The Woods: Fiji

Our kids were excited to stay with grandparents and aunts and uncles while Josh and I went on vacation. Josh and I were also excited for it because it meant that we got to go somewhere fun and spend time alone! So they blew us kisses goodbye and we went on our way. Josh has some great benefits to his job. True best one is the free trips they take us on. We have been on two now and have had a blast and met some awesome people who have now become friends. This year we were so fortunate to be able to go to Fiji!! It was so pretty, with the nicest people I have ever met, and so much fun.

We left Logan and realized it was national doughnut day so we started our vacation right and stopped at Johnny O's for a spudnut.

When we got to the airport we met up with some of Josh's co workers and friends and then met some new people that were going on this trip. It was so good to see some people that we hadn't seen since our last trip in October. We flew to L.A. And then from there we flew to Fiji. It was a 10 hour flight so Josh and I were prepared with books, movies, magazines, and tv shows. But we didn't use any of that and we both fell asleep (with help from some meds). When we woke up we only had 2 hours left of the flight. We couldn't believe it had gone that fast. We watched a couple of shows for the remainder of the flight and then we arrived in Fiji.

When we got to Fiji we were greeted at the airport with lei's, moist mint towels, and a bottle of Fiji water. We then got on a bus and went to the resort which was about 45 minutes away from the airport. This country is beautiful and full of so much green full trees and plants.

This was the villa we were in. It was awesome! It had a sitting area, a king size bed, a huge bathroom and a huge balcony. On the balcony were some couches and a big tub. It was great!

When we got there we got settled in our room and put our swimsuits on. It was really early in the morning and we were so hungry so we went to the breakfast which was provided for us every morning. After eating we went straight to the pool and relaxed for the rest of the day. It was amazing!

The pool was right on the beach and it was an infinity pool that overlooked the ocean. It was unreal!

The weather was perfect the whole time we were there. We didn't get a drop of rain and it wasn't too hot. The first night there we went to dinner at the resort with some clients and people Josh works with. It was a good meal but it took forever to get to us and we were all so tired. It felt really good to go to sleep.

The next day a bunch of the guys went golfing and so us girls went to breakfast and then to the pool. While we were at breakfast we spotted a familiar face. If you have seen the movie Austenland you know who this is. This is Bret McKenzie. He is also on Flight of the Conchords. He is really funny in all of the roles he plays. He was at our resort with his wife and two children. We spotted him at breakfast the morning before and finally got the nerve to ask for a picture. He was so nice and his wife was just as nice!

When the guys got back they too came to the pool and we all ordered food by the pool.

We took a break from the sun for a few minutes and went to our room and face timed our kids. The time difference was huge so it was late at night for them. Drake was still awake and it was so fun to see his cute little face and talk to him for a couple of minutes.

Stella was sound asleep but we still loved seeing her sweet face!

This picture was taken on our balcony in our room. What a beautiful view!

This place is the greatest. We were on cloud nine the whole trip and felt so lucky to be there and have it all paid for. Thank you Larry H. Miller!

That night we had a big dinner and show. We mingled for a while and got to know everyone that was on the trip and then had a yummy dinner and a traditional Fijian show. I only took videos of the show so I don't have any pictures, but it was really cool. They performed dances, the haka, threw sticks with fire, etc. It was really cool. Later that night Josh and I got a couples massage that felt amazing!

The next day was the very best day of the whole entire trip. We all brought over stuff to donate to a school. Josh and I gathered extra materials and packed them in a suitcase to take over. A group of us got in some vans and went to this school. It was grades kindergarten-high school. It was very small and very poor but they were some of the happiest kids I have ever seen! We pulled up in the vans and they were all outside waiting for us.

When we got out of the vans they greeted us with a song. It was amazing and I bawled my eyes out. It was a good thing I was wearing sunglasses. They were the cutest kids and they were singing in their language and clapping and dancing. It was the greatest thing!

We were then able to play with the kids and paint their school. As soon as they gave the ok the kids ran to all of us and each person had five kids just clinging to them.

They were some of the most beautiful children I have ever seen. We played the game duck, duck goose for a long time and then they wanted to show us their school and some of the girls just wanted to sit in the shade and hold my hand and talk. It was so sweet and I loved every single second of it.

They don't have a lot, but they are getting a pretty darn good education there. These pictures were taken in the classrooms.

These girls had some serious sass!

Josh had some boys cling to him and they were so excited to play rugby. Josh was equally excited!

The boy on the far right was named Jerry and he loved Josh. He and Josh clicked and he followed Josh wherever he went. It was awesome!

These little girls would not leave my side. They all wanted to hold my hand and they all wanted to sit on my lap. They were darling little girls.

These little girls loved Josh. He was so darling with them!

Look at these sweet women. The one my arm is around is the main teacher and the school and the rest of them are the kids mothers and grandmothers. The school is quite a walk for some of the children so the women come and stay while they are at school. I loved these sweet ladies!

After we played with the kids and the painting was done the children put on a show for us. It was the best. They dressed up in traditional Fijian clothes and danced and sang.

They then had a Kava ceremony to thank us for coming.

Josh drank some of the kava. It is nasty stuff!

The children loved our cell phones! They wanted to see the pictures and videos we had taken of them and they also loved seeing pictures of Drake and Stella.

At the end we gave each child a bag of school supplies and in return the gave us a Lei. It was great to see the smiles on their faces. They were so happy to get these school supplies!

Josh and Jerry

They lined the road as we drove off and all waved. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done! Anytime I travel I would love to do a service project on one of the days while I am there. Even though we were staying at a fancy resort eating fancy food and laying by a fancy pool this day was by far the best day and my favorite thing we did. Josh feels the same way!

After the school we stopped at a little market and I was able to get a coke light! YUM!

That night we went to dinner at a restaurant in the town of Singatoke. It was yummy food and fun to go with friends and clients that soon became friends.

The next day we hung out at the beach and the pool. The food by the pool was really good so we ate lunch there, read our books, went swimming and just relaxed. It was great!

That night we took a van and went into the city of Nadi and had some dinner there. We went to a pizza place that had really good food and did some souvenir shopping.

The next morning we woke up really early and went on a river rafting tour. It was a very interesting day. We got to see the sun rise and that was beautiful.

We got on a very old bus that was really loud and bumpy and drove to the top of a mountain. The scenery was so unbelievably pretty but I was feeling really car sick.

Finally we got to the top of the mountain and got all of our river rafting gear on and got onto our rafts.

Because of the time of year, the river was really slow with not a ton of rapids. It took us four hours to get down. The scenery was so beautiful but I was really uncomfortable and not the happiest girl :)

We stopped half way through and had some lunch. The river raft guides provided it for us and lets just say it was by far the most interesting lunch I have ever eaten! But it gave us something to laugh about later!

Look at those trees! It looked like the Garden of Eden. It was so pretty. I have never seen anything like it.

We stopped at this waterfall that is called the massage waterfall. It was so pretty. The people in the background are Nathan and Carrie. They are some of our good friends. Josh and Nathan work together and have traveled a lot to St. George together. He loves Nathan and considers him one of his very best friends. I am so glad we have gotten to know them, they are so great!

Nathan and Carrie. Definitely one of the best couples I know!

We passed through some villages that were unbelievable. We saw villages like this all over and I was in awe the whole time. I cannot believe that people actually live this way. They had not electricity, no running water or flushing toilets. Yet they were so friendly and happy!

So like I said earlier it wasn't the best day of our trip because it was really long and not that fun... but then I realized why we were supposed to come on this day trip and it made all of it so worth it. I actually felt embarrassed that I even complained at all. I learned a good lesson. This guy was one of the river raft tour guides. I noticed that all day he didn't have any shoes on. He was the only one but I just thought maybe he liked it that way. On the bus ride down the mountain he sat by Josh and me. I looked at his feet and it was clear to me that he never wore shoes. I asked him why he didn't have any shoes on and he told me he didn't have any and that he had never had any. He only had a pair of rugby boots. I was shocked!!! Not even one pair of shoes. He said he didn't need any and that it was ok. Well Josh sat there for a while and had the feeling to give this man his shoes that were in his bag. He ignored the prompting until finally it was so strong he asked the man what size of shoe he wore. Josh gave him his Nike sneakers and they fit him perfectly. Josh told him to keep them. The look on the guys face was priceless. He stared at those shoes the rest of the way down. I couldn't believe that something so simple to us was such a big deal for him!

The next day we left the beautiful island of Fiji. We had the day to spend at the pool and then that evening got cleaned up and headed to the airport where we took the red eye flight home. We slept pretty good on that flight too! Again, it was another fun work trip with fun people! We had a great time and are so glad we were able to go and form good relationships with clients and the people that Josh works with.