Hawaii- Day One

 Let’s back up for a minute and give a quick history from Anna's life.

 In 2006 I went to BYU Hawaii for the summer on a visiting student program that they had back then. I had the best time. There were cute boys, the beach, fun classes, warmth, spontaneous friends, culture and all the things 20 year old Anna loved. But I also took a special class called Malama Kai and we got to help work on an authentic Hawaiian voyaging canoe, the Iosepa, that was on the land at the time outside on campus. Our teach was Uncle Bill, an older Hawaiian man who came to class in his swim trunks and a button up Hawaiian shirt every day. He and a few others were the ones who built the canoe. We helped sand and paint new stain on the hulls. Uncle Bill would have us sit on the canoe and he taught us all about it and sailing and taught us Hawaiian songs and hulas and told us about his dreams of ancestors. One time he took us all swimming in the ocean and then fed us bread fruit he had in the back of his car. It was such a special time! And it’s the reason I’ve always felt such a deep love for Hawaii and it’s history and culture. Uncle Bill died probably like ten years ago from cancer I think. 

I went back to Hawaii but to Kauai for my honeymoon with Buck and then we went to Maui in 2012 when June was little, with my family. But I hadn’t been back to Oahu yet! So I was very excited for this recent trip we took

That first morning we all woke up early since we were still on Utah time, which was four hours ahead, and so as a family we all watched the most amazing sunrise from the backyard and I was in heaven! 

 Eventually we headed out and went to Waimea Valley. You pay to enter and you go on this nature walk through the valley and they have places to stop and learn about the plants and Hawaiian culture. At the beginning they had a few older people at a table and they stopped the kids and the one man taught the kids about how, for centuries, Hawaii children didn’t have a written language and so they had to learn by observing, listening, and remembering. He told them how important grandparents and elders were to the community and to honor theirs. I loved it. Next to that man was a woman who taught Hawaiian and she taught them some words as well. 

We trekked up the hike and it was beautiful and we saw some Hawaiian huts and stuff and got to listen to someone play his ukulele and he taught us all about the history of the ukulele. Then at the end of the trail there is a waterfall and you get to swim in it. We all got in, except for my dad, who opted to take some photos instead, and it was cold at first but then not too bad. It was fun to let the kids experience swimming with a waterfall and we all enjoyed it! Then we dried off and hiked back down. 

haha my dad got a photo of us trying to get that family selfie 

As we were passing by those tables again I felt like I should talk to the women who teaches Hawaiian, so I started a conversation up and I ended up telling her about my time at BYU Hawaii and Uncle Bill and found out that she knew him! In fact, she and her family were really close friends with him and his family! She asked me to sing the Hawaiian songs I claimed I remembered and she seemed surprised and pleased when I sang them and proved that I did. 

I then told her that I actually had some old recordings, from 18 years ago, from one day in class when Uncle Bill taught us all the songs as a review and then he told us his ancestral dream that lead to the name of the Iospea, and then he bore a beautiful testimony. She got really excited and asked if I could send her the audio clips. And God was involved because I had gone out of my way to find these audio clips before my trip and add them to my phone just in case I found someone who might want them. 

And there she was. 

And I was able to send them to her phone! As I was leaving she got up and said “wait!” and got a handmade grass and flower lei and gave it to me and gave me a hug. 

And if those moments of connection aren’t one of the best things in this life, then I don’t know what are. 

After we left the valley, we went to the famous Matsumoto’s shave ice because it’s a "tourist must." And then we headed to a beach. We went to sunset beach but there were warning signs about the waves and under current so we went to Waimea beach instead because it’s a bit more of a cove. It was still a bit wild but not as bad and we had a nice evening there playing in the ocean all together and then saw a glorious sunset! 

 

Also, a bonus! After taking these photos of my mom with my nephew, Walter, I knew I had to pair it together with this photo I took of my mom with baby June when were in Hawaii in 2012 all together. Her oldest and her youngest grand kid. 💖