Ahhhh.... Paradise!

This morning my cute little girls and my totally awesome Momma woke up to snow... This is what Shane and I woke up to...

PARADISE!!

Yep that's the view off our lanai in Kona Hawaii!

I know... I know... it has only been a few months since our last little trip...

but...

12 days ago Shane was asked to do the carpet in the Kona Hawaii LDS Temple. I quickly looked to see if flights using Sky Miles were available for me... and they were... so... what would you do in my situation??? You probably would have used much more will power than me and stayed home....

but I said ALOHA!

Thanks mom and my good friend Kim for taking such awesome care of our little angels while we are gone! We miss them already!

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But we are having an awesome time! Like usual the schedule on the Temple had pushed (of course we didn't know that until we got here last night). So Shane and Cody will be pulling some odd hours in the next couple days. So while we had some time... Shane and I played...

I planned us an adventure (which Shane was quite unsure about at first). It involved renting a tandem kayak... strapping it to the top of our car... driving to Keakakekua Bay... paddling a mile across that bay... to the best snorkeling I have ever experienced!! Absolutely amazing! Clear, clear water, beautiful coral and amazing fish! Tayler and Saige would have loved it and we wish they could have experienced it with us! It was like "Finding Nemo" in every sense! Shane and I have snorkeled in about 10 different places... and this one rocked them all!

I only wish we had pictures... (ANDREW remember that "water camera" you gave us... that you said "didn't work great for you so we could have it?" Did you mean that when you took it under water the ENTIRE case filled up with water, oh... and that it didn't wind when you thought it was winding... thus not taking pictures at all!!) Love ya brother but I'm throwing that camera in the garbage!... because I THOUGHT I took about 20 pictures of these sweet babies swimming all around me!!!

Yep that's right I SWAM WITH DOLPHINS in the big blue ocean! I never in a million years thought I would EVER experience THAT! As we were getting in they told us that dolphins were out there so we paddled to where the other kayaks were hanging out watching them... after a few minutes of watching I told Shane I was getting in!! Yes I got in first, (having no clue how I was supposed to get back in our kayak later) and I never screamed or freaked out when those 5 amazing dolphins swam underneath me and surfaced again and again. I got the most INCREDIBLE pictures of them... on that STUPID camera I mentioned before. I then decided I ought to let Shane have a turn, so I pulled myself into the kayak... it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. And told Shane to get ready and go. This is no joke right here... he was WAY MORE SCARED than me! In fact he didn't get in until I told him he was "acting like a baby"! He says he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get back in... but he was just plain nervous! (BTW there was more than just us that were in the water.) It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I am still amazed about! When we were both safely in the kayak I told Shane that I HAD to get a picture of them (this is after I noticed the water camera problems). So against Shane's better judgement I opened our "dry pack" and used our camera... which I was so glad didn't get wet! Although it might have been worth it anyway!!

This was Captain Cook's Monument... the monument wasn't nearly as cool as the other adventures... but we were sure pumped we decided to make the trek to it! (Although I am pooped from all that paddling... and my hip hurts from a little tumble on the lava rocks getting in to snorkel... it was totally worth it though!)

We headed to Pu'uhonau o Honaunau otherwise known as the "Place of Refuge". (Is this what you were thinking of Lisa?) It was cool.

Shane is off to work right now as I am enjoying the sunset on our lanai... Ahhhh... that's what I call an amazing day in Paradise!!