More Pictures!!!

Hello everyone! The weather the first week was rather crazy. Really windy and raining. This week has been the complete opposite, and we're loving it! Clear skys and sunshine. I've decided to more update with pictures and small story with them, rather than going on about the whole entire day. LOL. We miss you all and hope you have a great day!



This was around the chinese gardens. The flowers and layout of this place was incredible.









A very large and beautiful tree in the center of the gardens.

Everywhere you looked was a chance for a great picture. There was just so much to take in! :)


This guy had made a really big web just outside the office window. Locals say it was just a garden spider...lol. Pretty colors on him even though it still creeps me out!

Behind us is called the Iao Needle. The Iao Valley was just georgous! The mountains were so green and so incredibly large. Iao Park had two levels to it and a large stream that drained through the middle of the Valley. Here a couple more picture of it.

Where to the road ends by the place we're staying, starts a trail head. We hiked back and saw some of the most amazing tree's and scenery. check it out!!





This is the same tree as the picture on the right, just a different angle.




I will end this posting with some pictures that we took today. Now that the sun is out, the water is so much more blue and clear. I didn't realize how blue the water was the first week, and now that the sun in shining, I feel like I get to see Maui in an all new light! :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Wishing Everyone a wonderful Mother's Day! I will update with stories and description of the last few days later. In the mean time, here are some pictures taken over the past couple of days, enjoy!!!

ZIP DAY!!!!!!!

Aloha everyone!!! Yesterday was probably one of the most exciting days so far. We got up early as usual and went to a breakfast at a place called, Gazebo. The locals highly recommended it, however the wait in line is typically about 1 hour. However, the view from where you were waiting was absolutely breath taking. And of course I left my camera back at our house. We will be going back there again, so I promise to get a picture of it then. In the mean time, I will just describe it. It sat right on the shore of the beach overlooking the ocean. The open deck faced the shore, and as you ate your yummy breakfast, you were able to watch and listen to the waves as they crashed up onto the rocks. While waiting in line to experience this paradise breakfast, there was a short storm that rolled through. When it rains here, it rains hard, but doesn't usually last more than a couple of minutes. Everyone standing in line grabbed the umbrella's provided by

Gazebo (obliviously this happens often) lol, and huddled together to keep everyone dry. Like I said before, after about a 3 minutes torental down poor, it cleared up and the

sun came out. Revealing a gorgeous vivid rainbow. Again, I was kicking myself for forgetting the

camera. It finally was our turn to sit and we got an awesome seat, perfect view of the ocean. Shea had the banana macadamia nut pancakes and I went with the all traditional, eggs and bacon. Shea was cracking me up because even though the pancakes were burning his mouth, he said they were too delicious to not keep shoveling them in. LOL.

After we were finished it was off to go and get check in for our tour. Everyone was so nice and our group of people in our tour were so much fun. After getting all geared up, we piled into the mean machine (will find out the name of this vehicle and update later). On the way up, one of the guides told a brief history on the mountains and also a couple of neat tips. The zipline is on one of the most sacred mountains in Maui, and they had to get a special "ok" from one of the elders, to be able to build it. He also showed us a pineapple field. I had no idea how pineapples grew, or didn't realize that it takes the first pineapple 2 years to grow. We also learned a neat locals trick to getting the most flavor out of your store bought pineapple. You want to take the top piece off then flip it upside down and put it in your ice box for 24 hours. All the sugars that were on

the bottom of the pineapple soak

down through the rest of it and make

the whole pineapple so much sweeter! Definitely going to give that one a try. :)

We reached the top and we all pile out and head over to our first zip. There was some hiking involved, but the scenery was so pretty. Our first zip we had to cross the only suspended bridge in Maui. I have never been on one before and it was rather scary. LOL. The tour guides took lots of pictures throughout the day, and we got our picture taken on this bridge. The video gives you a good idea on how high up we were, check it out!

After we got across the bridge, our instructor, Smitty, asked who wanted to go first. Nobody spoke up, so I gladly shot up my arm and volunteered us. LOL. The weather was pretty crazy that day, very windy and even some slight rain at times. Shea and I laughed as we realized that the last time we went Zip Lining in Horseshoe Bend, we got rained on too. However a little wind and rain wasn't going to slow down these two dare devils. This particular Zip Line tour was the only one in Hawaii that has two cables, allowing you to race down with your significant other or friend. After a brief instruction, we are strapped on and ready to go! They open up the wood gate and have you place your feet on either side, bracing yourself, and on the count of three you release your feet and go! At everyone, he had us look back and give the hang loose sign, and he

would take your picture.

Each zip required some minor hiking to get to the next one. The pathways were covered in green, which made for great eye candy. Our third zip was the most fun and longest zip at 2300feet. Still nobody wanted to go first, so Shea and I took the lead. We walked up and got strapped in. This time we had to sit right on the edge of this platform about 40 feet off the ground, with our feet hanging

over the edge. It was really intimidating. LoL. I’ll let the video speak for itself.

After our fourth and final zip we walked down to the Giant Swing! It was a pendulum swing. Two people are hooked up to it, one on either side of the bar. Then the rest of us would grab a hold of the rope and run as fast as we could, raising the couple high into the air. The swing was setup so that you are the one that has to release the trigger. Shea was in control of that for us. As how the whole day went, we again were the first to go. Once we were raised up the

countdown started. 3………..2………..1! There was a 2 second free fall before it caught and continued to swing us out over a cliff. After about two or swings back and forth, he told us to release our hands completely from the bar and lean back as far as you could for a picture.

We laughed pretty hard when we watch this video, that swing was so much fun. I would do it again in a heart beat.

Once everyone had a turn to go we all sat down for some lunch. We all laughed and shared our experience with one another. We then got into a waiting van and they drove us back. We had such an amazing time, I so happy we made this one of our adventures.

This trip has been really life changing for me in so many positive ways. I feel like our marriage has grown so much since we have been here. I'm learning who I really am, and what things in life really matter. I feel absolutely blessed to be able to see and experience everything here in this beautiful Island of Maui. I'll leave you all with a few random pictures from the trip so far. Will update more soon!!!!!!!!!

Day One....

Good Morning everyone! Yesterday was filled with lots of scenery and laughs. We got up at about 6:00 and watched the sun come up together. Hawaii truly is the island for lovers, I feel closer than ever to Shea. Being able to experience all of this with the love of my life, is something I will never forget.

After a little breakfast, we decided we were going to go to Lahaina and go walk down Front St. As we were leaving, Shea spotted a rather large spider hanging out right outside the front door. He says it's a Wolf spider, but I have to say it's the biggest Wolf spider I have ever seen.

We decided to name him Wold the Wolf spider, in honor of our friend back in Boise, who is VERY scared of them.

Lahaina was really neat. A huge tourist trap, but fun to see all the different shops and people. One of the main reasons Shea wanted to go here, is to see the tree that covers a whole city block. It was amazing to see, check out the video, very cool!









After walking around for a couple of hours, our feet were begging for some soft beach sand. We headed back to home base, gathered up all of our stuff and headed down to the beach. The sound of the waves crashing is the most hypnotic sound. The water was a bit brisk when first getting in, but you get used to is really quick. We stayed at the Beach almost until it was dark outside. Holding one anothers hands (More I wanted Shea to hold mine, due to the fear of being sucked out to sea.) lol. We played in the waves for hours laughing, playing, and building memories.

The weather today seems to be a little better than yesterday. It rained for a good 4-5 hours in the morning before breaking to sunshine in the afternoon. We have decided to only keep our one scheduled event, Zip Line, and the rest of the vacation just do whatever we want. Not having the pressure to get here at this time or do this by this time, makes this vacation so much more relaxing. I'm thinking more beach time is in store for today, or maybe a hike. Below are a few other pictures. Have a great day everyone and I will update more tomorrow! We love you all!!!

~The Henries

We made it!!!

We arrived in Maui just after 8:00PM, midnight in Boise. I didn't realize there was such a large time difference. The flights all went rather smoothly, turbulence was pretty rough going from Salt Lake to Los Angeles and the last hour into Maui. But after we started putting down a few drinks, I didn't freak out too much when the turbulence hit.

It was dark when we arrived on the Maui, which was kind of disappointing, I wanted to see the island as we flew in, but oh well. After we got our rental car we drove to the guest house, that we are going to be living for the next couple of weeks. It was almost a tease driving there. I knew that all around us was beautiful scenery and green grass, but since it was night, all you saw was black.

The house is beyond beautiful! I will post up a couple of pictures later tonight. My favorite part is probably the balcony. Our bedroom doors open up to a gorgeous tile deck with a hot tub right next to our room. There is bamboo that lines the outer perimeter of the backyard, and just over the top of those is the view of the ocean. It was really neat to get up at 6:00am and go walk outside in nothing but Jammie shorts and a tank top. LOVE IT!!!






Well, we just finished breakfast and now we're going to go and adventure out and see what fun things we can find and see. Have a great day!


Love,

The Henries

It's Finally HERE!!!!

Good morning friends and family. Last night was a long night for both of us. The anticipation of our vacation kept us up pretty late. I have to admit that melatonin has been my best friend these past couple of days. LOL.

We're just gathering our last few things and packing them away. Our plane leaves Boise at 11:55am and fly's into Salt Lake, where we will have a two hour layover, then off the LAX. Once we land there, we have another 1 1/2 layover until we finally set out on the 5.5 hour flight to Maui at around 5:55PM.

Most know that I'm not very fond of flying. The take off and landing are a breeze, but when the plane hits some turbulence, not my cup of tea. Luckily, I have a couple of pills to help ease my anxiety. This will be the longest I have been on a plane, so hopefully Shea will be able to help me through my silly little fear.

I end this post with a HUGE smile on my face and Sandy Beach's on my mind. Have a great Sunday everyone, I'll update again soon! :)

It's the day before we leave and sleep is something hard to come by. All I think about when I lay in bed is the beautiful beach and hot sun! :) Soon enough tomorrow will be here and our day adventure to paradise begins! Have a great Saturday everyone!

The anticipation

So it's less than 2 weeks away and I can't hardly wait any longer. Days now go on like weeks, in eager anticipation of May 1st. I've been doing a lot of studying and research on my Nikon D80. Shea got me an amazing tripod for my birthday and I'm super excited to try it out on some beautiful Maui waterfalls. I think it's probably time now to start writing down all the things we're going to be needing, 2 weeks is the longest we've ever been on vacation, and it never fails I leave at least one thing home on a short trip. Perhaps we'll visit the store for some shorts and sandals this evening. Just got to keep myself busy for another 13 days........I can do this.......lol.