Kidnapping and Running Away

This is my foot. This is my foot covered in the sand of Waimea Beach. Sigh.

I kidnapped my oldest daughter, nearly-literally, and whisked her away to Hawaii for a about a week. You see, I had no choice. I had to do it. It's a long and sad and complicated story, but the Readers Digest version is this: THERE WILL BE NO WEDDING.

Not to that man, at any rate. Family Intervention works.

Now, I know there are probably some out there wondering how I managed to afford this spur of the moment kidnapping. You're right, we were struggling mightily for a few months after Lance's accident. You really can't live on disability, but with the help of the church and friends and people who wanted to remain anonymous (You are wonderful and kind and all things good in the universe), we made it through. So thank you from the bottom of our hearts and please don't send us money. Help someone else now. The reason I could do this is because I received a small settlement. I didn't plan on using it for this---but I would do anything to save my daughter.

At any rate---it worked. It wasn't completely stress free. It was a week-long-battle. In Paradise. Which helped. You know....the being in Paradise part.

See? Here's my sandy foot at a Waimanolo Beach..I think that's the beach.

And here is where I went snorkeling. Yes, you read that right. Me. Snorkeling. In the water. I swam with fish that I've only ever seen in fish tanks and on National Geographic. It was AH MAZE ING.

This is the beach at Waimanalo again---but there was a rainbow this time. And? I swam with a HUGE turtle!! Very cool. So close....and beautiful. It was a gift.

This became my new favorite beach on the north shore and we only found it late on Wednesday. SOOOO gorgeous. Oh.....

We met up with Louis Rusk, the son of our friends that live in Flordia. He's going to BYU Hawaii there in Laie. He took us to this amazing grill that his Stake President owns. We had coconut shrimp and he had a burger that was bigger than his head. It was funny watching him attempt to eat it.

Here is Stephanie. We found a delightful little roadside place that we frequented for fresh fruit. One day we got a coconut. There were banana fritters, bananas cooked in something else that I don't remember and lots of pineapple. Oh, and sticky rice cooked in a banana leaf. Interesting texture.

Stephanie also spent a lot of time doing this, unfortunately.

We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Love that place. I went there when I was in high school with our school choir. I texted my friend Carin while I was there. She was also on the high school trip. "Remember those cute Polynesian boys that were here at the Polynesian Cultural Center when we were last here? Their sons are here now" :)

We went to the Lua there. These guys were lifting a pig out of the pit where it had been cooking all day. Then we ate. Ohmygoodness. The Kalua Pig was to die for. Stephanie told me I can't make it because I don't have a pig and I don't have a pit to put it in. I'll show her!

This was our rental car at the north shore. It was a Passat. I won't be purchasing one any time soon. I missed my suburban.

Now, I will share something with you. If you've ever been to Hawaii, or to some place with similar beaches, you will understand what I'm about to tell you. I never got into the water or out of the water on my own terms the entire time I was on Oahu. My enterings and my leavings were on the ocean's terms----never mine. My enterings and my leavings were America's Funniest Home Videos worthy. EACH TIME. Slammed down, rolled, and rolled and rolled. Backwards, forwards, upside down. Except for the very last time. This time I walked out of the water on my OWN terms. I was so very proud of myself. And so very happy that there was no one there that ever caught me on video.

I'm also very thankful for my father and my sister and my husband. They all took over my various duties of running around and getting kids where they needed to be. I'm very grateful for them. I'm also extremely thankful for you. Yes, you reading this. You know who you are :) Mahalo!