Sunday, April 29, 2012
Aloha,
I thought I'd share with you our "celebration of life" Hawaii trip for Jeff. This was an absolutely wonderful week of seeing beautiful scenery while enjoying our first cruise with family and friends.
Friday, the 13th, Ken and I met Jeff and Meridith at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. We then flew over to Honolulu and checked into a hotel right on Waikiki Beach. Our friends, the Rusks, Steve, Cathy, and Melissa, were already there waiting for us. My brother, Mike and sister-in-law, JoAnn, arrived a couple of hours later. The nine of us had dinner together to begin our festive week and also to celebrate Meridith's birthday which was on the 11th.
Of course, we walked on the beach and in the ocean before we took a tour on Saturday to see Diamond Head. When we finished, we went and boarded the ship before it set sail that evening at 7:00 PM. The Rusks were the only ones who had cruised before so the rest of us were excited to settle into our stateroom homes for the next week. I must say it was a wonderful way to relax -- room, board, and excursions. Sometimes we saw sights together, sometimes we did our own adventures, but we enjoyed evenings catching up together and participating in the ship's entertainment.
The Pride of America ship sails to four Hawaiian islands -- O'ahu, Maui, the Big Island Hawaii, and Kauai. We went to the top of Haleakala Crater, explored Lahaina, toured Hilo and Kona, watched Kilauea vent, ate poi at a luau/show, stood in awe at Waimea Canyon, gazed at the high cliffs of the Napali Coast, and were honored to step foot on the USS Missouri and the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Ken fulfilled his dream -- a 28-mile bike ride down the volcano to the ocean. Meridith had fun taking a surf lesson. Melissa's birthday was the 19th so she and Meridith hulaed at the luau that night. Jeff loved every minute of this memory-making trip and did well staying in the shade or staying protected when in the sun. And my tribute to Jeff to celebrate reaching this 5-year mark of new life -- a small butterfly tattoo on my right ankle.
We Sandlins landed back at our homes on Sunday the 22nd. The Rusks stayed a few more days and the Haupts remained another week. All of them are also now safely home.
I know there were some of you who wanted to be with us on this trip but could not go for various reasons. We know you love Jeff deeply by always being there with him since 2001. We thought of and gave thanks for all of you while we were in Hawaii. Your years of prayers made this trip a wonderful gift to Jeff.
The attached picture shows the Rusks on the left, my brother Mike and wife JoAnn behind me, and of course Ken, Meridith and Jeff on the right.
Mahalo for being such terrific family and friends. May God continue His blessings on all of us.
much love,
Marcia
