hawaii revisited

my sweet fam picked me up from the airport after the rich coast.

 man, it was good to see them. :)

a few days later we headed to Hawaii as a fam. willy planned this trip for mine and bro's entire missions and man, was it ridonkulously fun and exquisitely planned.

the first few days we were on oahu, my old homeland! 

just about everything in Laie made me think of you, dearest Mallory Marie Keith. what a dream that was! sure love you!

it felt oh so good to be back in the frigid aisles of my dear Foodland, although i did not welcome her steep prices.

i still do cherish my maika'i card!

we then went to the hukilau cafe for jack johnson's banana pancakes (or coconut or macadamia nut ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh yeah)

hello little shirimp in its entirety...

shrimp truck

THE ORIGINAL. 

haha. 

haliewa! my favorite beach equipped with the funnest cliff jumping!

little tabby's world was totally flipped upside down with the time change, humidity, diet, and schedule in general. but even though that was sucky for her, we were SO glad she was there!

the temple was under construction while I was at school, so we went there our first morning to check out the visitor's center. the "God's Plan for the Family"exhibit was moving. if you have the chance, go see it. it was amazing to see how going to the temple grounds as a family like that literally changed the entire feeling of our day. oh, the gospel blesses families.

i got to go by myself the next morning to do sealings (the session was full. what a great problem! i was so happy!). the inside of the temple was stunning!

...

we then took an "island hopper" to get over to maui.

colby and i really wished the view from our room was a little better... ha ha okay.

whilst on Maui, Heavenly Father was so kind to me. I got to see two sweet friends completely removed from our natural habitat: Kasia Marie and my compa, Hermana McCullough. Oh, it was beautiful!

Kasia took me cliff jumping here...

...and i died. SO BEAUTIFUL. we spent hours there jumping, swimming, cooking in the sun and having the most inspiring, beautiful, deep conversations. kasia marie, i love you so much. thank you for chasing your dreams and being so obedient to the promptings from Heavenly Father!

obviously i couldn't withhold this joy from my family. i brought them back the very next day!

we got to meet kasia's "mom" who gave us those beautiful flowers.

i love how being a member of the church brings us together in such an inexplicable way--no matter where we live or what language we speak!

oh, my dear sister. i love you, elissa! seeing you made my LIFE complete! you are such a strong woman and you inspire me to perseverar hasta el fin. you're a rock, sister. and i thank you for that.

we went to a luau on the beach...

those are whole pigs that were steamed underground for the feast. wow. 

endless piña coladas...

and the sun set while as we digested our food and there was a polynesian dance performance. too good.

oh my goodness. lululani's shaved ice. tdf. bye. 

we're training her well.

just another annoyingly beautiful dinner sunse. gorgeous!

from a whale watching zone. love you, dear sister!

aaaaah. the beach!

call kaylynn ansel adams.

before church we went on a drive up to this gorgeous lookout place--

(we could see people air surfing. i had no idea that was even a thing! how FUN!) 

we went to church in a tongan ward. a few things: 

first-- i got to be tab's gab the whole time. it was the best. love that little one.

second--WOW i love tongan's! they a) sing with their whole heart, b) bore such powerful testimony that the spirit was tangible even though we had no idea what was being said! the church is true and the spirit is universal!

...

tabby has been taught just about what every animal says...and it's adorable. i attempted to get it on film about 80 times. this was one attempt. for some weird reason she wouldn't say what a kitty says, which was her favorite one up until this trip! (then came the tiger..)

i finally captured the whole thing in this little clip!

so. basically hawaii was a joyful reunion (in so many ways) and too much fun. 

hat's off to willy. you did it again.