Scott and Katie

I'm so proud of him. He's worked really hard the last two years to earn his degree. We've been looking forward to this moment.

This month has been filled with fun activities with our beloved friends. We've done potluck dinners, movie nights, guys/girls nights, game nights, and a midnight showing of the Hunger Games.

Today, Scott and I were able to visit our friends the Webbs who moved to Arizona from New Jersey. It was so much fun to hear Lincoln and Jenny tell stories of Scott when he was in High School. We are so excited to have them near. We are so blessed!

On Valentine's day Scott surprised me with some flowers and we had a romantic dinner for two at Outback Steakhouse. Nothing says love like a bloomin onion!



Thursday we got tickets to see Wicked at ASU Gammage. We had such a great time. Our seats were on the first row of the balcony. I love having opportunities to spend one on one time with Scott. He's truly my forever sweetheart.

We scheduled Thursday as our day to visit the Polynesian Cultural Center. The center didn't open until 12:30 and so we had the majority of the morning to wander around the island. We decided to stop at the Punchbowl Cemetery. The cemetery lies at the top of a mountain with a great view down on Honolulu.




As we drove up the coast we stopped to watch the big waves crash into the rocks on the North shore.


When we arrived at the Cultural Center, we got there just in time to catch a river raft performance from each of the different Pacific islands.





We saw a man open a coconut, start a fire with just bamboo, and climb a palm tree. There were lots of students that did polynesian dances and played large drums. Many of these demonstrations called upon audience members to participate. Scott got called to go to the front to do a Fijian dance. He was really nervous, but he did it anyway. I was proud of him. At least it looks like he's having fun. He did get a crown woven from leaves for his trouble.





We had dinner at a luau that evening. We ate kalua pork, chicken, fresh fruit, and poi. Following dinner we made our way to a large outdoor auditorium where we saw a performance from the students of nearby BYU. They did dances and played with fire. It was amazing!

Scott participated in the conference for the first two full days we had in Hawaii. We didn't want to do anything in which he would feel left out, so we took it easy and scheduled our most exciting adventures for later in the week. While Scott sat in on some classes my parents and I hopped in the car and took a drive up to the North shore of the island. We intended to do a session at the temple, but discovered that it was closed for two weeks. Instead we toured the visitor center and took pictures on the temple grounds. Isn't it a beautiful temple?




On the way back we decided to stop and watch the waves crash in on the many beaches that line the north shore. Winter on the island brings large waves to this side of the island. The water is far too dangerous to swim, but the large waves bring surfers. We were able to watch some daring individuals ride the waves.







As we drove back to the city we decided to stop at the Dole Pineapple plantation to grab some pineapple soft serve ice cream. We also learned how pineapples grow. Here you can see a little one. One pineapple plant grows a single pineapple, and each fruit takes nearly 15 months until they are large enough to harvest. Now we know why pineapple can be so expensive.



When we got back to our hotel room, Scott was just finishing up his classes for the day so we decided to grab a bite to eat and then head to Waikiki. The beach was just outside our hotel. It was so fun to watch all the boats float out just beyond the beach. We waded in the water the first night, and watched the sun set.



Wednesday we woke up and drove to Aloha Stadium for the Swap meet. We wandered the entire circle around the stadium, and found some great items to bring home.



Scott didn't want to participate in this so he stayed back in the hotel working on his presentation. When we arrived back from the swap meet we met Scott just in time to sit in on his presentation. He did a great job. The group chair opened the session for questions at the end, and many people had questions and interest in his topic. I was so proud!

Following his presentation we decided to celebrate by having dinner at "Cheeseburgers in Paradise". This restaurant came highly recommended from family members. Scott had the Kobe beef burger!

Scott and I were lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit the island of Oahu in order to participate in an international art and humanities conference. Scott submitted a paper he wrote and they invited him to present it. It was the first of many more opportunities Scott will have to be able to present at education conferences in the future. I didn't want to miss out on a trip to Hawaii so I tagged along as well. When we told my parents his paper was accepted they casually joked that it would be so fun for my mother to celebrate her 50th birthday in Hawaii "Hawaii 5-0 style". A few weeks of conversations and collaboration later, we were able to work it out that they would be able to make it there with us. January 9, my mother's birthday was the day we spent traveling to the island. My siblings and I didn't want my mom's special day to go unnoticed so we decided to collect letters from many of my Mom's closest friends and family for her to read on the airplane. I think she really enjoyed that surprise. First thing, we checked into our hotel and saw the gorgeous views we would enjoy the rest of the week. We had an ocean view and out our balcony, we had a perfect view of diamond head crater.




Our first night in Honolulu we celebrated my mother's birthday at a prime rib buffet in our hotel. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was great. We were so tired after a long day of flights that we went to bed at 9:00. We had a long week of fun adventures ahead of us...

Christmas decorations are up....



Christmas lights are shining...





Christmas cards are arriving in the mail....



And our bags are nearly packed....



We're coming home for Christmas!!!