Engagement Pics!

Hi all!

While Kyle and I were in Maui we had our engagement pictures taken. If you didn't get the email invite to view them let me know and I'll forward it to you. We need to pick 50 of our favorites (those are the ones we get the negatives for). Let us know which ones you like and we'll try to get those ones. I promise I will eventually post the dolphin and whale vids from the trip. I'm trying to edit them down. They are currently about 10 minutes long!

Much love!

Jess and Kyle

Last day in paradise

On Thursday we had to say goodbye to Maui. We spent the last day hanging around Kaanapali picnicing, playing frisbee, and relaxing at the beach.

Since our flight didn't leave until almost 11 pm we took our time getting to the airport. We stopped at a local beach to watch the sun go down one last time. It was pretty cloudy, but it was still warm enough to play in the water a bit. Afterwards, I asked Kyle to carry me back to the car because I didn't want to get sandy feet.

Unfortunately, when we got to the parking lot, our rental car was not there. We had left all our luggage, Kyle's wallet, and our plane tickets in the car so we were pretty worried. We searched the whole lot (which was fairly empty) and pressed the panic button on the keys. No sound. A couple near us noticed our frantic faces and tried to help us look again. Still no luck. So, we called 911 to tell them that our car must have been stolen.


Just as we were walking toward the highway to check out the adjacent lot, a sudden sinking feeling crept into my stomach. "Hey Kyle," I asked. "Are you sure we drove to this beach?" He stops dead in his tracks (still on the phone with 911 mind you). "Uh, hang on. There's a possibility that the car is at our hotel." Off he runs to confirm that, yes indeed, we had left our car safely at the hotel right next to the beach where we walked to watch the sunset.

Feeling silly and more than just a little bit embarrassed, we apologized to the 911 operator and headed off to the airport. Since we still had some time to kill we stopped for some ice cream cones and noticed an arcade nearby. We spent our last little bit of cash on a ski ball tournament. I dominated of course and we cashed in our tickets for a bouncy ball and a GIANT deck of cards. Money and time well spent if you ask me.



False alarm 911 calls aside, Maui was a blast. It gave us a chance to spend some quality time together and get out of the bay on a real vacation. It was definitely the best "engagement-moon" I could ever ask for!

Boat trip to Lanai

On Wednesday Kyle and I went on a snorkeling trip to Lanai to hopefully see some whales and dolphins. Here's what we saw...

Beach Day!

Kyle and I spent a good portion of our time in Maui just being beach bums. Here are some pics of us just goofing around. Here's Kyle doing his best "Baywatch" run. This is me surfing back to shore in my tube with my snorkel mask on. Classy. Here we are giving our best model faces. This one is "Blue Steel". Here I am trying my best to entice some whales to show up. I really want to see one!After all that we worked up quite an appetite. We tried out a restaurant called Kimo's. It was soo yummy and we had an awesome view of the harbor.

We caught the sunset on our way home. Definitely a beautiful day in paradise!

Maui No Ka Oi

On Monday, Kyle and I tested out our new snorkeling equipment at Honolua Bay. We got to see lots of reef and cool fish. I spotted an octopus, a needlefish, some butterfly fish, and some tuna. Kyle saw some puffer fish, and other tropical fish that I couldn't recognize. We both saw the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a fish several times (Hawaii's state fish). I totally recognized it from when I was a kid and my dad taught me how to say it when we went to Maui.

After snorkeling we drove down to Charley Young Beach and met up with a photographer to get our engagement pictures taken. (We'll have them up on a website in a few weeks for your viewing pleasure). Neither of us has had professional pictures taken before so it was kind of fun. Hopefully we got some really good sunset pictures!

On our way to Lahaina to pick up a frisbee for Kyle (it wouldn't be right if he couldn't play frisbee on the beach!) we saw this lady riding with her dog on her moped. We thought it was so hilarious we had to share.

Easter Luau

We winded down our first day in Maui with an Easter Luau called The Feast at Lele. At this luau they served food from four polynesian areas - Hawaii, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Samoa. Each course was followed by a dance from that region and a little bit of history about each place. Foodies beware - delicious details to follow...

The first course was from Hawaii and it was swordfish, asparagus and hearts of palm, and of course kalu'a pork - pork roasted in an underground imu. I could have stopped eating right then, it was so delicious.

Next up, from New Zealand, was a duck salad, roasted mushrooms and sweet potatoes, and kuku patties which were scallops, shrimp, and salmon all together with a corn relish and somewhat resembled a crab cake. Yum-my.



From Tahiti we were treated with Fafa which is steamed chicken wrapped in taro leaf with some more delicious scallops. I think the Tahitian dancers were Kyle's favorite. Maybe you can see why!


The Samoan feast included Supasui, which is grilled teriyaki steak and shrimp and avocado with lilikoi. I was so stuffed by this point that I couldn't even finish my dessert! We left very full and very sleepy, but Kyle wasn't too tired to get a picture with the "coconut girls" as he called them.

Lahaina and the Banyan Tree

After taking in all the sun that our snow white complexions would allow us in one day (I know- it is ridiculously sad how pale we are) we headed down to Lahaina to do some good old fashioned tourism.


Along the way we came across this awesome tree called a Banyan tree. It was planted in 1873 and the original tree has branched out and sent roots down to the ground that have grown into what almost look like new tree trunks. It is difficult to describe, but pretty awesome to see.
This looks like a separate group of trees, but it is actually where the original tree has sent down roots into the ground to create a new trunk. This is one of the largest Banyan trees in the world and covers about 2/3 of an acre.

Aloha Maui!

Kyle and I are off on our first real vacation together! We have been telling everyone that we're "engagement-mooning" when they ask if it is our honeymoon. (It seems like they aren't satisfied when we tell them we're just taking a much needed break from work!)
This was Kyle's first time flying over the ocean, so he was pretty excited. He got plenty of pictures of the clouds and the ocean, which is pretty much all there is to see when you fly over the Pacific. When we arrived it was just before sunset which would have been perfect except we missed it because we were inside taking care of rental car stuff (Doh!).
The next morning was our first real glimpse of Maui. Our first stop? Safeway of course. (This is Kyle we're talking about.) After making sure we had enough grub to keep Kyle satisfied for the week we took our first walk down to the beach...

Dropping off the "kid"

Yesterday we said a nearly tearful goodbye to Lady as we dropped her off at the kitten-sitter. Natalie and Greg are watching her while we are in Hawaii (Thank you guys!).




























"Why can't I go to Hawaii too? Don't make me go the the kitten-sitter!"















At first she was a little hesitant, but once she was in the house she got comfortable right away. She started by jumping into Natalie's easter basket and getting up on their kitchen counter. Once Kyle had finished unloading all her stuff (you know, the litter box, the ergonomic food dish, the watering fountain, the kitten tent, the kitten bed, and the snuggle blanket, plus her scratching post and all her toys) we had to head off and pack our stuff!

















Off we go!

Another one bites the dust

Our friend Crista got married this weekend in Walnut Creek. Kyle got to see all his good friends from High School. It was quite the Anderson High reunion. Here's me and Matt and the "Bridesman" Robert.

Here's all the crazy Anderson kids and the beautiful and (buff) bride, Crista.


The world famous Richard Horner getting a lift from the guys. He later treated us to an acoustic performance with his guitar at Casa de Jorgenson.
Me and Kyle partying the night away.

Ultimate Wednesdays

Kyle finally talked me into joining the weekly ultimate frisbee game he has with his coworkers. I can't believe how much fun I ended up having, and how sore I was the next day!
Here's Coach Kyle telling all us newbies the rules. The first game was a huge confusing mess and our team lost miserably. The next game we "reorganized" the teams. I think this was Kyle's way of trading me!