KoOlina, Place of Joy

 I was in Hawaii for the wedding of my niece, and what more appropriate place than one named KoOlina, the Place of Joy.  My brother officiated, and he delivered such a moving message, he had even the men in tears.  He's an amazing man, and I'm so happy to have him for my brother.

 He showed a few of us this picture before the ceremony, but here is the story.  When my two nieces were 6 & 4, they dressed up as brides and went downstairs to tell their Mom and Dad this story.  "We love you Mama, and we love you, Papa, and we love our home so much.  When we grow up, we are going to get married and have lots of children and live here with you."

This is the site of the wedding.  Actually, it rained shortly after the ceremony, so food and dancing was moved to a grass shelter by the beach.  A more fairytale setting could not be found.

Here I am with my son Michael on the left.  He's the only one there wearing a tie, but it was appropriate since it had tiny hula girls all over it.  I must have packed for this trip 10 times.  I bought three dresses, too them all back, and wore this one I already had.  I took half the stuff out of my suitcase before I left, and glad I did.

Earlier in the day I went to one of the activities the resort puts on.  This was Bingo and Sundaes.  I had the worst card, but did enjoy about 1/4 of my Sundae.  It was HUGE.

The next day, I learned to make a lei out of leaves from the Ti plant.  As we got started, I realized it was the same as spinning!!!  You just do it with your fingers.

Then, a couple of nights later I learned to braid this headband out of leaves from the Coconut tree.  A big, burly Samoan man who is a dancer with the Fie Fie performance helped me.  I was all thumbs.  I will write more about Fie Fie tomorrow.