Aloha Summer!

 Well as we all know, I'm super slow blogging about my adventures so most of you have already heard about this! That's ok, I'll post them anyways =]. I got to start off my summer by a fabulous trip to Hawaii. It was so wonderful to be there and to see all the beautiful sights! When I got off the last plane (thank heavens) and was making my way down to where Parker was picking me up. On my way down the stairs I was looking around for him. After all, it's pretty hard to miss him! Finally I heard him whistle at me and I spotted him. (He told me later that he saw me while I was still walking to the stairs). I hurried as fast as I could, dropped my backpack, and jumped into his arms and hugged him for a long time. It was so wonderful to be back in his arms after not having seen him for a month. Needless to say, it was a GREAT way to start my vacation =]

 Parker, Me, and our friend Karlissa. While in Hawaii, we stayed with Karlissa and she showed us around. She was the best tour guide ever!! It was so fun to be with her =]

 I tried sushi for the first time and it was pretty gross. Then Parker suggested I try it with some wasabi and then it was even worse! I was lucky to even get it down..

 This is one of my favorite pictures of Parker and I =]

This waterfall was SOOOO beautiful! It was so fun to see some of Heavenly Father's beautiful creations that we don't get here in Boise.

As pretty much everybody knows, Parker proposed to me in Hawaii. Precious and romantic right?? It was so cute! We were at this scenic outlook thing and we were "taking pictures" (karlissa was really filming). Parker stooped down and said, "Ow" so I asked him if something had bitten him. Then before I know what happened he was on one knee and holding something sparkly and asking me to marry him. I responded with, "Are you serious?" He nods... "is this real??" He said, "Yes. Michelle christensen, will you marry me?" So finally I said yes and he picked me up and hugged and kissed of course. The little stinker had been saying things for the last couple of weeks to throw me off so I wouldn't be expecting it in Hawaii. Well, he did a good job because he definitely caught me offguard! But that's ok.. I wouldn't have wanted to be expecting it anyways. He picked me out a beautiful ring!

This is where he proposed at. Gorgeous right?? It was such a pretty place.

We also got the opportunity to go to the Kona temple while we were there and do baptisms. Can you say way cool? It was definitely different to see such a tiny temple! It had a great spirit though (they always do!). It is neat to be in the temples that the people have sacrificed so much to have. While Karlissa and I were getting dressed she was telling me that when she used to come do baptisms away, they had to bring all their own white clothing and such. We also had to drive about two hours to get there, but it was definitely worth it!

 We also went swimming at a beach that had sea turtles. The turtles were really social and would just come right up to you. It was pretty cool! It was funny to watch because sometimes people wouldn't realize that the turtles were right there and then they would get scared of them. Karlissa's younger brother Junior was afraid of the turtles. He said that they "eat people". So kids here are afraid of dogs... and kids in Hawaii are afraid of Sea Turtles. Hmm... There was one turtle in particular that really liked us. We kept picking grass of the shore and feeding it to him and he loved it.

When we stopped feeding him, he sat there in the water just watching us and waiting for some food I think. It was a big turtle and he must have been pretty old! I named him Bert. Sometimes if I backed up he would swim right up to me and nudge my leg with his nose. I'm guessing that was the "hey come back here! I'm still hungry." So I said I got high fived, hugged, and kissed by a sea turtle. Once in a lifetime thing =]

 Here are two more of my favorite pictures from Hawaii. Did I ever dream that I would be marrying a red head? Not in a million years... But I am so excited! But it does make me wonder... will we have strawberry blond kids? haha! Parker is so sweet and treats me like a princess. I wish he wasn't halfway across the US, but if that's the price I have to pay to spend forever with him, I guess I can live with it for now. I have realized it just makes our time together that much more special!

I am so lucky and excited to be marrying someone that I can always talk to, always knows how to make me laugh, is kind, knows when I'm down and knows how to make me feel better, treats me like royalty, is always a gentleman etc. I think I could really go on forever about all of the things I love about him. I guess I can just sum it all up and say that I cannot wait to marry my best friend! I am looking forward to a life of lots of fun, laughs, and smiles. September 3rd, here we come!!