Spotted . . .

Tatianna, from last season of America's Next Top Model, at Wal-Mart this week.

Life in Lai'e

Now that we have been in Hawaii for a few days, we are feeling more settled in. Our little house is starting to feel like a little home. I have been on the job hunt since the day we got here and I hope to be working very soon. Tanya is super busy with school but loves BYU-Hawaii. We have also found time to squeeze in some fun along the way.

On Saturday we went to Waimea Bay (one of our favorite beaches) and spent the afternoon relaxing, swimming, and jumping off the rock.

Then we went to Haleiwa to walk around the surf shops and get some shave ice. After that we headed back home with a stop for dinner at Shark's Cove Grill, where we had our wedding dinner. We enjoyed the same amazing view we had the night of our wedding while eating hamburgers on purple poi rolls.

Yesterday morning we woke up early and went for a run on Hukilau beach. When we lived here three summers ago, Tanya and I went running there most mornings and it is one of the ways we got to know each other so well and realized there was something there.

After that I caught Tanya doing yoga in our yard.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Hukilau beach for some body surfing and relaxing. I sported my mega straw hat I got in Haleiwa, because we all know I need the extra protection from the sun.

I had the morning from hell today going in to Honolulu to get a bike for Tanya and some groceries. We have been to several Wal-Marts, K-Mart, Target, Costco, and a bunch of community boards as well as Craig's List trying to get a beach cruiser for her. Every Wal-Mart has been out of them and finally I found one that had some. I got there, but then they didn't have any bike racks in stock that I could use to get it home. I had to drive to another 2 Wal-Marts to get the rack and then come back and get the bike. After all that hassle, I got one for me too and brought them both home, because I refuse to go through that again.

We broke our bikes in tonight riding around Laie

The Malasada truck travels around the island parking in different towns and right now it's in Laie. Malasadas are like scones with cinnamon sugar and just a little bit of crack cocaine sprinkled on top. They're so good. We rode our bikes to get some for dessert.

Then we rode up to the temple

And when we got home we watched this beautiful sunset from our yard.

We could get used to this . . .

Aloha!

We have arrived in paradise!

However, the first three days have been no vacation.

• Flew in - layover in Seattle
  
• Collected all our bags (4 large suitcases, 2 carry on suitcases, 2 backpacks, and 2 pillows)
• Took shuttle to hotel
• Couldn't sleep - too excited
• Shuttle back to airport to get rental car (upgraded to a Jeep Wrangler!)
  
• Back to hotel to pick up bags
• Drove to North Shore to move into our new place
  
• Drove back to Honolulu the next morning to drop off rental car
• Took taxi to the pier to get our car (they decided to just be closed on Thursdays, which is why we had to rent a car and go back)
  
• Ross, K-Mart, Target, Costco twice and Wal-Mart three times.
  
• 2 trips to the Kahuku dump
• Endless hours of cleaning our new place, which was filthy when we arrived.
• Tanya starting school the morning after we flew in, and already busy with homework.
  

But you know what? It was worth it.
Yesterday we celebrated being done moving in by eating our first meal in our new home.
The disgusting thing is that we've been here 3 days and haven't even touched the ocean yet. We plan to fix that today. We are beach hopping from now until sunset.
Aloha

The Last Week

Our last week before we moved was a blur of . . .

Eating at all our favorite restaurants (including Su Casa, Pei Wei, Tucanos, Noodles & Co, Morelia, Braza Grill Express (a new favorite), Italian Village, Kneaders, and 2 midnight Del Taco runs)

Lots and lots of games (here we are charging our glow in the dark cards for some blackout scum).

Some barbecues so we could say goodbye to friends and family

And last hang-outs with besties for awhile
Packing all of our nice house things into boxes and shoving them in Tanya's Grandma's attic, and then packing the rest of our belongings into what we could take on the plane with us.

Makings sure each bag was under 50 lbs (unfortunately the scale we used was off, so everything was overweight and we had to do some MAJOR re-arranging at the airport.)

And one last meal at Cafe Rio before heading to the airport.

Dynamite

On our recent Lake Powell trip my cousins decided they wanted to take footage throughout the week of us partying and make it into a music video to Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" (the anthem of that week). My 13 year old cousin Jenna edited it and she did such a good job, so check it out on Facebook
HERE

LP2

This past week we went to Lake Powell again, this time with our Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins from the Rasmussen side of the family. These trips are so fun because we are all total BFF and can let loose and be ourselves around each other. My cousins are all a riot. Here are some highlights.

Tannie rocked it on the surfboard

Big belly contest after one of the many amazing gourmet meals - sadly, some of us are bigger than Lindsay, who's almost 7 months pregnant.Of course we played Settlers of CatanOne night Tanya decided to straighten my hair to see how long it really is. It was not a good look for me, I have curly hair for a reason!And check out some video highlights HERE

Thanks for a great trip everyone - and until we meet again Lake Powell!

3rd of July

Our 4th (well, 3rd) of July was a full day of summery bliss! We started it all off with the Murray Parade. If any of you have ever been to this, you know that it's pretty much a 2 hour commercial (mostly political) with a few gems of outrageousness in between. Here are some gems.

When all was said and done we were glad we dragged ourselves out of bed for it.

Then we went to my parents' house for a barbecue with my Grandparents and Aunt Candy. After that, we (along with my parents) went with Tanya's family to see Toy Story 3. We loved it. Pixar for the win. Then Tanya's parents had my parents over for a barbecue and it was full of ideal summer food - gourmet burgers, corn on the cob, watermelon, chips and salsa, and margaritas.

Then I somehow talked everyone into being a part of one of my crackpot schemes. There is a river that flows past Tanya's parents' backyard in Lehi, and all summer long I have wanted to tube down it. I somehow talked everyone into it and half an hour later there we were. Tanya's brother Court, her brother Brock, and Brock's girlfriend Chantelle joined me.

The worried moms followed alongside in a car to make sure we didn't drown.

As well as Tan's dad Bart.

Tanya was the photog

So it was a pretty lazy flow up until the end, where it narrowed and started going really fast. The moms had secured a ski rope to a pole so that if we couldn't get out on our own, we could grab the rope and pull ourselves to the side. This was a last resort, because at the end of the river it goes into this machine that churns the water and then there's a conveyor belt that brings out big objects (like sticks, deflated tubes, or possibly dead bodies). I missed the rope completely and kept going. Meanwhile Brock grabbed the rope, but it knocked Chantelle and Court off the tube. Somehow Brock helped them get out. I grabbed a ladder on the side further down the river, but the water was so fast it just rushed over me and I couldn't breath, so I let go. There was one last ladder before the churning machine, and luckily that one I grabbed and pulled myself out with. The tubes both kept going, were churned, and came up off the conveyor belt.

We rushed home, took warm showers, ate hot chocolate, and turned on the fire. In the middle of the summer.

Then we went to the fireworks in Lehi

Overall, a perfect summer day.