WE ARRIVED IN HAWAII.  We will be here for about 10 days before coming home.  We have had an amazing experience in Tonga serving the people there and spending time there.  We told the kids that if you work hard during the summer in the clinic, we will stop in Hawaii for some time there before heading to go back home.  I hope you don't mind me sharing some pictures and memories of this "FUN" trip.  We are going to make a book out of this blog for the kids and we wanted to have some memories of that in there.  Hopefully, if you're still following this blog, you don't mind.  This picture is of the condo we're staying in.  It's right next to Turtle Bay area on the North Shore.  It's a perfect location.  It's really close to BYU Hawaii campus, the Hawaii Temple, and the Polynesian Culture Center.  A lot of good beaches up here as well.  Heidi did good on finding a great place to stay.  If you're looking at going on vacation somewhere, VRBO is the place to go to.  

Chilling in the pool.  We had a long night and day flying, driving, and getting situated.  We hit the pool here, and went to bed early last night.

Breakfast this morning.  It's Wednesday now and I think we're on the same day as Idaho now.  

Cool picture last night of the kids at the beach.

Heidi and I

Beautiful beaches and sunsets.

Part of our night drive last night was to see the Laie Hawaii temple.

This temple has special meaning because one of my ancestors was a sculptor and he sculpted the stonework on top of this temple.  His name was Avard Fairbanks.  He was on my Mom's side.  He used his talents for so many great things, and this was one of them.  I had to see it first hand while we were here.  So cool!   

This is BYU Hawaii campus.  Amazing!  The quote that it says is, "Enter to Learn, Go forth to Serve."  There are so many students from all over the globe that come here.  Something I didn't know that I learned was that there are so many students that come from the Polynesian Islands on scholarship and they work at the Polynesian Culture Center to help pay for their schooling.  It's an amazing thing that the Church (LDS Church) is doing to help all of these students out.  They teach them the principle of Self Reliance and give them a way to earn their way for an education to give them a better life for them and their family.  We met such a guy today at the center named Tale Falevai.  He's an amazing guy that is the main character in the show at the polynesian culture center that is from Tonga.  Amazing story about him and what he does now.

BYU Hawaii campus

BYU Hawaii campus

Entrance to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  Amazing place.  If you ever go to Hawaii, you have to go here.  You learn so much about all the different islands, their culture, and who they are.

This explains what the Shaka is and how it came to be.  This explains the sculpture and where the sign for "hang loose" came from.  Very interesting!  Shaka!

Canoe ride down the river seeing the Cultural Center from a different view.  

Lucky Bridge #1.  If you touch it, you are lucky.  The other Bridges aren't so lucky.  Braden said Maddy was a negative 400 lucky because she touched all the bridges.  1 lucky one and 5 unlucky ones.  Kids........

Some views from the water

The family at some displays

The village of Fiji.  There were different villages that explained about the different island people.  The different villages were of Hawaii, Fiji, Tonga, Somoa, New Zealand, and Tahiti (French Polynesian Islands).

Tahiti Village

Tongan Sister teaching us how to weave.  We weaved a toy that kids do in Tonga.  It was a fish.  

The kids getting temporary Polynesian tattoos.

Each boat had a different number of dancers that represented their country.  Pretty amazing shows!

The Tongan boat!  We cheered really loud for this one!  We love Tonga!

We were walking by some of the areas, and I saw a guy carving some wood carvings.  I felt like I wanted to stop and talk to him about what he was doing.  It turns out that he was from Tonga.  During the day, he does wood carvings and sculpting, and at night, he is the star of the show - "The Breath of Life."  He told us to meet him later tonight and he would give us a tour backstage.  His name is Tane Falevai and he said that he went to Liahona High School and then he came to BYU Hawaii on scholarship.  He is studying graphic art and design and working at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It's so awesome to see the gospel in action.  He is exactly why the Church puts so much time and energy into education on the islands and allows them to realize their talents.  And once they realize their talents, they can bless the lives of others by doing them.

The Village of New Zealand 

There were a ton of Japanese people there tonight.  This Japanese woman is a BYU Student that is working there translating for Japanese people.  We started talking and it turns out, she was in my mission in Kobe, Japan.  She lives in Osaka Japan where I served for 2 months.  She was 4 years old when I served.  Sheesh.... I feel old.

A Tongan man that put on a great show for all of us!  His was the best show that we saw!  

The Village of Tonga

This was dinner and a show.  This was the Hawaiin Luau party!  Boy, the Hawaiians know how to party and know how to throw a feast!  Incredible!

A great family picture!  

This was when we were backstage seeing everything with Tane Falevai.  He said he came to BYU Hawaii not knowing how to do anything.  In 3-4 months, he learned how to do all the dancing (which includes the fire dancing), all the scripts, and all the acting.  He said that it is stressful to learn, but they work with them and teach them until they get it.

This is Tane.  He did a great job on the show tonight!  He was incredible!