Hawaii - 12 hours on Oahu (7/17/07)

Returning from our vacation in Japan, we had a 12 hour layover in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was a perfect way to see some of Hawaii without any additional cost. (Northwest Airlines has this awesome flight schedule.)

Sarah and Spencer (Misty's sister and brother-in-law) met us at the airport. Then we drove to the other side of the island to Laie. This picture of the ocean was taken along the way.

The Hawaii Temple is in the background below. From left to right, Spencer, Sarah, Adalei, Nate, Misty. Spencer and Sarah live at Kona on the big island. We were so excited that they flew over to spend the day with us.
At the church visitor's center, the females were given beautiful flowers to wear over the ear. Adalei loved hers and wanted more.
The picture below was taken at the Polynesian Cultural Center. This guy shredded coconuts and then made coconut milk by just using his hands. It was amazing and now I'm craving something made with coconut!
Here we are in the picture below at the church's visitor's center. The background is different than at the other visitor centers for the Christus statutes.
Here's a picture of BYU - Hawaii below. Flags from many, many countries are flown in front of this building. Nate was driving a little too fast for me to get a picture with all the flags. (Nate's driving was superb; no stress. I just didn't have time to get ready for another picture including the flags. Nate would have stopped if I had given him some notice though.)
See below for more beautiful pictures from the Polynesian Cultural Center.

As the sun was setting, the sky clouded up and it rained for awhile. I loved the beautiful storm clouds and these pictures below:
This is my favorite picture from Waimea Park on the north shore.
Two final pictures from the Polynesian Cultural Center.....

It was a fun 12 hours. Spencer and Sarah did a great job of planning the day and getting us from one location to the other while hitting all the high points for each location! On the way home, Nate said it was just a teaser and made him want to go back to see even more!