5 Years

Happy 5th Anniversary to us! To celebrate this milestone, we decided to spend one week on the island of Oahu. (I may or may not have begged for WEEKS to spend our anniversary there. My hubby either loves me a lot or wanted to shut me up. Probably both. Ha, ha.) I must admit, as much as I wanted to go, it was extremely hard to leave Layla. I knew she was in good hands, but I knew I would miss my little buddy. I cried when I dropped her off. Ha, ha.

We chose Oahu because I had already been there and knew there are lots of fun activities to do on the island and (mostly) because my brothers' fiance got us a discount at a hotel there (her dad grew up on Oahu so she knows people and family members there). We had also saved enough skymiles to fly both of us there and back for a grand total of ... drumroll please ... TEN DOLLARS!!!

We woke up to this view from our hotel window our first morning there.

Anyways, knowing that Mitch doesn't enjoy laying around at the beach as much as I do, I figured Oahu would be perfect because there's so much to do there AND there are plenty of amazing beaches. Here are some of the things we did:

Pearl Harbor.

Mitch explaining to me how this missile works.
I love my nerdy, rocket scientist husband.
Even if he does read boring signs while we're on vacation.

We toured the battleship Missouri. So neat and humbling.

I'm only 5'5" and I barely fit in this bed on the battleship.

The view was amazing!
 

Free samples at the Macadamia Nut Farm!

Brought a bottle of this home.
Ate way too much of it with french toast at the Wailana Coffee House.
Probably gained 5 pounds as a result. Totally worth it.

Visited the temple grounds. Stunning.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay. Lots of pretty fish.

Hiked down to the beach where "From Here to Eternity" was filmed. (Halona Cove.)

Halona Cove. It looks like my version of heaven!

Watched several sunsets over the ocean. I wish I was out there surfing.

Polynesian Cultural Center. My favorite activity on Oahu!

I learned to hula dance and Mitch learned to play the ukulele.

We went hiking and got muddy.

You should have seen our shoes!

Pineapple ice cream at the Dole Plantation. 

Had dinner with Sophaneth, a friend Mitch baptized while on his mission in Cambodia.
She is going to school in Hawaii right now; graduates with her Master's this month.
I met her mom when we went to Cambodia in 2008, so it was so nice to finally meet her.
What a sweetheart! (She gave us discounted tickets to the Polynesian Cultural Center.)
We're hoping she'll be in Utah for one year for an internship before she goes back to Cambodia.
I would love to spend more time with her.

And I didn't take any pics, but we did get shaved ice with ice cream twice. We heard Matsumoto's was the best, but we couldn't figure out how it could be any better when they probably all use the same products. We thought they were all delicious and now we can never eat shaved ice again without ice cream in the bottom. It's so good!

Finally, on our very last day there, while laying on the white sand at Three Tables Beach (North Shore), Mitch said something that was music to my ears, "I finally get the appeal of the beach ... it's so relaxing!"

Lanakai Beach. 

Yay!!! I finally converted my hubby to be a beach bum with me! Sounds like our next vacation should be Maui or the big island, Hawaii (Mitch REALLY wants to see the volcano there). Maybe for our 10th anniversary? Either way, I'm just happy that he finally understands what I love about the beach, boating at the lake, Lake Powell, etc. A little R&R baby, while soaking up the sun.

I love the colors in this pic. They make me think of the ocean.

Speaking of the sun, I got fried our first day there. Yes, I know, I say I love it so much and then I get sunburned. It's weird, I don't usually burn like that. My Panamanian blood totally failed me this time. I was even wearing sunscreen and a hat! I know tanning beds are awful for you, but I should have gone just twice before Oahu, to build up my tan a little. I wouldn't have fried if I had done that. Anyways, because of my sunburn, I got a HUGE coldsore, which wouldn't have been so bad by itself, but I can never just get a cold sore. My lip also swells up GINORMOUS. Seriously, I looked so ridiculous and it hurt so bad. So if I look funny in these pics, you know why.

My hubby gave me a beautiful tennis bracelet for our anniversary. Of course, it's not real, or it would have cost thousands of dollars, but it is still pretty and I love it. It was really thoughtful of him because I've mentioned before that I've always wanted one. He's so sweet. For our anniversary, we ate at Duke's, a nice restaurant right on the beach in Waikiki. We spoiled ourselves - steak and fish!

Duke's.

Our families took turns watching Layla while we were gone.I missed her so, so, so much! I kept telling Mitch that I was having "Layla withdrawals." I called her pretty much every day and while I was sad to leave Hawaii, I was so excited to go home and see Bug. She and my mom were waiting for us at the airport, which made me happy. The first thing she said to us was, "Whoa Daddy, nice hair! Nice hair, Mamma!" Too funny. She had a case of separation anxiety for the next 24 hours or so, but she's pretty much over it now.

Layla learned a new trick while we were gone. She learned how to climb out of her crib. Of course the toddler bed is packed away in the storage unit. Annoying. She didn't nap yesterday because after I put her down she tried to climb out and fell. I was really worried she would break her arm or something, so we lowered her mattress to the floor. I know it's supposed to sit on the bottom metal part of the crib, but we just went without that part, put the mattress on the floor, and set the crib around it. It's working so far, and hopefully it will for a while. I'm definitely not ready to deal with her walking around when she's supposed to be sleeping!

We were only gone for 1 week, but I swear Layla seemed so much older and added multiple words to her vocabulary while we were away. She is speaking in pretty good sentences now. She is also noticing concepts like "yours" and "mine," but she often confuses them and usually just ends up saying, "Baby's" and "Mamma's". She'll get it eventually. She uses the word, "too" correctly, which makes me proud. She also says, "I sorry" when she does something wrong or on accident, and she says it in the sweetest little voice. She learned so much while we were away!

A big thanks to our families for watching Layla so we could go! Our parents shuttled her around, my grandma watched her some, and my grandpa even drove all the way from St. George to babysit "The Little Angel," as he calls her, while my mom was at work. We really appreciate all of their help - I know she is fun, but totally exhausting too!

Thanks to Tenley, Jordan's fiance, for telling us where the best beaches, stores, places to eat, etc. are! And for hooking us up with the hotel!

I love Mitch with all of my heart. The last 5 years have been the best of my life and I can't wait for the rest of eternity with him! Thank you for taking me to Hawaii, Mitch. You always make all of my dreams come true. I love you!