the paquettes

Our good friends from college, Kim and Ryan, came in town this past weekend.  We rented a pontoon boat with the Richardsons, and took a 4 hour cruise on Lake Travis.  James caught his first fish, (and his second, and his third!)  They were all just perches, but none the less, he can now say he has caught a fish!  And I finally got my sunset pictures (in Kauai, our sunsets were covered either by clouds or mountains.)

Jen, me, and Kim

With the expert help from Ryan, (he works for the Boy Scouts, so you know he is legit!), James caught and held up his first fish!

Then he tried to get me to touch it. NO WAY. I will draw the line at anything to do with fish and (flying) birds. GROSS.

keep that nasty thing away!

sun is starting to set

For some reason the guys thought it was hilarious to try and sink the boat by hitting wakes at just the right time and having a wall of water splash inside. You can tell by James’ shirt, they were very successful!

whoosh!

sweet

final shot before the sun sets

11 years ago today we got engaged!  (And the only reason I know the exact date is because my mom bought me a Christmas ornament with the date engraved on it!)  🙂

James’ plan was to take me to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and propose there, but when we pulled up, the gates were closed for some reason.  James then had to quickly think, because his mom and sister were going to secretly find us there to video tape and take pictures!  This was before cell phones were popular, so he just thought his mom and sister wouldn’t be able to find us, and he went to the nearby Trinity park.  I had no clue that anything was up.  We walked around the park and stopped at a grassy bridge.  He pulled out his Bible and read Ephesians 5:25-27  “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”  Again, I did not think anything special was going on.  Just James trying to spiritually lead our relationship.  He then began washing my feet.  Still, no clue.  I thought he was being very sweet though, (not to mention super spiritual!)  😉  While he was washing my feet, I saw James’ mom and sister behind a nearby tree!  (They drove around and found us!)  My first reaction to James was, “Why is your mom taping us?  This is a personal moment!”  Still, no clue from me.  Well, they thought I knew what was going on because I saw them, so they started coming in closer snapping pictures and taking video.  I just got embarrassed.  That’s when James bends down on one knee…

this is the actual moment!

sorry for the bad copy, but it’s all I have!  Me hugging James in disbelief.

James’ turn

Day 5 was our last full day of activities.  We went on a sunset cruise of the Na Pali coast which is inaccessible by foot because of its sheer cliffs that drop straight down thousands of feet.  It is so beautiful there!  We saw some of it from our helicopter ride, but sailing right next to it was next level.

our catamaran

Just starting on our 4 hour tour

do you see King Kong’s profile?

another rainbow!

sun is starting to set…

I was most excited about getting sunset pictures in Kauai. The bummer was that we were staying on the side of the island where you could not see the sunset (because of the high mountains). I was so looking forward to the sunset cruise where I could get some beautiful shots with the ocean and sunset. “The shot” was totally going to be my new facebook profile picture! 😉 Well, that evening, the clouds took over, and this was the best we could get.

tiny sliver of sun setting….:(

Day 3 was spa day!  We went to the Grand Hyatt (gorgeous hotel!!) to have a couples massage before the Luau. I really wanted to bring my camera into the couples massage bungalow. It was so beautiful, (and used in the movie Just Go With It with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler), but it was even too weird for me to be walking around the grounds in a bathrobe carrying my camera around my neck. 🙂

Grand Hyatt

more Grand Hyatt

before the massage, Grand Hyatt lobby

Grand Hyatt beach

ready to go to the Luau!

I got a Henna “tattoo” of the state flower before the Luau started.  Henna lasts for up to 3 weeks.

the Hibiscus

the real flower

James enjoying an adult beverage in front of the hula girls

Luau!

This guy was crazy!  I’ve never seen anyone throw and breathe as much fire as him!

On day 2 we drove to Wailua Falls (seen on the television show in the early 80s, Fantasy Island).

Then we went on a helicopter ride around the island! So beautiful to see the majesty of our Creator in nature!

ready for lift off!

These next pictures were taken in the helicopter. Pretty nice view!

Kilauea Light House

the large waterfall at the bottom was made famous in the movie, Jurassic Park!

Waimea Canyon

the Napali Coast

After our ride, James HAD to catch the end of game 5 Mavericks v. Heat.  I enjoyed a frosty adult beverage!

We are back and somewhat settled from our vacation to Kauai! This was my longest travel time ever and I sure felt the jet lag! We were 5 hours behind Texas time, and I’m sad to say in my old age, I fell asleep by 9 p.m. every night in Kauai! I woke up refreshed every morning though! 🙂
Day 1 we got off the plane and were expecting to be greeted by a beautiful hula girl putting a lei on us. (Why do I believe the movies?)  Well, we got the leis…not sure about the “hula girl” expectation.

I laugh at this picture because James’ face is like “Is this a man or a woman?”  Sorry, but it was hard to tell!

It was indeed a woman.

After we left the airport, we checked in at our hotel, the Kauai Beach Resort.

our hotel’s pool which we never went in!  (If you don’t have kids with you, what do you do in a pool?)

Then we checked out the beach and I made James take this picture with me.

awww, how sweet.  Happy 10th anniversary!

We went driving around after that to explore the island and saw this beautiful road. They call it the Tree Tunnel.

more exploring at one of the beaches