Aloha

For Christmas, my wonderful parents gave me and my siblings the gift of going to Hawaii with them. My dad had a dental convention scheduled at the Grand Wailea in Maui and he decided to take the whole family along. We all got out of school for a week and went and played in the sand and sun! It was such a good break from the snow and so good to be with the whole family. We probably won't have many more family outings with just the eight of us, and all eight of us. For the next four years we will have either Mitch or Brad on a mission, and by then, someone will probably be married. Sorry, random digression. Anyways, Hawaii was beautiful and I loved every moment. I will post a few pictures to share the memories.

the family at the North Shore

We went on the Road to Hana and at one of the stops it started raining. Brad and I found leaves to make into rain hats. Quite convenient and innovative. :)

Vines were hanging all over the place, so of course I had to get a tarzan picture. Sadly it turned out blurry. Even sadder, the vine broke half a second after this picture and I hurt my ankle pretty bad. I couldn't walk for the next day or so. I always seem to injure myself for the sake of a good picture.

Sara Bareilles, one of my favorite singers, came and performed at the convention. We got front row seats and later met her and got signed CDs. It was amazing! Check her stuff out at her website.

One evening we traveled to Lahaina for dinner. We stopped by the famous banyan tree, the largest in North America. These trees are fascinating; it has 12 main trunks...all the same tree. Roots grow down from the branches and start new trunks. The above picture shows Lindsey walking on it.

I just realized that I don't have any beach pictures on my computer. I promise, we spent a good amount of time at the beautiful Hawaiian beaches. Some of my favorite things we did there we snorkeling at Molokini, Whale watching, and swimming with turtles. I will have to get those pictures from my parents.