Lois's Hawaiian Celebration

A couple of years ago, ideas started being batted around of how best to celebrate 

Roger's mom, Lois, turning 90 years old.

Yes, we would have a big party on her birthday, September 18, with all of the kids, grandkids and greats.

But her kids and spouses also wanted to take her away to somewhere special.

Several years ago, when Grandpa was still with us, 

we went on a Caribbean Cruise together and had so much fun.

Long story short, Lois actually treated us (so much better idea to enjoy future inheritance money WITH her). 

Roger booked a week over Thanksgiving at the Marriott Villas in Ko Olina, Hawaii. 

His travel agent chops kicked back in 

and he did a fabulous job of making all of the arrangements for this dream trip, 

and it worked great for our two school teachers, who had a couple of extra days off. 

Roger and I had spent a week on this gorgeous property with our friends, Jim and Kathy Jensen, in 2013.

View from our balcony

Roger and I drove to Ogden on November 20, and were able to join his brother, Scott's, family 

at Javier's for an early birthday celebration for Scott. 

Glynn thinks no dinner is complete without ice cream, so he treated us to some at our old Ogden hangout, Farr's.

 From SLC on Sunday, November 22, we were off!

On our direct flight, almost seven hours later we landed in Honolulu!

Roger arranged for two vehicles to get us around the island during the week, a mini-van and a BMW sedan.

We googled for a "nearby seafood restaurant" and discovered this little treasure!

We were starving and the fresh fish was delicious!

I think the favorite was the coconut shrimp!

Everywhere we ate together during the week, we would tell the waiter/waitress 

that it was our mom's 90th birthday, 

and the biggest fuss would be made over her, 

followed with a free dessert.

Every. time.

Scott's birthday was that day, so we sang to him, too.

We drove about a half an hour from the restaurant to our Marriott suites at Ko Olina.

We checked in at the open air veranda/lobby.

We stayed in three suites, each suite having a bedroom on each side

 and common area in the middle with a kitchen, 

large dining table and seating area. 

As you can see in the pic, Lois brought her handwork along.

Her talented hands are never still.

We enjoyed gorgeous Hawaiian sunsets each evening.

Next morning, we got a good look at our beautiful home-away-from-home for a week.

My favorite feature of this grand place is the large balcony that is out the living room's sliding door.

There is also a small balcony off one of the bedrooms.

Roger took a pic of me in the lounge chair, reading.

With the view, I would go back and forth, from iPad book to just gazing out at the beauty.

Every Monday on the property, there is a local Farmer's Market.

We selected local papayas, bananas and limes, as well as delicious baked goods 

for our breakfasts during the week.

Then we headed to Costco and to a local grocery store 

to stock up on food for breakfasts, some lunches and snacks. 

We had lunch in a strip mall, and, of course -

Happy Birthday to Lois dessert!

After lunch, we just hung out and enjoyed the day.

This truly is a gorgeous property!

That evening, we had a tasty dinner at Monkeypod Kitchen.

Lois's free dessert choice - coconut cream pie!

On Tuesday we took a day trip to the North Shore, 

with the Hawaiian Temple in Laie for a session together being our major destination. 

We stopped and checked out the Dole Pineapple Plantation.

So interesting to see how pineapples grow!

What a lush view out the front doors of the plantation!

Each couple posed for a pic.

The true highlight of the entire trip was doing a session together in this sweet temple.

There was a kind, laid-back atmosphere inside with all of the temple workers 

and the furnishings were homey and had the island flavor.

Tears of happiness and joy were shed in the Celestial Room,

especially by Lois, 

who had her kids all around her.

We shared a special moment in time together.

View out to the ocean from the temple front

Lois and her girls

Lois and her boys

The temple grounds, as is true of all LDS temples, are gorgeous!

I love this old banyan tree.

After we changed our clothes in the Visitor's Center, we all posed out front for a classic group pic.

Inside the Visitor's Center

We couldn't resist taking a pic of Glynn after changing his clothes, holding his cowboy boots 

that he had worn into the temple. 

This guy is a cowboy, through and through!

We next headed for the shrimp trucks for a delicious lunch.

There are large shrimp farms on the North Shore, 

and tourists line up for the fresh boiled shrimp, peel and eat!

After we ate, we drove to the North Shore, where the surfing championships had just been held.

The waves weren't big that day.

Some of us headed across the sand to the water.

We hadn't planned to swim that day and hadn't brought our swim suits,

so we just rolled up our pants.

In came the waves!

I love the ocean!

We stopped for the famous shave ice at Matsumoto's.

These guys also enjoyed a pizza with their shave ice.

This stuff is so yummy with ice cream on the bottom.

Another beautiful day in Paradise concluded with a sunset.

Stay tuned for Part 2!