paradise is on earth

 last week, i was invited to hawaii. 

so i have never been to this heaven on earth, so this was my first time.  

let me just start this post off with, i have island fever.

i miss this place so, so, so, so, so much.

i am so grateful for this amazing family taking me here.

here are some pictures and i'll try my best to add some words... all 49 pictures.

 brady picked me up from the airport. i was in complete shock of how i was in hawaii.  he and his family gave me my first lei!  so sweet!

 this was our view from the home... on the north shore.

so beautiful!

 these dogs were hilarious.  

we would have random people bring them to us from beaches miles south. 

kappua and feona. the dogs came with the house.

 one of the days we went on a bike ride to turtle bay with his parents. we stopped by the coolest farmer's market that had exotic fruit, coconuts and the coolest locals!  we played beach volleyball, played at the beach, had an amazing time and even saw the poly culture center show that night!

 acai bowls and shaved ice!!

  we went snorkeling in shark's cove!

so the sea cucumbers in hawaii are hard and not squishy! 

so weird!

  we had such a fun time! 

i went for some runs that were the best! i felt like i was in a dream running through the trees and on the beach and stepping on plumeria flowers.  loved it!

 on sunday we went to church by campus.

yep, got to sit next to this handsome fella.

 we stopped by the temple and took some pictures.

it was so beautiful.

after we stopped by the pearl harbor memorial. 

this day was beautiful.

we played games, made food, i attempted to make a coconut cake that almost failed many times, made some shish kabob fruits with swedish fish on the ends, went on a family hike, saw that china hat island, stand-up paddle-boarded... almost died SUpaddle-boarding, put sunscreen on brady poorly..

visited DOLE

made some memories i'll never forget.

i love this place.  cannot wait to go back.