Goodbye to HAWAII......

Steve and I had come to Kauai last year and stayed at the Marriot. We had an amazing experience with his business associates. It was a TREAT!

We decided to take the girls there on our last day in Kauai so that they could experience just a bit of this wonderful resort. The grounds to the hotel are so well manicured. Lush and green! Simply Beautiful!

There is a gorgeous inner court area.....

filled with a quiet pond area.....

colorful flowers......

and a small waterfall area.....

There were birds of all sorts in the court area....

It is one of the most awesome hotels I have ever seen!

Loved it back then and love it NOW!....

In fact we have been so impressed with it here that we have signed up for a possible time share at this resort. We plan on maybe returning in March for our anniversary celebration! I am so excited.

The pool area here is THE BEST!

It was however, under construction and it was a cloudy day but the water was still extremely refreshing and April and I enjoyed the hot tubs and a short swim. Ash had hurt her foot and was unable to join us.

Right next to the pool area they have a huge area of green grass which is near the beach. The beach is a well protected area so the waves are not so big and it is a great place to just body surf or boogie boards. I didn't take the time to go out in the water but the girls walked the beach. The roosters are everywhere and they just roam around and hope for some tourist to feed them a morsel of food.

I think the state bird should be a ROOSTER.

Maybe it is....I am not sure!

It is sad to know that our trip is coming to an end. :(

April was up bright and early talking on the phone about her insurance and was able to capture this breathtaking sunrise.

There is no beauty quite like the beauty of the islands.....

I think I will never get enough of this island. It amazes me each time I visit. We were offered the opportunity to live here and have Steve buy the Miracle Ear business. But with much thought and prayer we have decided to stay in Utah, close to family and friends. We feel good about this decision and look forward to our future. We DO plan on coming back often tovisit "OUR ISLAND PARADISE". I LOVE IT HERE!!! Goodbye Kauai :(

Thanks April and Ash for coming along with us.

Thank you Howie for the fun memories.

He works so hard for my happiness!

I sure am spoiled!!!

I feel blessed!

Blow Hole and Na'Pali Coast....

One of the biggest disappointments of our trip was when we planned to go to the Napali coast. This was one of my most favorite places in Kauai. We did not have time in our trip to take the nice hike along the coast but we had planned to at least go to this lookout spot to take a peek.

When we arrived we found that the view was SLIGHTLY obstructed BY THESE LOUSY CLOUDS!!!

Okay...maybe it was MORE than just SLIGHTLY obstructed. The clouds were so low that at times when we were walking around there we were totally engulfed in the mist of the cloud. It was hard to see much at all.

We couldn't see a single thing past these bushes....

It looked as if we had come to the far end of the earth. It was kind of creepy looking how it just stopped.... and then there was NOTHING! We talked about how this is probably what Christopher Columbus felt when he was exploring the world. Yep....The earth must be FLAT!

This picture turned out more clear than I actually thought it would. When I took this picture I could barely see April as she was standing in a huge CLOUD! I wish I could have captured how cool it looked that day.

It was disappointing to not be able to see the beauty of the Napali Coastline but as we walked around (waiting for the clouds to possibly blow over) we saw some beautiful trees and flowers in the area. I guess we will have to make another trip when the weather is better to show the girls the Coast.

My camera actually took these first three pictures of the flowers. Not too shabby for a cheapo camera! The flowers were beautiful. I was surprised how vibrant the colors were even though we were in the middle of a CLOUD! Seriously very, very foggy.

Here are some cool pictures that April took of the trees and flowers in the area.

Well we waited around for a while but the clouds were THERE TO STAY! When we got back to the car I saw April snapping some pictures of a magazine. I guess she wanted to document what she MISSED out on seeing.

I found this picture on the internet but I don't even think it really does it justice. I do love the blue blue water and how lush and green it is. We have some fantastic pictures from our hike the last time Steve and I came so I think when I get caught up on my postings I will have to blog about THAT trip. I was just too busy after we returned home and have never found the time to post that trip or our trip to Tahiti. Maybe soooon!

SPOUTING HORN......

After the Napali Coast excitement....Oh yeah baby it was exciting, NOT! we went to the Spouting Horn Blowholes. This is a short video clip which shows two of the larger holes. The big one on the left did not spout during the video but April captured some neat pictures of it in action. It is cool how much noise they make as the water is shooting up out of them.

We stood and watched these for quite a while.

Some of them were very powerful!

These holes were about five or six times the size of the little ones we had at our beach. The last time we came someone had climbed down to this area and was getting drenched each time it exploded. He was daring. I would be afraid to be sucked into the GIANT HOLE!

Beautiful pictures compliments of April. I think Ash took some nice ones too but I have not seen any of hers from the trip yet.

As I was walking away to go to the little outdoor shopping area that they had right there I saw this spot. There are several tiny blowholes right along the edge. I noticed it because of the sound they made each time the waves came crashing in.

They made this hissing sound as the water was pushed up through the holes.

Spectacular shot, April. I love this picture :)

After shopping for a while and picking up a few souveniers we were off to spend time at the beach. We couldn't believe the trip was almost over. So sad :(

We tried to pack as much fun and sightseeing in as possible on this trip because the girls will probably not make it back to Hawaii for quite some time. It has been a great trip so far. We LOVE it here in Hawaii. So many things to see and do. It is HEAVEN!

The Beauty of Waimea Canyon.....

On the last full day of our trip we decided to take the girls to Waimea Canyon. Once again we picked up a hitch-hiker along the way. This was some little OLD lady who was hitchin' a ride to her home. I swear she was at least 80 years old! She lived near the Waimea Canyon so it was on our way. She was fun to listen to and visit with. She lives all by herself and says she lives a very SIMPLE life. No car, no phone, no internet or tv. Basically no frills and the normal expenses in life. She has lived there for the past 15 years and seemed very content and happy with her simple way of life. When she got dropped off she crossed the street and hopped on her bike to ride home.

The scenery was extremely beautiful....

We were just driving around and everytime we saw something extraordinary we would stop the car and get out to snap some pictures. This post is just filled with some of the pure and simple beauty of the island.

Spectacular views of the mountains, rivers and waterfalls.

April took some incredible shots with her new camera. Maybe she will be posting them soon on her blog.

So happy she could join us on this trip :)

As we were driving along the road we noticed how similar the landscaping was to southern utah. The beautiful red rocks surrounded us. We noticed a small waterfall off the side of the road coming out of the rocks!

Howie and I decided to climb up and take a better look

Howie goofing off again :) :) :)

Ahhhhh safe in the arms of my lover boy!

The dirt on these hills reminded me a lot of Lake Powell or Saint George.

When it was time to leave Howie and I decided to RUN down the hill. We were goofing off and jumping and screaming along the way. Well we later found out that April was snapping pictures the whole way down.

Okay....I know we are suppose to be mature and grown up at our age, but it just AIN'T happening with us.

WE LIKE TO ACT CRAZY and enjoy life!!!!

Yep.... We are definitely made for each other!

Beautiful colors of Waimea Canyon...

April even caught us as we were having our own little photo shoot
(hey get down here and join us in these pictures, Ape)

Ash was smart to bring a poncho for this trip. It rained a lot throughout the days. Not hard heavy rain but just enough drizzle to get you wet and sticky!

My beautiful "Dawnster Doo".....

This video is kind of funny if you listen carefully to it. You can hear Ashlee approach me and quietly read the "RULES" of this outlook point. She tells me that it says NOT TO CLIMB OVER THE GATE! Then she says something like "PLEASE DON'T DISOBEY" it this time. She was nervous because this place had a bunch of other people around and she feared that we would climb the fence anyway to get a better view. She didn't want to be embarrassed. So funny! NO WAY WOULD I CLIMB THAT FENCE. I am ALL ABOUT following the rules! Especially when there are PEOPLE around! I am a law abiding citizen!!!!!

Love my daughter SO much!

And my husband too!

Yep, April is pretty awesome as well!

Me and my girls....

Someone was kind enough to take our group picture.

We headed for another lookout area.....



At this outlook you could see a small private island

April is pointing out how truly COOL this PRIVATE island really is. It is owned by the ROBINSON family! We should give them a call and invite ourselves over for a visit. We are family!!!

One thing about Kauai is that there are chickens and roosters all over the island. They greet you as you enter the parking lots and they are there to bid you farewell when you are ready to get in your car to leave. We have been trying really hard on this trip to save some money as far as FOOD goes. We have been cooking our own for the most part. So when I saw these chickens crowding around me I thought briefly about opening my car door and smuggling some out to come home to the condo with us. Ahhhhh..... fresh eggs in the morning.

We had not eaten and I thought it this looked like a nice plump rooster that we could roast up perfectly on the grill that night. I told Howie about my plan and he set off to chase down the rooster. It was funny to watch Steve run around after him.

Look how crazy Steve's face is as he is concentrating on catching this little guy. Howie is a RIOT. BUT....too slow! No luck catching dinner tonight :( I guess we will have to settle for the bagel sandwiches I had packed up in the car.

Even though he FAILED to provide a nice dinner for us all I still LOVE him. I better give him a nice big hug for his valiant attempt to provide!

He's my man!