The Great Hawaiian Adventure

The cold of winter-- and our house-- has turned our minds back to warmer days, days when we were in Hawaii. We've been back almost a month but have failed to blog about it due to an unholy number of final exams, papers, projects, and a merciless taskmaster called the Rent.  But now we're free from everything but the Rent so that frees up a little more time for blogging. 

                                         

The Illustrious Max Burgraff and Ken Potts, along with their wives, joined us on the trip. Max was on the USS Nevada and Ken was on the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941. It was an enlightening experience to walk in historic places with true heroes from history. 

At the top of a Volcano!

Families can be awkward together forever. . . in the Hawaii Temple Visitor Center

It was also a lot of fun to be in Hawaii together. It was almost like a second honeymoon except for the fact that we became parents over night to 6 teenagers. We had great kids but we weren't great parents. Example: Count the number of children in this picture. 5 out of 6 isn't too bad right? 

Punchbowl Military Cemetary

The band touched hearts and melted faces wherever they went. 

We immersed ourselves in Hawaiian tourist culture and by the end we felt like Island Royalty. It was an excellent trip and we are so grateful to have had the opportunity to go.  We'd like to especially thank David and Natalie Fullmer for allowing us to come along as "staff" and for helping us have this wonderful experience.