My Family

My Family

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Year 17


In 1993, I made one of the best decisions of my life.
I chose to marry my best friend.

This year, this month, we celebrate 17 years of wedded bliss life together.

It wasn't until last year that we discovered how wonderful it was to spend an extended amount of time together.
The only time we had spent away from our children overnight, together, was in the hospital as I was giving birth to another sweet child.
As wonderful as those times were, they weren't romantic by any stretch...and our minds were very much preoccupied with the event of that day.

Last year, for numerous reasons, we made the critical decision that in order to repair, preserve and strengthen our marriage, we needed to spend time together...alone, as a couple.
Truly, it was probably one of the best decisions we have made as a married couple.

This spring, we knew that going on a "couples retreat" was imperative.
It wasn't a question of IF we would go, but simply WHEN we would go.
We set our budget, discussed places we'd like to go, and discussed which dates would work best.

It was at the end of April that my sister sent me an e-mail stating that tickets to Hawaii were at rock-bottom prices.
We have wonderful friends (Dawn and Jeff Peterson) who live on Kauai, and although we had often talked about visiting them while they lived there (over the course of the past 3 years), we knew that it was outside of our budgeted realm, and we'd just have to wait.

It only took one phone call to Pat to tell him that tickets were within our budget to start planning for our get-away to Kauai.

We were blessed to go over Memorial Day weekend, and suffice it to say, it was FABULOUS.
We both have Kauai fever...we would go back in a heartbeat if we had the finances to take our family.  Our friends were AMAZING tour guides and hosts.  THANK YOU PETERSONS!!!

Here are a few pictures of our trip:
                                                        Dear friends, Dawn and Holly...at Smith's luau                                                                                        (where we were serenaded by a Love Boat like singer... :-/ ).                                                       Na Pali Coastline...only accessible via hiking.  It's GORGEOUS!                                                              A close up of me and the top part of the sand castle Pat and Jeff built at Hanalei Bay.  
                                                        And the full castle...along with a little kissing.  :)                                                                                                                                           A Hawaiian sunrise...over the ocean.                                                         The second sand castle of the trip.                                                            The greenery and growth on Kauai was amazing.                                                                                            I snapped this shot after we had boogie-boarded through a long, dark irrigation tunnel that came out at a beautiful waterfall and swimming hole.  

7 comments:

n!c said...

Awesome! I am so happy for you guys. Looks like you had a great time.

Chandra said...

I LOVE YOU KRISTINE!!! WHAT A FANTASTIC TRIP YOU HAD! THE PICS ARE BEAUTIFUL.... I am in awe of you and Pat and your sweet family! YAY! You give me inspiration that Chris and I too can have some time together soon!

marnee said...

That Pat is a lucky guy to be married to you. Love it!

Wendie said...

I'm so happy for your Kristine - what a wonderful trip for the two of you. You look wonderful!

Cresta said...

Wowzers! I'm ready to hop on a plane right now!! I'm so happy you two got to take a trip together! You guys did some amazingly awesome things!! I wish I could hear about it in person - I miss you!

McDougal Family said...

Looks like an amazing time!! Yay for getaways without the kids! So hard to do, but so worth it! Glad you got to get away together - and to a wonderful place to make some wonderful memories!

Mom2BJM(Amy) said...

Fabulous that you could get away! Mark and I have only done a couple of those - we really should do more! Congrats!