ho hum New Years Eve

I don't know what Matt is talking about, but I for one had an EXTREMELY exciting new years eve. First, I went to the ever exciting (and I say this in a tone of awe) Walmart. That is right, I stocked my fridge, and looked at fish. OOOOOhhhhhh...aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh... Then I went out for a gourmet meal at Taco Time. Nothing rings in the new year like a crisp bean burrito and ranch dressing. Next, I may just get to see a naked boy! Oh wait, that means I need to give Blake a bath. Dang... maybe Matt is right.... we are just too exciting...

New Year's Spectacular

We are such a fun group of people here. We're are doing nothing for New Year's Eve, and if I am lucky, I'll be asleep by midnight.

Our Christmas Vacation part II

Okay, now blake is busy watching Finding Nemo (for the billionth time!) I have a minute to finish updating everyone on our vacation...

And, before I start my second half, I have to show you my cute toes! My sister and I got a pedicure before we left. You don't care.... but pretend, okay?

Day four: North Shore

We spent the entire morning on the fourth day driving to the north shore. I was not too impressed, but I was also extremely car sick, so I think that may have clinched that one. We ate lunch in Kapa'a where I had the best tuna melt I have ever had in my life! I don't know what they did, but it was excellent. We pretty much bummed around the rest of the day. Oh--and the traffic from Kapa'a to Poipu was insane!

Day five... again, relaxed by the beach, and bummed around the island.

Day six: Fish Food

The boys went deep-sea fishing. Scott and Matt got so sick that they threw-up multiple times! Scott finally called the fishing trip to an end a half hour early. They didn't even get one bite!

That night we went to see National Treasure II, in Lihue. It was a small theater, but really clean so it didn't matter.

Day seven: Kipu Falls fiasco, Spouting Horn, 9.99 special

So, on day five, we were given crazy directions to a waterfall where we could jump into an inland pond. Right, didn't find it, and ended up in the middle of no where while the boys hiked through the "jungle". Matt and I found good directions from a local and on the seventh day, we actually made it. Well, most of us made it. I wasn't wearing the best of shoes, and I slipped down the first three feet of the trail, and couldn't get up! Seriously! It hurt so bad, and I was crying like a baby. What a woos! I ruined my pants. Oh, and matt kind of ruined his, as well. I had to walk through costco so that we could buy me some different clothes with a spot on my butt! It looked like I had an accident.

As you can see, Matt eventually made it, but he walked around with gross feet all day! The dirt even stained his toes! He did get a picture so I could see what I missed though...

After getting me new clothes, we drove to spouting horn and shoped at the venders there. It was the highlight of our trip. Just Matt and I and the ocean. It was gorgeous, and relaxing. (The rest of the family went back to the north shore) We did our annual 9.99 special at the Lihue (and I use this term loosely) mall. (For those of you who do not know what this is, my family all puts their names into a hat, and then draws one out. You spend 10 dollars on that person, and then we go to dinner and give each other those presents... It is always the highlight of the year). Choices for presents were pretty limited, but we were able to come up with something. We had dinner at JJ Broiler outside overlooking the ocean. It was great!

Day eight: Relax/Church/BBQ

Being the good mormon that they are, my mom, dad and matt went to church. The rest of us ditched. It started at 9:00. That is about all I can tell you! hahahaha... I will have to have Matt up date this.

The rest of the day we spent bumming around on the beach (that little speck is Matt), and then we BBQ'd steaks at the BBQ pit. It was the best meal we had there.

Day nine: Breakfast by the pool/Good-bye/Traveling
On the last day we met my parents at their hotel at 9:30 and ate breakfast by the pool. They had a breakfast buffet, and it was so good! We all ate like three plates. After that, my parents and brother left, and we had to kill time until we left that night. So, I sat by the pool and read, and then watched a movie and took a shower. We no longer had a car, so we were stuck at my parent's hotel. We got to the airport about 7:15, and then we flew back to Oahu. at 10:45 we boarded a plane for home. We arrived at 7:45 am.

This was a great vacation and a great holiday. I can't wait to do something as a family again! Merry Christmas from the Elkins/Nelson/Nielsen Families!

Our Christmas Vacation...

Aloha and Mele Kalikimaka! That is right, Matt and I went to Hawaii for Christmas with my family. No, Blake didn't go, so we had a vacation all to ourselves! We have been planning and saving since last christmas because that was one of our presents from last year. My dad flew us over, and paid for a condo on the beach in Kauai. It was so much fun!

Day 1: (after the 7 hour flight there!) We went to our hotel (ye old holiday inn) and then we went to the Ala Moana Mall in Waikiki. The mall is not something you would find in utah. First of all, it is open air, and second of all, it is full of stores like Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Hugo Boss.... you know the really expensive ones that wouldn't survive in Utah. It was late, so we pretty much just relaxed the rest of the night.

Day 2: Polynesian Cultural Center: After paying $16 for two muffins and two drinks--ouch! We hopped a shuttle to the PCC. Our shuttle was full of offensive smells what with the smokers that had that smoke smell, a woman who literally bathed in her perfume, and the burger king breakfast someone brought. Needless to say... by the time we reached our destination, we were both kind of sick. That feeling didn't go away until about 4:00. (Oh--on the way there we saw where they filmed 50 First Dates. That was kinda cool...) We really did have a good time there, considering. We were exhausted by the time we got back to our hotel. 10:30 there, 1:30 here. Our bodies had not quite gotten used to the time diffence.

Day 3: Bumming around Oahu. Our plans were as follows: First, go to the valley of the tempes to see the Byodo-in temple--a replica of one built in Japan. Second, go to the Dole Pineapple plantation to get a dole whip (the absolute best stuff in the world) and go on the tour, and Third drive by the North shore to see if there was any good surfing to watch. Well. we eventually did all of those things, after getting really lost and misplaced on the freeways there. Evidently if you get on H3 (their newest freeway through the mountain) you really can't get off for about 20 minutes which takes you right back to Honolulu and right back to where we started! So about 3 hours later, we got back on schedule...

Byodo-in Temple...

Feeding the Koi at the Byodo-in temple...

At the Dole Plantation:

By the way, if you are wanting pictures of the north shore... too bad. The ocean was literally glass and there was no one there. So that was stupid, but beautiful.

Day 3: China Town/Arrive in Kauai:

We went to chinatown. I was expecting the China town from San francisco that is mostly for tourists. Um, no. China town was full of gross smells from the many fish and meat markets, and lots of things I didn't recognize. We did get Matt a few trinkets. But other than that, it was pretty nasty. We were on our way to the airport to fly to Kauai anyway, so we didn't stay long.

In Kauai, we stayed at the Waiohai Marriot resort on Poipu beach. To give you an idea of this place, Pierce Brosnan was there the same week, but we didn't see him. These are pictures of our room...

And this was our view... true it was the public side of the beach, but still beautiful.

And the private beach belonging to the resort...

Okay, so now, Blake wants me, so I will have to finish our vacation later. I will post again when he goes down for his nap!