A few of the highlights:

The wedding was, of course, the best part of the week. This was Greg Pfeiffer's wedding - a family we have been very close to my entire life (our dad's were best friends). It was a gorgeous location; an old sugar mill that has been turned into an event location. It was a relatively small wedding, so we knew most of the people there. Everyone was so happy and beautiful and relaxed that, despite the gigantic brace on my leg, it was a very magical day.

The day before the wedding, in place of a rehearsal dinner, the entire group was treated to a snorkel boat ride on the Pride of Maui! This was the only thing I couldn't participate in and I was more than a little bummed because everyone said the snorkeling was awesome. It was Jen's first time snorkeling and she was hooked! She said the fish came right up to her! There was a slide off the back of the boat that provided endless amusement and the crew cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch. I enjoyed the sunshine and read my book.... it wasn't too bad because it was nice just to be out on the water.

Of course, the Polynesian Cultural Center was a highlight for me because mom has always wanted to go and this was her first time. She was in Hawaii in 1958 (summer after she graduated high school) and 1960 (my grandpa worked over there for about 1 year). BYU-Hawaii was open, but the PCC was still being built. As soon as we knew we were heading to Maui for the wedding, we both agreed too spend an extra couple days in Oahu so mom could get a chance to go to the PCC. It was well worth it! She loved going to the different "islands" and, especially, watching the students interact with the crowds. I think she felt a great sense of pride in the students, BYU, and the church. It was fun to watch her enjoy it so much.

It was a great week. I wish I had been able to take long strolls at sunset along the beach, but maybe I'll save that for my romantic honeymoon. :-) We ate tons of fresh fruit, drank fresh coconut juice, had the best garlic shrimp I've ever imagined

(from Giovanni's shrimp truck), laughed with life-long friends, and watched the gorgeous Hawaiian sunsets. It's hard to complain about such a life.