We're back!

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Tonga where we were able to spend time with Ongo's mom, Meliame, dad, Pio, and two brothers Fekita and Maamaloa. We also met lots of cousins while we were there. Here are just a few pictures until I post all of them (about 900) on another site so you can browse them at your leisure. It is really beautiful there in Tonga. The water is crystal clear. I always thought that Hawaiian water was clear, but Hawaii is nothing like Tonga.

Enjoy the trip!

This picture was actually taken right before Ongo, Caleb, and I were getting ready to fly home. Here is who everyone is (left to right): Pio (Ongo's dad), Maamaloa (Ongo's youngest brother), Meliame (Ongo's mom), Fekita (Ongo's other brother who is just younger than Ongo), Caleb, Cara, and Ongo.

At the end of our trip, we were able to go to the Temple. Meliame went through the Temple and then Ongo, his mom, his dad, and his brother Maamaloa were able to be sealed for time and all eternity. It was very nice to be in the Temple with Ongo and his family.

Here is a picture taken from the plane when we first started seeing the islands of Vava'u. It is so beautiful here--the pictures look pretty good, but really do not do it justice. It is amazing to me how blue the water is here. Soooo pretty!

Here is another view of Vava'u from the air. It is really neat how you can see down into the water from so high up in the air.

While we were in Vava'u, we spent about half of our nights in the Paradise International Hotel. Here is a picture of the view there. Everything is SOOO green. One of the main draws for people to Vava'u is whale watching. Unfortunately, there are no whales there this time of year--which is their summer because they are below the equator. I guess that during their winter (June, July, and August) that harbor is filled with boats.

Here is a view of the harbor from our hotel room. The water was so smooth this morning that the picture was taken. It looked like a glass surface. Ongo captured this beautiful picture--complete with a rainbow!

Here is a view of the sunset from our hotel room.

One of my favorite things that we did was go out on a boat one day to explore the islands of Vava'u. We stopped two places. The first one was an island called Taunga. Here is a picture of Caleb playing with some of Ongo's first cousins (Stacy--the younger one, and Tupou--the one holding Caleb). Notice how the water looks like a swimming pool--but, nope, it is the ocean! Caleb absolutely LOVED the water. He wanted to go in every chance he got.

The second place we stopped was a cave called Anapekepeka. The boat went right into the cave and then we jumped in the water. It was dark when we first went in, but then Ongo jumped in the water and it seemed like the cave lit up. It was very neat. The water was very deep (about 15-20 feet deep), but very clear. I like this picture because you can kind of see the variations in the color blue of the ocean. My favorite was when the water looked like a sapphire.

Here is a picture from inside the cave. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Jurassic Park??? Nope, just a cow at the farm (uta)--or as they call it, the bush. Everyday, Ongo's brother, Fekita, goes to feed the cows and pigs. Ongo, Caleb, and I went a couple of times with him in this truck that I thought was going to fall apart. Luckily, it didn't! The first time we went, I felt like I was in Jurassic Park and that any second, I would see dinosaurs!

Here is the truck we took to the bush. One thing that was a little hard to get used to at first was that they drive on the left side of the road, so the passenger's side is really the driver's side. Also, no one wears seats belts and you do not need a car seat for kids. Of course, people do not drive as fast there, but there were times that I was scared when we were driving. There are no traffic lights and no lines painted on the roads. It was very different than the USA. Another thing that was crazy was seeing people riding in the beds of trucks--STANDING UP!!! I tried to get a picture of a truck loaded down with people, but I never was able to get one.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of our trip. I am trying hard to get all our pictures so you can see them, but I thought I would post so you all can see a few for now. ENJOY!!!