Ok, so I'm still new to the blogging thing. You will have to let me know if you aren't able to read any of the posts or see the pictures. Oh the learning curve...especially when I'm already so computer illiterate (or whatever the word would be for someone who can't use computers)
I have lots of pictures and entries I plan to put in so we'll see how far I get. When you're so far behind, it's hard to get caught up.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
A little Delayed - but here's the honeymoon!
I know we went on our honeymoon like 3 months ago, so this is all old news but I needed to put it up anyway so I remember what we did. I'm just a little slow with the blogging thing is all.
We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore in Oahu. It was an all inclusive resort with the most beautiful views of the ocean. The landscaping was fantastic and every room had an ocean view. In fact, one of our walls was entirely made of glass. We had the most incredible sunrises and sunsets!!! The beaches and snorkeling were fantastic too. The only downer of the trip was the random trade-winds they had that week. They were so strong we'd get pelted with sand whenever we went to the beach. So we found other things to do most of the time. Boy do I want to go back!!!
We did a terrific job of playing the "newly wed" card so people would want to take pictures of us. We met some pretty nice ones actually. This was at Turtle Beach where all of the huge turtles feed and lay out on the beach.
This is Brutus! Apparently the turtles are all named? We thought the name was fitting! He was pretty sweet! What a life.
Of course we had to stop at the best Hawaiian Shave (without the "d") Ice place in the world!!! Yes, in the world! We got the Hawaiian - pineapple, coconut, and banana - with ice cream of course and to top it all off, they pour heavy cream over the top. We walked a lot so I didn't feel too badly about it. We even got to buy some for some of the Elders in the area that came in to the store.
Dole Plantation of course! We were too cheap to ride the train around the plantation, so we just wandered around the gardens and took pictures of all the random stuff. The process of growing pineapples is mind-blowing.
How does that heavy fruit stay on top of the bush to grow? I don't get it.
Ok for those of you who haven't been to the Kahuku Grill in Kahuku, repent! Seriously, Justin was in love at first bite. It's actually owned by an LDS couple who live there and most of the employees are BYU-Hawaii students.
Everything there is incredible. I don't know what they do to their meat and ribs, but it immediately became Justin's favorite restaurant anywhere! Their coconut shrimp were to die for and their portion sizes were...well, way over the top. But, it's Hawaii, so what can I expect?
We even had time for some spirituality so we stopped at the temple. It was actually closed for cleaning and renovation, so we didn't have to feel guilty about not going in, but it was nice to stop by at least.
Next we made our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We hit up all the "Islands" and most of the smaller shows. We learned how to husk coconuts, make coconut milk, start fire with sticks, beat on drums, and climb coconut trees. Too bad we don't have any of those around here. Our skills are going to get rusty. Guess we'll just have to go back! ;)
We even got sweet tattoos!
We finished off the evening by going to the main event - the Luau dinner and show. My friend Moana Mouga was a dancer in the show so she got us fantastic tickets. The show with dancers and music was phenomenal! It was the perfect Polynesian experience.
The next day we went to Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately we were unaware that they were closing the memorial for a few weeks for construction so everyone - and their dogs - were there that day. This meant that they took all the tickets for the day and we weren't actually able to go out to the Arizona. I had been a couple of years ago with Paul and Amy, but Justin had never been and this was one of the things he was thinking forward to the most. He was so disappointed. Again, another reason we will just have to return.
Our last day in Hawaii was spent in Honolulu. We had delicious burgers at Cheese Burgers in Paradise and walked around the beach. Then we got on a charter boat and went parasailing. Other than Justin's sudden spell of sea-sickness, it was fantastic! He was fine until it was our turn to sail. (We had 3 other couples on the boat with us that we had to wait for.) He got really quiet as we were lifted off the boat. I was screaming (for fun) and loved it. He was just trying to hold it in. The captain thanked him, at the end of the trip, for not losing it all over his boat. It was a great experience but I think we'll try to go on a day that isn't so windy or on a boat that's not quite as full. Or maybe we'll just invest in some Dramamine
Oh and as a side note...we did see some pretty great mullets while we were there. This beauty was in the airport! Awesome
We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore in Oahu. It was an all inclusive resort with the most beautiful views of the ocean. The landscaping was fantastic and every room had an ocean view. In fact, one of our walls was entirely made of glass. We had the most incredible sunrises and sunsets!!! The beaches and snorkeling were fantastic too. The only downer of the trip was the random trade-winds they had that week. They were so strong we'd get pelted with sand whenever we went to the beach. So we found other things to do most of the time. Boy do I want to go back!!!
We did a terrific job of playing the "newly wed" card so people would want to take pictures of us. We met some pretty nice ones actually. This was at Turtle Beach where all of the huge turtles feed and lay out on the beach.
This is Brutus! Apparently the turtles are all named? We thought the name was fitting! He was pretty sweet! What a life.
Of course we had to stop at the best Hawaiian Shave (without the "d") Ice place in the world!!! Yes, in the world! We got the Hawaiian - pineapple, coconut, and banana - with ice cream of course and to top it all off, they pour heavy cream over the top. We walked a lot so I didn't feel too badly about it. We even got to buy some for some of the Elders in the area that came in to the store.
Dole Plantation of course! We were too cheap to ride the train around the plantation, so we just wandered around the gardens and took pictures of all the random stuff. The process of growing pineapples is mind-blowing.
How does that heavy fruit stay on top of the bush to grow? I don't get it.
Ok for those of you who haven't been to the Kahuku Grill in Kahuku, repent! Seriously, Justin was in love at first bite. It's actually owned by an LDS couple who live there and most of the employees are BYU-Hawaii students.
Everything there is incredible. I don't know what they do to their meat and ribs, but it immediately became Justin's favorite restaurant anywhere! Their coconut shrimp were to die for and their portion sizes were...well, way over the top. But, it's Hawaii, so what can I expect? 
We even had time for some spirituality so we stopped at the temple. It was actually closed for cleaning and renovation, so we didn't have to feel guilty about not going in, but it was nice to stop by at least.
Next we made our way to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We hit up all the "Islands" and most of the smaller shows. We learned how to husk coconuts, make coconut milk, start fire with sticks, beat on drums, and climb coconut trees. Too bad we don't have any of those around here. Our skills are going to get rusty. Guess we'll just have to go back! ;)
We even got sweet tattoos!
We finished off the evening by going to the main event - the Luau dinner and show. My friend Moana Mouga was a dancer in the show so she got us fantastic tickets. The show with dancers and music was phenomenal! It was the perfect Polynesian experience.
The next day we went to Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately we were unaware that they were closing the memorial for a few weeks for construction so everyone - and their dogs - were there that day. This meant that they took all the tickets for the day and we weren't actually able to go out to the Arizona. I had been a couple of years ago with Paul and Amy, but Justin had never been and this was one of the things he was thinking forward to the most. He was so disappointed. Again, another reason we will just have to return.Our last day in Hawaii was spent in Honolulu. We had delicious burgers at Cheese Burgers in Paradise and walked around the beach. Then we got on a charter boat and went parasailing. Other than Justin's sudden spell of sea-sickness, it was fantastic! He was fine until it was our turn to sail. (We had 3 other couples on the boat with us that we had to wait for.) He got really quiet as we were lifted off the boat. I was screaming (for fun) and loved it. He was just trying to hold it in. The captain thanked him, at the end of the trip, for not losing it all over his boat. It was a great experience but I think we'll try to go on a day that isn't so windy or on a boat that's not quite as full. Or maybe we'll just invest in some Dramamine
Oh and as a side note...we did see some pretty great mullets while we were there. This beauty was in the airport! Awesome
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Honeymoon's Over
Well, it's official. The honeymoon is over. It hasn't even been two months and they are separating us. We thought we were lucking out and were going to be able to relax now that all the wedding stuff and receptions are over. That's what we get for thinking. When we started going to the family ward a few months ago, Justin was called as the 17-18 year old Sunday School teacher and I was called into the Young Women as the Personal Progress leader. We love working with the youth so we were thrilled with the assignments. We thought we were set for a while. Again, that's what we get for thinking.
Today I was sustained as the new Young Women's President. Do you see where this is going? Yeah, no more Sunday mornings together or nice relaxing evenings with nothing to do. I shouldn't complain, but seriously the President? I could have been a counselor or something at least. The best part is that the Bishop says there are a lot of concerns with the Young Women's organization right now and he's excited that I will be able to handle them. No pressure and talk about being inadequate!
Luckily I have a wonderful husband that is supportive. Unfortunately, today he came home from church with a terrible Migraine. He played it down to go to Stake Priesthood Meeting, but came home even worse and has been in bed ever since...it's now 10:00. Poor guy. So overall, a pretty good day for us. Hahaha! Can't wait for the long weekend!
Today I was sustained as the new Young Women's President. Do you see where this is going? Yeah, no more Sunday mornings together or nice relaxing evenings with nothing to do. I shouldn't complain, but seriously the President? I could have been a counselor or something at least. The best part is that the Bishop says there are a lot of concerns with the Young Women's organization right now and he's excited that I will be able to handle them. No pressure and talk about being inadequate!
Luckily I have a wonderful husband that is supportive. Unfortunately, today he came home from church with a terrible Migraine. He played it down to go to Stake Priesthood Meeting, but came home even worse and has been in bed ever since...it's now 10:00. Poor guy. So overall, a pretty good day for us. Hahaha! Can't wait for the long weekend!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
More wedding pics...from the photographers
Appeasing the adoring fans! Love ya "P"
The Ladies!
The boys...excuse me...the MEN!!!
Justin's cute family
Natalie's family...uh yeah this is just the immediate family!
All the kiddies!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Wedding Day...Finally!
It truly was the happiest day of our lives!
The entire day was perfect! Well, other than dad's front tooth breaking at 6 in the morning, which he promptly had fixed just in time for him to be misplaced right before the ceremony. Everyone had been waiting in the sealing room and they couldn't find Papa Rick (as Justin calls him.) Then they had Uncle Alan sign as the witness, so we had to have the papers filled out all over again once they found dad. (He was right where he was supposed to be FYI) So it set us back 45 minutes. The day had been planned to the second so it added a little stress, but no major problems.
Natalie and her parents
Justin and his mom
Justin and his dad and Judy
We took pictures after the ceremony with all the friends and family that were there. The day was beautiful considering it had been blizzarding the day before...and the entire week following. Justin's sister-in-law, Cortney, took some pictures as well as the photographers we hired. The pictures here are ones she took since we haven't received our others yet. (I will post some when they arrive.) But thanks Cortney for giving these to us. After we took pictures with friends and family, Justin and I got some quality face time with Davey and April of Pointe Digital Photography. They were crazy and fun and got shots of us that were completely unique. We had them shoot a video for us also. My one regret was not getting more pictures of my bouquet since I left it in the temple after the pictures so I never got to see it again. (Alicia Rich was a saint and retrieved it from the temple the following Monday so Shannon got to enjoy it for a couple more days anyway.)
Justin with his brothers
Natalie with her brothers
Natalie with her sisters
Our reception was at the Highland Garden Reception Center. It was so beautiful and perfect. The food, provided by cousin Jean Andrew, was fantastic and we had so many compliments about it. It was such a blast to see everyone that came. We were shocked that people just kept coming and coming. The decorations (made mostly by Shannon) were perfect as well as the cake. We don't love cake generally, but the chocolate cake that Jean made was incredible!!! She sent us with half of it when we left for our honeymoon so we did get to enjoy a little of it. All in all we had a pretty wonderful day! Thank you moms and dads for everything you have done for us and definitely for what you did that day to make it perfect for us.
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