Kamping

This weekend our ward had a camp-out at Hukilau Beach Park. We decided to go all out and buy a $22 tent from Wal-Mart so we could camp with everyone.

We set up our tent in the dark and realized that when they say it fits two people, they really mean it fits one short person. It was EXTREMELY small. I guess you get what you pay for (but really, we're returning it and getting our money back).
We sat around and talked and grilled hot dogs. Throughout the night our conversations kept going back to TV shows and we realized we aren't the only couple on earth obsessed with TV. We thought we were kind of stupid for loving it so much but it turns out all the cool kids do!

Somehow I became friends with an obsessed BYU fan. Hey buddy, how's that Quest for Perfection going so far this season? Our bromance is based around surfing and swearing and fast food, so it's all good.

I luff her

Smores = tradish

Night swim = new tradish

There were tears and there were sore necks and bodies, but somehow we survived the night in our elf tent and were able to enjoy the sun rising over Hukilau Beach!

Let's do it again sometime - with a bigger tent please

Pennie Tapp is a Saint

This last week and a half we have had our first house guest come and stay with us. It is Tanya's mom Pennie! She knew she would miss her Tannie so much that she booked this trip before we even moved here. Tanya had a break between semesters without school the whole time too, so the timing was perfect!

After being reunited in tears at the airport . . .

They got excited and starting planning their vacation.

Here are some of the things we did with Pennie:

We went to a Japanese Buddhist Temple that is about a half an hour from our house. It is beautiful and peaceful and in the mountains. Some of you may recognize it from Lost (Jin and Sun's wedding and some other scenes were shot here).

Tannie and her mom were both reading The Hunger Games and even got me to read the whole thing in 3 days, which is unheard of because I DO NOT read. Pennie is now on the last book and Tanya is almost through the second.

We did a lot of beaching, including Pipeline, Bikini, Shark's Cove, and Pounders.

We also ate at Shark's Cove Grill where we had our wedding dinner a year and a half ago!

We got shave ice on more than one occasion.

And made home-made Acai Bowls. They are 'da best and a tradish in HI.

While I worked like a chump in the city they went to Pearl Harbor and shopped their brains out in Waikiki

And went to Duke's

We discovered a beach access steps away from our house that leads right down to Bikini Beach. We found lots of treasures and Pennie made us some cool decorations with driftwood and coral and stuff (pics to come).

This bottle had washed ashore and was covered in crustaceans. Collecting bottles that wash ashore is our new thang. We now have 6 really cool ones that we have found. We collect sand everywhere in the world we go and these bottles will be perfect for storing them.
We hit up all our favorite joints including Hukilau Cafe, Kahuku Grill, Surfin' Tacos, Grass Skirt Grill, etc.

We went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay

See the eel that looks like a poisonous snake?

And there were some stellar sunsets from our back porch.

And one day we went surfing with our friends Mark and Natalie, but it started raining which ruined the fun for everyone.

Tonight we were sad that our mini vacay was about to end . . . so we drowned our sorrows in macadamia nut banana splits - which helped.

Thanks for visiting Pennie and for spoiling the crap out of us! We love you!

One Night in Bangkok

We have heard nothing but good things about Thailand. We have wanted to go there for awhile now. We feel like we've done the Latin America thing a lot (which we have loved) but we long to see a new part of the world. This year in Lake Powell while everyone else was reading books about Mount Everest, Polygamy, or the latest Nicholas Sparks, I read a Thailand travel guide cover-to-cover. I'm addicted. My Aunt Candy and Tanya's Uncle Randy both served their mission there as well as our friend Nik, who all describe it as amazing. Some of our favorite reality shows have also visited there.

We promised ourselves that while we were living in Hawaii, we would travel somewhere even further west than here, so as to get cheaper tickets and a shorter flight - because we all know that traveling is fun, but TRAVELING (getting there and back) sucks. What we failed to realize is that since Hawaii is a top travel destination, flights are still very expensive to places like Australia, Asia, and the other Pacific Islands. Dang. Every flight flight from Honolulu to Bangkok was still about $1,200 a person ($1,500 a person from SLC).

The other day we stumbled upon $850 round-trip tickets. The timing coincides perfectly with Tanya finishing her student teaching. There is also a one day layover in the Philippines both ways, which is cool.

Last night we booked the tickets! It all happened so fast. My parents wanted to come along with us so we booked together! We will be spending a week and a half there next May/June!

I am personally excited to cross three things off of my bucket list:

1 - Ride an elephant through the jungle
2 - Sleep on a train overnight.

3 - Travel to every continent except Antarctica (well, we still need to go to Australia and Europe, but at least we're one step closer).

The beaches and ocean are supposed to be mind blowing

We love Thai food

And can't wait to explore old temples

ha ha ha ha HA

This is our new favorite thing. It kills me.
Enjoy.