Houghton Hullabaloo: Vacation

It finally came! Last weekend was Megan and Danny’s wedding in Newport Beach and it was PERFECT! I don’t think I have ever been to a wedding where every single aspect was flawless! The weather (will someone please tell me why we live in Texas?), the dress, the decorations, the bridesmaids (not that I am biased), and the location were all in ideal condition for an ideal couple.

The ceremony took place at the Newport Beach Temple which is absolutely beautiful. It was a wonderful ceremony; Megan looked gorgeous and you could tell Danny was very happy with his choice in wife. It was great to be there with Chris and kind of re-live our sealing that took place just a few short months ago; it’s so easy to forget how lucky we are to be sealed for eternity.

After the ceremony we took pictures and grabbed a bite to eat before we went to the beach to take more pictures. Their photographer was amazing and she also happens to be the sister of one of our friends. See her work here...awesome right? While we were taking pictures, my sweet husband and his wonderful mother ran around doing some last minute errands for the wedding. Poor guy missed the beach but he was happy to help!

The reception was on a yacht and went off without a hitch! As the yacht made its way up and down Newport Harbor we enjoyed food, a little dancing, and some serious basking in newlywed bliss. We ate yummy salpicon for appetizers and along with their mini bride and groom cakes they had Sprinkle’s Cupcakes… All I can say is YUM! Good choice Megan and Danny! I may or may not have had about 2 cupcakes and had a bite of the 2 Chris picked so all in all we shared 4 cupcakes….Wow, it makes you feel like more of a pig when you see that in writing. (I will add here that I went for a run that morning so I reached my 5 times a week workout quota, there is that better?)

In the end, it was a fast and furious weekend but we got to spend some time with Chris’ mom and with some family friends of mine and of course a few quick moments with our wonderful (and now married!)friends.

(Editor’s note: Due to Hannah’s status as a bridesmaid she did not have time to take any pictures so that task was bestowed upon Chris who incidentally is not the official family photographer, considering this, Chris actually did a pretty good job!)

Emily, Rachel and me minus the matching bridesmaid necklace Megan bought me...no one could find it!

Some of the cute flower girls. Jenna (the one on the left) and I danced the night away on the yacht, she is so sweet!

Chris and I basking in the awesome California weather.

The fugitive bridesmaid necklace was found!

The beautiful Newport Beach Temple

The Bride and Groom!!!

Everyone; so happy and so colorful!

Megan had some serious bling.

Last month Chris and I went on our honeymoon to Kauai. I have come to the conclusion that all of us "Mainlanders" are idiots and we should all just move to the Hawaiian Islands. If it had not been for the tsunami scare that Friday before we arrived I would be setting up our cardboard shack (because that is the only thing we could afford to live in) on the beach as I type this. I have been in a state of mourning since our return, Texas is great and all but it's no Poipu Beach... ugh....

OK, I will stop complaining now and tell you a little bit about our trip. We arrived Monday and after waiting a while for our baggage (apparently things move a lot slower there, which I eventually came to appreciate) we got our rental car and headed for our hotel to check in. As we zoomed down the road at a whopping 35 miles an hour (45 is the max speed limit we saw on the island) I knew it was going to be quite difficult to leave. After dodging chickens and roosters left and right we arrived at our hotel. (they seriously have chickens just walking around the entire island, it's hilarious if you wanna know the story behind that click here)

Here is a picture of the road to our hotel. Gorgeous right?

The Tree Tunnel

We checked into our hotel and were treated to free Lilikoli Lemonades....I have never in my life had so many sugary, fruity, jam packed with calorie drinks in one week.... they were amazing but due to the fact that I probably gained five pounds on the trip, I am going to keep them on the island along with the chickens thank you very much!

The next day Chris and I explored the island, we went to Spouting Horn and then to Waimea Canyon, so beautiful! Then we went back to our hotel and hung out on the beach, it was the first of many perfect days. For dinner we went to Plantation Gardens and Chris had some yummy ribs and we finished off our day with a giant Macadamia nut ice cream sandwich and a Guava Cheesecake...delish! If you're ever in Koloa hit up Plantation Gardens!

Spouting Horn

Waimea Canyon

Just FYI: If I ever run away from home... this is where I can be found. (By the way I love my Nook)

The next day we went on a ziplining safari, we hiked, kayaked and ziplined the day away on the Kipu Ranch where they filmed Jurassic Park. I didn't get any pictures so if you wanna see where we were, watch the movie, it looks exactly the same just minus the dinosaurs, obviously.

The next few days we explored the island and on Saturday we went on a cruise to around the island to the Napali Coast. It was beautiful. I learned 2 things that day: #1: Chris doesn't get seasick #2 I do. Oh and lets make it 3 things I learned....#3:I will never consume cinnamon rolls and Guava juice in the same meal, they don't taste that great coming back up. I only remember "tossing my cookies" (or should I say tossing my cinnamon rolls) 3 other times in my life so that was definitely a scarring experience. Despite the sea sickness it was still tons of fun and I would do it again in a second, barf bag and all! We saw a few whales, tons of dolphins and when we went snorkeling we swam with lots of fish that would swim right up to your face. Chris also swam with a sea turtle! Needless to say it was another great day in Kauai.

We saw tons of dolphins! They were even jumping out of the water!

Thankfully, as I was barfing, Chris was able to snap these pictures!

Right after I barfed... don't judge.

The day we left we at the Duke's a restaurant right next to the airport, I highly recommend their Hula Pie... it's to die for.

Here are some more pictures from our trip:

The Grand Hyatt Resort, maybe when we have more sweet cash money we can stay here!

Chris' signature pose

Lappert's Ice Cream... It will change your life. It's the Hawaiian equivalent of Blue Bell, but I think you can get it here in the mainland too. If you ever get a chance try "Heavenly Hana"