Aloha from the rock

Here we are!

The magical mountains on the windward side.

The first day coming to a close...

A cute little surprise performance in town that night.

Ryan's youngest brother Jeff is at BYU Hawaii so of course we had to go give him loves.Can you tell these brothers love each other or what?
My cousin Andrea and her husband Devin came and we got to show them around the island for their first time. They were seriously fun travel buddies. Andrea and I kept joking that we were each others photographers:)
Ahhhh Hawaiian recycling

First order of business. Find the surf. Being December on the North Shore, we didn't have to look too long.

Ryan and Mary Johnson...do you recognize this beach?? We will never go there again without you. Better yet, let's all buy our own little house there.

This reef was rad and kicked up the waves really cool.

So you can't see it well at all but there were so many sea turtles everywhere we went. Seriously, we'd be laying at the beach and they would just come up out of the water with the waves, baby ones and big ones. I wanted to cuddle them they were seriously so darling.

Ry coming out of the water for his first session in the waves looking very pleased.

Snorkeling at shark's cove.

Dole plantation love.

I've decided that living in Hawaii on the north shore fulfills all my dreams of simultaneously having a farm with lots of animals and growing an amazing garden and having the ocean at my doorstep. It's a tall order to fill.

Andrea and I went up to these sacred ritual grounds to take pictures one afternoon while the boys were surfing. It was a perfect afternoon with big, dark clouds on the horizon. We tried to conjure up all the crazy things that might have happened there.

Ritual grounds but couldn't this totally be the english countryside or something?
Watching the sets roll in.

Love all around

I love this picture of Ryan. I can honestly say that I don't think I see Ryan happier than when he is in Hawaii. That is reason enough to move there:)

Amazing sunsets, of course.

Ryan's cousin Ske (Matt) also goes to school at BYU so we met up to say hi. We love Ske.

Fall in Hawaii
We sort of fell in love with this little cove and Ryan had his best session of the trip here at Rockies.
I love all these little walkways to the beach.
Beautiful Waimea
We got to stop and see the newly remodeled Pearl Harbor Memorial. Very cool and so worth seeing.

Because you just have to get a picture straight out of the water.

One of many GIANT leaves.

Anyone recognize this beach?? Oh you know, from a show called LOST. Considering it is probably our favorite show of all time, I was a little excited.

Haleiwa at sundown.

So many vibrant colors

A true seasoned Hawaiian at the end of our trip.

One of my favorite spots on the north shore.

Pipe Masters Competition

It was fun to see the pro's out there surfing and making the best of the funny direction of the swell at pipe. I loved all the local kids running up to every guy as they got out to get autographs.

Pipe hopefuls

SO this whole trip was to celebrate the fact that Ryan and I will have been married 5 years on the 30th of this month! Seriously that is just crazy to me. People I meet here and there are always like, well how long have you been married and when I say almost 5 years, no fail they are always like, oh the first 5 are hard but it gets much easier. So obviously we are not perfect and we haven't always seen eye to eye on some things, but to this day, there isn't anyone more perfect for me than Ryan. I am honestly amazed every day at how he loves me. I get to fall in love with him all over again on these trips when I get to take off my mom hat. Everyone needs a chance to do that, being a mom is intense. So if you ever feel the need to be reminded of love, I would suggest a trip to the islands. And if the first 5 years are the hardest, I can't wait for what else is in store for us!