Kauai With the Nielson Family

What an amazing time we had.  I have been to Oahu a few times but never to the other islands.  First of all I loved the flight. So quick.  You get on the plane, take a drink of guava drink and then the plane lands on the ground.  That is the ideal flight.

So when we arrived we took a quick run to Costco. What an amazing store.  Bought tons of food, and then set out to the Marriott hotel. It was perfect because it had a bunch of pools, hot tubs and the ocean right there.  That is paradise.  I do love hot tubs. 

What a beautiful sight :)

Something that was really great was that Derek's parents, Sally and Gordon decided to make a theme for the week, and it was Gratitude.  So each morning two of us were in charge of a devotional and we had to talk for 5 minutes about gratitude. She also got us each gratitude journals so that we could write down what we were grateful for each day.  I loved it.  Every night we had to go around and say something that we were grateful for before we said family prayer as well. There were quite a few funny things that everyone was grateful for.

What a great way to bring the spirit in each day. I said to sally, wow I can't believe how spiritual you guys are, and she said, "this is the first time that we have ever done this."  It was a really great thing.

So we set out on some adventures.  The first day we went to this rope swing and waterfall. It was just like a 5 minute walk to get to it, but it was really muddy and there were a few who almost fell.

So each night we went to the hot tub and met some really funny people.  One of the nights we met these two Mormon couples who were in their mid fifties.  We told them about this rope swing and they said they were going to do it the next night.  The next night we see the husband with this huge brusie on the side of his chest and these electrodes stuck to his chest.  He did the rope swing like 5X's and on the fifth he didnt let go and then landed on his back and got the wind knocked out of him.  When he swam to shore he was coughing up blood.  They had to rush him to the ER.  The wife also brought an expensive video camera.  She slipped and tried to hold it up in the air, but then it fell in the water.  What an adventure they had, it cost them like 2,000 that day.  They said in the hot tub, thanks a lot of telling us about that place!  Crazy old people trying to be kids :)

Speaking of old people trying to be kids, I was very impressed with Gordon (derek's dad) doing all the jumps the boys did. 

Gordon the Jokester

 We went snorkeling at this cool beach, and just hung out. We drove quite a long time that day.  Derek's brother Tanner said that it was like "the road to hanna"  Which I guess the last time they were in Hawaii were stuck on this road for like 5 hours and it was the worst.  pretty funny

I love this shot, it reminds me of all of us kids at the beach when i was little

the boys trying to be tough, love this shot :)

 You gotta love nate's green bathing suit.  That is Derek's brother in law. He is so funny. 

We also went on a kayaking adventure up to another waterfall.  The weather was perfect.  It felt like you were in the amazon while you were kayaking up to it. 

the clan

it was so pretty there

so cool huh, it was smashing out heads

So a few things that happened that day. you know how we all had to do a devotional, Rachel and Ryan had to do theirs that day on trials.  Which was classic, because they have been through a lot over the years.  And on the trip their ore broke. And this took about an hour each way.  Well derek put his phone in the dry bag and the dry bag was soaked.  He was a little upset. We found out that is had a hole in the bottom.  Then Cole found out that a water bottle leaked in his bag so his camera was dead.  It was quite the adventure with trials.  We came home and put them in rice and it did the trick.  Both were fixed, well mostly.

Family Picture time

So we went to church in the morning and then had oh so much fun taking family pictures.  Derek is such a ham around his family. It was so funny to see him this way.  I love his family so much and I'm so lucky that they are so loving and fun!

The Kids - Me and derek, then in the back is Tanner and Cole, then Rachel is married to Ryan, And Ashley is married to Nate.  Its so fun that we are all around the same age!

Jokester - Like father like son

I love this guy - he was joking around making a cheesy smile and it made me laugh and sally caught it :)

Eating before the airport - mexican food

This trip made me realize just how amazing Derek is.  I fell more and more in love with him on this trip!  It was perfect, and I am an incredibly lucky girl to have him in my life :)