Happy 31st Anniversay To Us!!

June 29th, is our Anniversary. We celebrated early this year with a trip to Paradise. We returned just this last Saturday. A good friend of mine Lynnett Rueckert and her husband Gale, have a time share on Maui. They were going for two weeks and invited Jim and I for a week of it. Wow, what a trip. We were most amazed at the beauty of the island. It seemed that every bush and tree had some kind of blossom on it. They smelled so fragrant and were just beautiful. We stayed at a place called Kuleana, just about five minutes away from front street in Lahina. Our room was perfect. We walked out on the porch and there was the pool and just around the corner were a few steps to the beach. It was the perfect place to stay!! We ate pineapple, mango, passion fruit, and papaya everyday. Oh they were sweet.
One of the days we went to big beach and watched the natives boogie board, we walked along the beach and got hit by waves that took us down. I couldn't believe have powerful they are. I went down on my bad shoulder and couldn't move for a minute. I can see how they can be deadly.
We went to the swap meet on Saturday and got a good taste of the local food and crafts. We had a blast.

These are the Plumera Trees that they make the leis from. They smell wonderful!! Every day tones of them were lying all over the ground.

I love these "Bird of Paradise "

These Turtle would come up to the shore everyday and feed from the kelp on the rocks. They are huge!! Every so often their heads would come up for air. So Cool!

These beautiful trees were everywhere. There called "Monkey Pod" trees.

This is Honalua Bay. This was the best snorkel ever! The water was clear and still. There is a lot of coral and fish of every kind and color. I have been on a couple of cruises and done some snorkeling, but never seen any thing like this place.

The sunsets were amazing!!

This picture is sideways (sorry), but this was on our drive to Hana. This was what the whole drive was like. Everything was so green and lush. Long rope like vines hung from trees and made me want to swing from them.

Although the road was very windy and made us very nervous.

Gardenia's are one of my favorites and I was so excited to see this bush full of them. The smell reminded me of my mother. She used to wear Gardenia perfume.

This was the beach in Hana and the sand was black. It reminded me of gun powder.

We went to the Ocean Center in Lahina. It was really cool. We were able to touch sea urchins and star fish.

Cool Fish!!

This tunnel was so cool. Shark, Stingrays and all kinds of fish were swimming all around us.

This is the Banyan Tree down town Lahina. It was huge and took up the whole square.

Don't look at me I just got through snorkeling. This is Terry Wendt. She used to live here in Utah, but moved back home to Maui about 9 months ago. She came down to see us. It was great to see and talk with her. She is a wonderful person. Mahalo Terry!!

Audra, Terry wanted me to give you her love.

We had a great time and are so grateful for the opportunity to go on this trip. Thanks Lynnett and Gale for inviting us. It's a trip I will never forget.

The room over my right shoulder on the ground floor is where we stayed. The pool is behind that black iron fence and the beach in right in front of us.

Happy Anniversary Jim! I can't believe it's been 31 years. I remember when we got married my parents had been married for 32 years and I thought, Wow, will we ever make it that long? Well, I married the best man on earth. He is not only the love of my life, but my best friend. Here is to another 31 Jim. I love you more and more every day of my life.