May 14th - Tyrell & Alisa's Wedding Day

The big Wedding month is here finally. All the preparations were a bit stressful for Candi. She couldn't sleep some nights thinking about it. Lian arrived on the 12th. She stayed until the 28th. Tyrell's wedding day on the 14th was a nice warm sunny day. The sealing was nice at the Bountiful Temple. Alisa's grandfather did the sealing. I know Mum and Dad were there. The reception was at at he Ivy House down town by the Trolly Square mall. It was nice and the ramen food was awesome. Candi had put up a thousand paper cranes on strings over the cake area for decorations which looked nice. They had Julie and her sister play the Japanese stringed instrument at the first. Jody sang the song "So Close" and sounded great. I was a bit teary eyed watching Tyrell and Alisa during the song. Just can't believe how fast he has grown and is now married. Leila did a poi and Tyrell led the Tika Tonu haka and did an awesome job. He was really loud. We danced for about an hour before they left at about 9pm. They stayed in the Biker Roadhouse suite at Anniversary Inn. Tyrell IM'ed and said what the heck is this room, lol. Candi took her sister shopping and stuff while she was here. We also went to the Bennion Jr High awards show. Erana got an award for excellence in 2 classes, Word processing and something else.

April

 April was pretty uneventful. Mina and the girls went to Las Vegas on the 15th for her bachelorette party. They stayed with friends of Julie. Leila and Erana didn't know it but they were going to a BTS concert there. They were pretty surprised and loved it. The stadium was full. Wedding preparation continued this month. They have most stuff sorted I think but few loose ends to tie like decorations. We've had a couple planning meetings with James and Moana Moleni in the last few months. They have a person that will take care of the food and they will pay for that part. We'll pay for the rest. Invitations have been going out. We're up to 500 people combined so we're a little nervous over that amount showing up. Alisa had a bridal shower that the girls went to. Leila had a dance number her dance class did in a concert at TVille HS. I went with Tane and Mina to watch her. She did a waltz type dance. We also had a Easter get together at Scott's home. Right after we went Alisa's home. They invited us to eat. We visited her parents Aiko and Scott and her grand parents. Maddie and Nephi came over a bit later and Scott was a bit start struck as he's a huge Ute football fan and he was talking with Nephi a whole lot. On the 30th Mina had her bridal shower. It was at our chapel in the Relief Society room. It turned out really good from I could tell. Lots of people came on both sides. Doesn't look like we got any photos of it though, just video.

March

Alisa got her endowments this month. Candi went but I didn't. We had a pretty awesome March because Candi, Leila, Erana and I went to Florida for a week. We went from the 24th to April 1. We had a lot of fun. We arrived late Thursday night and didn't get to our hotel until about 11pm which was the StaySky Suites on I drive. It was nice but the room and hotel you could tell were well used. 

Thurs 24: Leave 3:55pm, Arrive 10pm, Check-in StaySky Suites
Fri 25: Volcano Bay, 10am-6pm
Sat 26: Gator golf, Twistee Ice cream, Fun-spot America, Ichiban buffet
Sun 27: Ripleys Believe it, Icon park
Mon 28: Check-in Barefoot'n Resort, Gatorland, 10am-5pm
Tues 29: Animal Kingdom, 730am-830pm
Wed 30: Pool, Old Town stores, Fun Spot, The Dukes doo-wop 6pm
Thu 31: Epcot, 10am-9pm
Fri 1: Checkout 10am, Flight 12:45pm

Volcano Bay was fun. The girls liked it. We walked around and did a lot of the rides but by then end of the day their feet were getting tender. The weather was sunny and warm but was on the brink of being a bit cool when the breeze blew. After we left we walked over to the Universal shops area and looked at a few stores before going back to the hotel.

Saturday we walked to Gator Golf and played that. Candi tried writing our last name on the wall in big letters because everyone writes their name everywhere but she spelled it wrong and put WIHOHONGI and had to rub it off and fix it and made the wall look messy, the heck. After that we kept walking along I drive and stopped and got an ice cream at Twistee treats. Then we kept walking to go to Fun Spot America and stopped at Congo golf and used the restroom. At Fun Spot the girls did the big giant swing first thing. Then they went to the other rides in the park. They did the go-carts last but by then the lines were so long. They enjoyed it but not the wait so they did it once. After there was a buffet close by so we ate there called Ichiban buffet. It was pretty good. We had a long walk back to the hotel but it wasn't too bad.

Sunday we went to the pool in the morning. It was nice and sunny. So nice to be at pool in sunny weather in March. Used to March being cold. After we walked to Icon Park but stopped at the Ripleys Believe it or not museum. That was interesting and fun. After that we went to the Icon Park and got tickets for the Wheel and the Aquarium. Had a good time doing those then ate Fish and Chips at Gordan Ramsey's. In the Wheel we played our own music over bluetooth. There was a ride there that goes up and down really high the was closed because a kid died falling from it just a few days before. So sad. Apparently the chairs tilt forward before going up and down but his over-the-shoulder brace wasn't locked in or something. There were lots of places to eat. We got a corn on the cob but Candi knocked it out of my hand on the ground but she picked it up and ate it later after cleaning it.

Monday we checked out and checked in at the Barefoot'n Resort which is in the Kissimmee area closer to the Disney parks. We left our bags there because the room wasn't ready yet and went to Gatorland. Had a nice time there walking around with the girls. They hadn't seen gators this size close up before. There are huge ones. We got gator food to feed them as we walked around. Our hotel room was right next to the pool outside the back sliding door. That was nice. We had a swim and at night around 9:30pm or so we would see if anyone was in the hot tub and we'd go out there each night until it closing time at 11pm. I think I liked this hotel better than the first one.

Tuesday was Animal Kingdom and we got there at opening and went straight to the Avatar flight ride. I waited at the exit for them because that ride made me sick last time. I paid for the Genie service to use the lightning lane which is the new fast pass except it isn't for free. Used it on many of the rides during the day. We tried different foods and drinks at the park. I liked the jelly donut shredded pork sandwich and the shredded pork mac and cheese. We did all the rides and trail walks except Everest as is was closed. At closing it was getting dark enough for the Avatar land to glow so we went and walked around there.

Wednesday we were contemplating going to Aquatica but we just stayed at our hotel. We walked around the Old Town stores that were across the street and then relaxed at the pool for a few hours then after went back to Old Town and ate at Checkers Diner then walked to a stage area where The Dukes sang old 50's and 60's Do-wop songs. It was 2 old white fullas. They sang some good songs. We walked over to Fun Spot America which was just next door and the girls rode the Mine Blower roller coaster. I got a sore back/bowel thing while walking which comes every few weeks or so. Had to walk it off. We looked around the stores again while it was getting dark and it looked nice lit up.

Thursday was Epcot. We went straight to the new Ratatouille ride. That was a fun ride. You are a mouse running around (you sit in a car thing that twirls and goes everywhere) avoiding the humans that look big on the screen. We got in the Frozen line but the ride broke down while waiting. Never went back to it. The lighting pass was pretty useless in Epcot. We ate a lot of the foods around the park. We did more of the rides since it was the first time the girls had been there. In the evening we enjoyed the band playing at the America area. They sang some 80's and 90's R&B. We saw all 3 of their shows.