Aloha from Maui

On September 9, Dave and I left Colorado for Kauai to put the finishing touches on our wedding celebration. The ceremony was planned for September 20 in the National Tropical Botanical Gardens (NTBG) where they filmed parts of Jurassic Park. NTBG is currently in negotiation to film the ending of Pirates of the Caribbean 3 on their property. The primary purpose of NTBG is medical research. Currently, they are leading the medical field in their developments for cancer and hepatitis C. When we took a tour of the gardens, we saw the beautiful pink flowers they use to develop chemicals for chemotherapy. The tours they give serve as a source of funding and a way to provide public education. We felt so fortunate to be able to have our wedding ceremony in such a special spot. In fact, the waterfall we married in front of is not open to the public and very few Hawaiians even know it exists. It is a sacred ground in Hawaiian tradition because they used to perform births and virgin sacrifices near there.
After a few days of wrapping up final plans, our families arrived on the island on September 13. Our friends began arriving on the 15th to celebrate with us. We had a group of 21 people that came out and we had a great time exploring the island together. We took surfing lessons, jumped off a waterfall, hiked the North Shore of the island, and golfed the PGA Grand Slam course. My brave father golfed his first round of golf and did quite impressively. We think he may be a natural. Dave's dad was adventurous enough to jump off the twenty foot waterfall with all the lightfooted Hawaiian highschoolers. Dave and I organized a private luau as our rehearsal dinner. Dave and I got volunteered to dance at the luau which served as pure entertainment for our guests and pure humiliation for us.
The festivities came to a finale with our wedding on the 20th. My younger sister Carly was my maid of honor. My bridesmaids were two college roommates, Colleen and Nikki, a friend I've known since birth, Kristen, and Dave's sister, Marsha. Dave's groomsman were his good friends Adam, Scott, and Vaughn. Even as the bride, I couldn't find anything I wish had gone differently with the wedding ceremony. It went off flawlessly. When we arrive home, we will have a DVD of it that we would be happy to share with any of you. Right now, you can view our wedding photos at http://www.gelston.com/allison. After Lorena (Dave's mom) ended the reception by requesting a conga line that everyone happily participated in, we went to Shipwreck Beach to watch a ten minute fireworks show that wowed us with an impressive display of fireworks that included red ones in the shape of hearts. It was a wonderful and memorable week with such good friends and family. Thank you again to everyone who took time to come out and share the week with us.
Our families were the last people to depart Kauai on the 22nd. Dave and I stayed on the island until the 24th to pack and recooperate. During these last few days in Kauai, we also got the opportunity to go to Hanapepe Church of the Nazarene and see Dave's Aunt Verna and Uncle Darrell speak about their missionary work in Africa.
Yesterday, we arrived in Maui where we are staying in Kaanapali. In four days, we move to another part of the island, Wailea. The weather here is around 80 and sunny. We can see the ocean and the islands of Lana'i and Molokai from our hotel lanai (Hawaiian word for balcony). Our main plan for the ten days before we depart for Japan is to relax! Today we plan to go golfing. We also look forward to seeing my good friend from high school, Jana, and her roommate Beth while we are here. Jana and Beth moved to Maui (lucky girls) about a month ago.
Thank you all for checking our blog and be sure to comment. We can't wait to hear from all of you.