Aloha!

Aloha everyone! We just got back from Hawaii for Matt's interview at Wilcox Memorial Hospital in Lihue, Kaua'i. Getting there was pretty rough, but we were so happy when we finally made it. They had to de-ice the wings on the plane in St. Louis, so we sat at the gate for TWO hours. We made it to Dallas late, where my mom and dad had been waiting for hours to pick up William. Once we made it to LA, we missed the last flight to Kaua'i by 10 minutes, so we had to get a hotel room there. We ended up losing a day in Kaua'i, but we still got to see lots of fun stuff!

The first two days were interviews, hospital tours, and an appointment with a realtor. Matt's first interview was with four physicians, the CEO, CMO (chief medical officer), and a recruiter! He says he felt like he was talking the whole time as the interviewers each fired questions at him. He must have done a great job, because when we went to dinner with everyone, they repeatedly told me they would love to have him join their practice. I really liked the CMO. She is a really neat, down-to-earth Christian lady who gave me lots of info on churches in our area and pediatricians for our babies. She was a pediatrician before she became CMO. On our last day there, the recruiter called and gave Matt a formal offer! We have 14 days to return the paperwork, but we plan to sign and return it on Monday. So.... you all have a vacation home in Hawaii for the next year! Yippee!!!

Our last night on the island, we had dinner at the Beach House restaurant, recommended to us by friends at our church here in St. Louis. We are SO glad we went! The food was amazing and we got to watch the sunset from our table.




View from our table at Beach House restaurant.


A monk seal resting on the beach. The locals say there are a lot of them around here. So neat to see! He rested for awhile, then jumped back into the water and swam off!

Matt's dinner at Beach House - he said it was the best tuna he's ever had!

Opaakaa falls - we're looking at renting in a neighborhood really close to here.
Lots of scenic overlook spots as you drive around the island.

This was taken at the St. Regis Hotel in the Princeville area. It's the only 5 star hotel in Kaua'i. Super fancy so we had to take a picture!




Standing next to our fun ride! A Nissan Altima.

Our hotel bacony at the Marriott Coconut Beach.





The lobby of the St. Regis hotel.
View from our helicopter tour! Matt surprised me with a belated birthday gift, since he was working on my birthday. One of the neatest things I've ever done! It was great to see an overview of the whole island, since we didn't have a lot of time to explore.








A lot of the time we were there, it was rainy and overcast. The people there kept apologizing for the weather. We still thought it was beautiful coming from all of the snow and ice!

So happy to see our sweet baby when we got home!! My mom flew standby for a total of NINETEEN hours to bring him home. We really appreciate all she did for us!! So thankful for both of our parents who took good care of our boy while we were gone. I'm pretty sure he didn't really miss us at all. He came home super spoiled from his grandparents houses! But that's what grandparents are for, right? "Oklahoma detox" as Aunt Stefanie calls it, has officially begun!
Cruising on the super cool firetruck.