Aloha from Hawai'i!

Monday, March 30, Day 137, week 20, month 5 since diagnosis-
Where to begin? We began talking about additions to our "bucket list" about five weeks ago and decided to throw out the possibility of a Hawai'i 30th anniversary trip. The doc suggested not waiting until April 27, but that we should go ASAP. We began planning- here we are in HEAVENLY Hawai'i!
The tender mercies of the Lord just keep flowing our direction. This blessing and so many others, coming in large measure due to the Lord placing so many ministering angels around us in our day to day life- family, family friends, ward and neighborhood family. How we dearly and deeply love you all!
I am incredibly blessed to be feeling very good and have been able to enjoy this trip enormously. (I have used the wheelchair at the airport, the War Memorial, the PCC, but have been walking lots too.) We are accompanied by a wonderful family support staff of Michelle's older sister and her husband Kathy & Dave Petersen from Centerville, UT, and Michelle's mother, Carol Dickison from West Valley City, UT, and Michelle's younger sister Lisa Dickison from the Millcreek area of Salt Lake City, UT. None of the group have ever been to the islands of Hawai'i before. What a trip we are having!
We arrived last Sunday March 22nd on a direct flight from SLC to Kahului on Maui arriving at 2:38 pm. Following is a brief itinerary:
-Sunday- 7:00pm We all toured the Loveland's LOVELY home, BEWILDERED by our blessings and the tender mercies of the Lord being indelibly marked in our lives in such temporal and mortal ways. We are in a HEAVENLY home here in an EDENLIKE earthly setting!
-Monday- 6:45am Recover, recuperate, absorb, settle-in, hotubbed, walked the beach and boardwalk, ate, relaxed.
-Tuesday- 7:45am More of kicking back. Napped. Enjoyed trying to soak it all in! Packed for an early start at 4:30am tomorrow.
-Wednesday- 7:45am We flew to Oahu
Honolulu-
Pearl Harbor War Memorial- The Arizona was a spiritual experience.
The Bowfin submarine was incredibly interesting.
The Missouri overwhelmed me. The superstructure stairs did me in.
La'ie- We had planned to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC)- no time.
Checked in the Turtle Bay Resort, where I crashed for the night.
-Wednesday- 11:45amTurtle Bay Pictures- nice, nice digs!
PCC for the day, tours, PRESENTATIONS, Luau, Night Show- What an INSPIRATIONAL,
IMPRESSIVE and IMPOSING influence. Passion and pagentry! Crashed again.
-Friday- 9:45am
La'ie Temple and BYU-Hawai'i campus tour. The temple is closed for remodeling so we were unable to attend- Too bad for us!
Hanuku Town- Giovanni's Shrimp Truck, famous for fresh-from-the ponds-that-morning Scampi, and Lemon Butter Shrimp. Shopping, shopping, always shopping opportunities.
Sunset Beach- Ted's Bakery, renown for Hawai'ian Haupia Chocolate Cream Pie. Even Kathy who is not a big chocolate fan had me go back and get her a slice for herself. Michelle's cream puff was 7" in diameter filled with whipped cream and custard! The strawberry cream pie was pretty good too!
Launikai Beach- Green Sea Turtles, 12-15 of them, in the surf, on the beach, hanging out everywhere. It was amazing.
Wai'mai- Aiono's Hawai'ian Shave Ice legendary for it's combination of shave ice, ice cream and some type of sweet beans. Does there seem to be a food theme going on here? Hmmm! Shopping . . shopping . . shopping . .
Dole Pineapple Plantation- pineapple, Shopping . . shopping . . shopping . .
Honolulu- 5:45pm Flight back to Maui-
Kapalua- 10:00pm back at the Loveland's LUXURIOUS home
Meeting up with Scott and MaryJane Johnson, long-time, dear friends. MaryJane works in the travel industry and facilitated some of our travel, has obvious travel priviledges and so they met us here for a few days visit. They prepared a welcome Luau of their own- grilled BBQ ribs, fresh grilled pineapple, salads, Mango Spongecake all ready as we walked in the door. We ate and ate, visited a little and crashed, again!
-Saturday- 8:45am- Very windy, cool, and cloudy.
Kapalua- Just relaxed, visited, lounged, and recovered from the scheduled part of the trip. I really wanted to get in the ocean today but it was just too cold for me, though there were still many other people in the water. I walked a couple of miles on the boardwalk trail behind the house with Dave and Scott. We all hot-tubbed a couple of hours, then napped- again.
Kahana- "Anniversary Dinner" at Roys ending with their deadly baked chocolate souffl`e with it's molten center. Strongly endorsed by MaryJane & Scott, it has been voted all of Hawai'is best dessert for 16 years running! It was sinfully good bordering on immoral.
Every day we have been in Kapalua we have seen Humpback Whales (mothers are 40-50' long), as many as seven or eight at once, mothers and calves!
-Sunday- 8:30amThe Sabbath
Lahaina- 9:00am Lahaina First Ward Fast Sunday block of meetings.
Kapalua- A relaxing sabbath day of rest, naps, and visiting. We had a second anniversary dinner around 7:00pm of grilled, thick, juicy beefsteaks and pork steaks with an assortment of sweet peppers and mushrooms, fresh pineapple, salad, corn, rolls, sautee`d onions and mushrooms, topped off with Haupia Chocolate Cream Pie! I rolled onto the bed with my Tongan Prayer fleece blanket to warm up and read a moment at about 9:15pm before joining the others downstairs to visit and play some games. Michelle woke me up for the third time at about 12:10am to undress and get into the covers.
-Monday- 4:30amFirst breakfast and blogging.
Kapalua- "More to come . . .