Restaurant Eve’s attention to detail and caliber of service are, in my experience, unparalleled. When I made our reservations, they asked if it was a special occasion and when I told them it would be our anniversary they asked for the spelling of both of our names (we couldn’t figure out why). On our arrival, they seated us side by side for a more intimate experience (we noticed two other tables in the 34 seat tasting room were arranged the same way), and once we opened our menus we figured out why they wanted the spelling of our names.

We had a fantastic meal that was billed as 5 courses, but, counting amuse bouche, bread, palette cleansers and petit fours, came to 11 courses instead. Everything was fantastic and we even got a gift to take home!

Chad and I are looking forward to whatever adventures come our way in the next year – and all of the years that will follow.

YAY!

You can see the pictures in the photos section or just click here

Yaaay!

We talked to the guy working there and I had a suspicion about him. I asked for his name, and he said “Ethan.” I said: “not Etan?” That’s right, I know an Israeli when I see one. His eyes got super big and we started chatting in Hebrew. I figured I should start getting used to telling people what happened, so I stretched my language skills and told him what happened. He was very sympathetic, helped us get sandals on the kids, and gave them each an extra little snap on character for their shoes. We ate at the only place open, and had breakfast food for our brunch. Elaine called at that time and we each took the kids out of the restaurant so they could talk to her.

We went back to the condo to make some phone calls and arrangements before we had to head out again. Chad and I didn’t want to be separated, so we packed the kids into the car and dragged them around with us. The first stop was Kmart to get fun things like sneakers that fit Aurora, a cheap duffle to hold their new stuff, some colored bubble bath, etc, etc. I tried to get a phone charger there, but had to drive around Kona for a bit in order to find a Verizon store.

Elaine would have to have surgery on her shoulder before the hospital would release her, so we decided that the kids would have to fly with us.  We went to the airport so I could talk to someone face to face.  Eventually, we got Ozzie and Aurora on the same flight with us, but I was nervous because we couldn’t choose their seats until check-in the next day.  The strangest part of the whole process?  The customer service rep called his supervisor over and she immediately said: “is this the 7 year old who died in the car accident?” All I could say was yes.  She had read about it in the paper that morning.  The island is pretty rural, so anything like that is big news.

Then there was the drive back up to the hospital. Here’s the thing about Waimea, it’s high up in altitude, just like the house we rented. So the drives are similar. On the way up the hill Aurora started talking about the accident and how if we saw a broken guard rail that’s what they crashed through. Ozzie made a grimace and covered his eyes. It took about 15 minutes to get up to level ground, but bringing them with us to the hospital was a mistake. One of us should have taken them to the pool or the beach, but we had to return the car seats and figure out how to get Razak home, so they came along.

Chad and the kids gave the seats back to the nurses while I spoke with someone about Razak.  They explained that he had been moved to Kailua-Kona because that’s where the autopsy would be.  They gave me some pamphlets and I got on the phone with a funeral home in Kona.  Again, they had read about it in the paper and knew who I was.  I would have to sign some release papers, but I wanted to talk to the funeral home in Escondido about what needed to be done first.  Working with the 3 hour time difference didn’t make things any easier.

Dinner was uneventful at L&L – I wouldn’t have eaten there, but I hoped that full stomachs would make the kids sleep on the way back down the mountain to the condo.  I still don’t know if they slept, but they were quiet.

We tried to take it easy that night and go to bed early, since we still had to visit the funeral home before boarding our 11am flight.  I was so exhausted that I didn’t know Aurora came into our room after we put the kids to bed.  Somehow, without waking me, Chad took her into the living room to talk to her about what was going to happen in the next couple of days.

Mom had called 4 times already. We weren’t about to pick up the phone to talk to her, but we were listening to the messages. We didn’t call back because we didn’t care about what happened to the leftover food or some cord that my cousin Leah found in the bedroom. So we were on our way to lunch when we let call number 5 go to voice-mail. This voicemail was different, more frantic. “Melissa, Elaine was in a car accident…” I didn’t finish the rest of the message. I called Mom back. She told me that Elaine was in a wreck on the way to the airport and that they didn’t think Razak was going to make it. What? No. I didn’t let her finish, I just said that we were heading to the hospital.

We’re lucky that we were only a few hundred yards from the condo when we spoke to her, so we could get in the car start right for the hospital in Waimea. I spent the car ride in a daze. I kept telling myself that this was some sort of sick joke perpetuated by my parents to get us to take the leftover food. Or maybe the injuries weren’t as bad as they thought. Sometimes we can look worse and more hurt than we actually are. That must be it, Razak might be in bad shape, but the accident wasn’t fatal. I kept thinking about the day he was born. Our first trip to the zoo. Two days before when he asked Leah to hang back from the rest of the group at Akaka Falls so he could tell her that he thought “she was kinda pretty.” In my mind, there was no way that he wasn’t going to be okay, because I didn’t say goodbye to the kids at the wedding.

We made it to, then through the hospital. As we were approaching the emergency room, there as a kid about Razak’s height running around. My heart leapt and I thought it was him. No such luck, it was a little Hawaiian girl. I gave my name to the girl at the front desk and told her who I was there for. She asked us to wait, so we sat and I was so glad to have Chad.

A few minutes later we were called into a side room to sit with a nurse. I can’t remember if it was Lori or Liz who told us, though I’m pretty sure now it was Liz. She started telling us that Aurora and Ozzie were fine, just scratches. She explained Elaine’s injuries as well. Then she told us that Razak was dead.

I let go of all of the denial I had been clutching at on the way here and looked at Chad. We both started crying – each trying to hold the other up, and hold to the other for some sort of solace. I have a hard time remembering the last time I cried so loudly. The nurse let us go for a little bit, then another one came in. Liz was Elaine’s nurse, and she took my hand and told me that Elaine needed me, and was asking for me. I stopped crying, and I dried my eyes. There would be plenty of time for mourning later, but now there were three people (one big, two small) who needed us.

We calmed down and they took us to Elaine, Aurora and Ozzie. I was horrified at how small the ER was, I was sure that they had heard us crying in the small side room, it was all just so close together. I felt terrible, how was I supposed to comfort them if they had heard us carrying on like that? That thought was gone as soon as I saw them. Elaine was wired to half a dozen machines and in a bed on the far right side of the room. Aurora and Ozzie were sharing a small bed to her left, looking tired and scared. Chad went to them and I went to Elaine. She started crying as soon as she saw me, and started whispering the most horrible things. She killed her son, no one would ever forgive her, she was a terrible mother. She was speaking loudly enough that I thought the kids could hear her, so I kept telling her that she could break down later, but now she had to hold herself together for Aurora and Ozzie, and that Chad and I had already forgiven her.

I stood over her until they took her to have a CT scan, then I went over to the other bed and sat down next to Ozzie. He was quiet, but Aurora was chatty. She told us all about the accident, from her perspective. They went off the side of the road fell. The car flipped over and a helicopter came for Razak and their mom. Ozzie and Aurora got to ride in the front of the truck. That little girl is so smart, but she didn’t know about Razak yet, and I didn’t want to have to tell her. I didn’t know if I had the right. As far as she was concerned, he was in a different part of the hospital with other doctors who were taking care of him. So we agreed with her, what else were we supposed to do? She was so convinced that he would be okay.

Ozzie needed an X-ray, so Chad carried him over and I stayed with Aurora. I just let her talk for a while. My parents finally came by. Mom asked where Elaine was, I told her. She asked where Ozzie and Chad were, I told her. She said: Razak? I shook my head and looked away. She covered her hands with her mouth and she and Dad left for the waiting room. Elaine came back in, but she was asleep – or pretending to be asleep – or just too full of morphine to be coherent.

I remember everything that happened, but I don’t remember what order things happened in, so here’s a list:

• At some point I called Naama and told her what happened. She, Greg and Leah were on their way back to Hilo from Volcano, and would get to us as soon as safely possible.
• Aurora complained about her neck hurting – but she’s not the most honest child in the world, so I’m still not sure if she just wanted some attention. She had a band-aid covering a small cut on her hand, and that’s it. Anyway, I told her doctor and he ordered an x-ray for her.
• Chad became the liaison with the law. Because it was a car accident with a casualty, the police were very much involved. So Officer Trautman and Chad were constantly calling each other with questions.
• Elaine had to be flown to Honolulu because her injuries included a broken arm, shattered clavicle, and bruising on the front of her brain. The biggest hospital in the state would be better equipped to care for her than a rural community hospital. After a short discussion, we decided that my dad would fly out there with her. Chad and I would take care of Aurora and Ozzie. So we started getting dad ready for that, Mom would fly over tonight as planned with the Yeagers.
• They took Elaine away so she could say goodbye to Razak. Five minutes later they came to ask me to come, because Elaine had completely broken down and she couldn’t fly like that. I needed to get her to calm down. The nurse Lori was crying as she held my hand, leading me down to the hallway, she explained that since there had to be an autopsy, they had to leave the resuscitation equipment in him. I heard her sobbing before turning the corner into the little side hallway where they had the two hospital beds side by side. They didn’t have a room available that would fit both Elaine and Razak. Liz and another nurse was there, so was Officer Trautman. They all had tears in their eyes. Elaine was crying and incoherent, and her left hand was stretched over so she could run her hand through Razak’s hair. I let her go for a minute, and let myself cry on her forehead for a minute. I tried to hush her gently at first, but Nurse Liz indicated that it was time to go, so I had to pry her hand away from him. I can barely remember what I said to her at this point, but I remember my tone. I had to be very firm, strict, a little harsh – telling her to calm down, and that she could cry later. She listened to me, and eventually went quiet.

After they discharged Ozzie I noticed that the kids had no shoes.  They were lost in the accident.  Along with the car seats.  The closest place to buy a car seat was the Kmart in Kona – over an hour away.  We couldn’t put the kids in a car without them, especially not after the accident.  The car seats were the reason they were still alive and uninjured.  When I brought this up with the nurses, they were absolutely wonderful, called their friends, and had a car seat and a booster seat to the hospital within half an hour.  We finally left and went back to the condo.

We got the kids settled, and eventually, mom brought us some food – we hardly ate anything that day. Leah, Naama and Greg joined us as well, with food for the kids.  They babysat Auroa and Ozzie while Chad and I headed a half an hour down the road to Kmart.  We would have the kids for a few days, and they only had the clothes on their backs.

We bought Aurora a booster seat and Ozzie a car seat, even though they’re the same weight, we went according to their age.  Then we got them PJ’s, shoes, bathing suits, socks, pullups for Ozzie, wipes, and clothes.  It took us about an hour, but we got back in plenty of time to decompress a bit with Naama, Greg and Leah before they had to leave and catch their flight.

I have really wonderful friends. They put the kids to bed before we got back, they bought us extra food, and then stayed to help assemble the car/booster seats.  Those things are more complicated than they look.  But they had an 11pm flight back to LA to catch, so off they went.

It’s amazing what 24 hours can do to your life.

I knew that there would be a lot to do. A lot to do by people who weren’t me…I figured that to keep things easier I’d make a schedule of everything that needed to be done, and give it out, so other people (namely, Naama, Leah, Elaine and Alin), could make sure it got done. I was trying to help them be helpful. What do I get for my consideration? Ridicule of course! Oh all right, it was more like light-hearted teasing. I’d actually be worried if they didn’t tease me, that would be very unlike my friends (and family).

Anyway, I did get a few things done. I finished filling out the name sections on luggage tag favors. I think they turned out quite well! I left my room a few times to forage for breakfast, mainly finding granola. But one time I went out and there was portuguese sausage and eggs! Yum! My parents eventually went out to run some errands, and I wondered why on earth I decided to have the wedding in the late afternoon. I was two hours ahead of schedule!

I handed my phone to Elaine with instructions to answer it, and anyone’s questions as best as she could. The schedule went out the window (for a bit) and I went into the sauna to try and do some yoga (I do Bikram’s Yoga, 26 poses for 90 minutes in a room set at 105 fahrenheit). The sauna, unfortunately, was much too small for any sort of yoga, so I just lounged on the bench for a half an hour. I took a bath, it was lovely. But the strangest part of the day hit me here. I hadn’t talked to Chad at all that day. Even when I’m out of town for work, our days start with a conversation about whatever’s on our mind. But we tacitly agreed on no communication until we met at the end of the aisle.

As I was draining the bath, I heard a big truck come up the driveway. Caterers! I threw on some clothes and went out to meet them. It was about 1315 (fine, mock me for my use of military time, I don’t care), so I still had plenty of time for getting ready. I went through the house and the lawns with the catering manager to show her where the ceremony would be and how it should be set up. I showed her where dinner would be held as well, but at this point, I was so ready to just have the wedding already, so I very quickly stopped caring about certain details – like the arrangement of our 4 dinner tables.

Leah, Naama and Greg finally showed up a little after the caterer did, and I went through the same process with them as I did with the caterers. Then, since we were so far ahead of schedule, Leah, Naama and I just hung out in my sitting room for a little while, talking about the day and other things (what other things? I honestly don’t remember).

The fantastic Alecia Hoyt (our photographer) arrived and I took my cue to shower and start getting ready. As for the rest of the day…Well, I have pictures for that.

There were some errands I wanted to run to get ready for the wedding the next day (get dishes for the candies, picture frames for the parent/grandparent/great grandparent wedding photos), but Chad is a wise man. He knew that I would have a lot to do the next day, but he just had to check into the honeymoon condo and make it to the house by 3. So he told me that he would run those errands in the morning while I was up at the house. So we were free to go to the beach!

It was a lot of fun. The sun was out (and hopefully everyone had on sunscreen), and when we got there, almost everyone was in the water. Carl decided that he didn’t want to risk a sun burn, so he watched everyone from one of the picnic pavilions. Chad went straight to the water, but I decided to soak up some sun and get nice and warm.

The water was great, I even kinda caught a wave body surfing before I realized that my bathing suit was not body surfing appropriate. The kids were having a great time too. Razak and Jake were playing around with boogie boards, Aurora made a sand castle with a new friend, and Ozzie ran around and had a good time. The kids also wanted Chad to throw them in the water.

One of the smartest things I did all week was put Naama and Leah in charge of getting the food for the picnic. They hit a grocery store and got Hawaiian fried chicken – absolutely fantastic. I don’t usually like fried chicken, but this? This was perfect. (I think the people at the grocery store called it Korean Fried Chicken, but when I looked that up online it definitely wasn’t what we had – but i looked up Hawaiian fried chicken, and this was it!). The batter has soy, garlic and green onions in it – and thickened with rice flour! They also got cucumber salad, bean salad and some other things that were great. Mmmmm.

After a couple of hours, I had to leave the beach and head back to the house for a shower before heading out for my nail appointment. The people working at Hot Nails II are quick and do very good work. My manicure lasted for 2 and a half weeks before I finally decided to get rid of it. It was some nice quiet time for me – since I hadn’t really been alone the entire time we were in Hawaii!

I rushed back to the house to change before heading to the luau. I did try to be the first one to the events, but I was never successful. Chad’s family always beat me there! The luau was absolutely no exception. *sigh*

After the drama of getting the luau set up for everyone (maybe I’ll tell that story another day) I’m happy to say that it was a complete success. The food was good, the service was excellent, and the show was spectacular. The kids were almost as fun to watch as the show. Razak was spellbound, Ozzie wasn’t blinking, and Aurora stood on her chair and copied the dancers. It was soooo cute. Everyone had a really good time, and that’s what I was looking for through the entire week. I wanted everyone to relax, get to know each other, and have fun. So far so good!

CAKE:
For the cake, use 2 6X2 cake pans, line the bottom of the pan with a cut round sheet of parchment paper, then butter and flour the sides. Set the prepped pans aside.

Ingredients:
1 cup and 3 tbl sifted all purpose flour
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup dry-roasted macadamia nuts
3/8 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cups sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup finely grated peeled carrots
1 8-ounce cans crushed pineapple in its own juice, WELL DRAINED

1. Move rack to the center of the oven and set to preheat to 350°F, make sure you prep your pans.

2. Combine 3 tbl of flour with the coconut flakes, mac nuts and ginger.  Process until nuts are finely chopped.

3. Whisk remaining 1 cup flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl to blend.

4. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and oil in large bowl to blend. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Beat in flour-spice mixture. Stir in coconut-macadamia mixture, then carrots and the well drained crushed pineapple.

5. Divide Batter between pans and bake until a tester (bamboo skewer) comes out clean from the middle of the cake.  Cool cakes in pan for at least an hour.

Frosting
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut (Coco López is the only one that’s widely available.  Check the drink mixer aisle as well)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar, then cream of coconut and both extracts. Chill until firm enough to spread, about 30 minutes.

2. Turn the cakes out onto a rack, then place the bottom layer on your serving (cardboard/plexiglass/whatever) round or serving platter.  Drop a dollop of frosting on the top of the layer, then spread around the top.  Add the second layer and spread a thin layer of frosting over the top and sides of the cake. Chill the cake and remaining frosting.

3. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake.  You can also add additional garnish by sprinkling toasted and chopped macadamia nuts or flaked coconut over the tops and side of the cake.  Cover and chill the cake until 1 hour before serving.

One recipe makes 6 cakes

Topping Ingredients:
3 tbl butter
6 tbl dark brown sugar
6 slices of pineapple – fresh is best

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt

1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup butter or 1 stick, 3 tbl butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg

*Note* I used a hand mixer for this because I feel like I have more control of my batter if I’m working with it directly, instead of with a stand mixer. You can definitely do the recipe with a stand mixer, but please be sure to watch your batter very closely, you don’t want it over mix.

1. Put the oven shelf in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Add1/2 tbl butter to each muffin cup and put in the pre-heating oven until it melts (should only take a minute or two)

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Add the vanilla to the milk and set aside.

4. If the butter has melted, take the pan out of the oven and add 1 tbl of brown sugar to each cup and spread the sugar/butter mixture around and into the corners. Place 1 slice of pineapple into each cup, then set aside.

5. In a large bowl, cream the butter low until softened, then add the sugar in a steady stream. Increase your speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes until light yellow and fluffy. Occasionally stop to scrape down the sides of the bowls with a rubber spatula.

6. Incorporate the eggs one at a time, mixing with a spatula first, then beating with the mixer on low for 20 seconds after each addition. After the eggs have been added, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the mixture is fluffy and aerated.

7. First mixing by hand, then with the mixer, add the flour mixture in 3 equal portions, alternating with the milk in 2 equal portions, beginning and ending with the flour. Do NOT over mix your batter. Give the batter a couple of quick folds with your spatula and that is it. Stop. Don’t over mix your batter.

8. Divide the batter among the cups, but only fill each cup 2/3 of the way. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until a cake tester (bamboo skewer) comes out clean.

9. Put a cookie sheet on top of the pan. If you have a silpat, put the silpat between the pan and the sheet, then invert the pan and sheet so that the cakes come out sitting pineapple side up on the (silpat and) cookie sheet. Make sure you do this immediately, while it’s hot. If the sugar starts to cool too much, your cakes may be stuck.

Serve and Enjoy!

But first, BREAKFAST. Breakfast is capitalized because Mom, Dad, Elaine, the kids, Uncle Jerry, Aunt Carolyn, Chad and I went to the Hawaiian Style Cafe. The food is good, cheap, and tasty; all qualities we like for breakfast and lunch. The food was fantastic as always, and it gave us plenty of energy to sit in the car. That’s right, after breakfast we were sitting in the car for about an hour until we could make it to Akaka Falls.

But the nice thing about the drive, was that it gave me some time to hang out with Leah and Naama. We did a little car switching at a gas station outside of Honokaa so the girls got to eat lychee’s and gossip in our car. The three of us haven’t been together in three years, so it was good to not have to call the other when two get together. As for what we were talking about? Doesn’t matter. At least, I’ll never tell!

I was driving the lead car, because I, apparently, knew where we were going. Here’s a little confession: I didn’t. I just knew there was a sign where I was supposed to turn right. I know because I’d seen the sign before. Well, 40 miles later and no sign, I was starting to get worried, but not for long, because it finally came after the 14 mile marker! But after 3 miles on the road, I started worrying if I was going the right way, because we seemed to just be going farther and farther into the country, and I couldn’t see where these waterfalls might be. Then, out of no where, the road ended and we were at the waterfall! Well, at the parking lot by the waterfall.

As soon as we got out of the car I wished we had brought some bug spray. I had already bought insect repellent wipes for all of the guests, but no one had them with. Oh well. We headed down the path to the falls and right right smack dab into Chad’s family! Carl, Beth, Patti, Chrissy and Brandon had skipped having breakfast with us (they had bought lots of groceries and didn’t want to waste them), and got to the falls before us.

The whole area is gorgeous. Naama and Leah played “can I eat that?” without actually eating anything, and we took some fun pictures. They had part of the path closed, so you saw the big waterfall before the smaller one. They were both beautiful. Of course, by the small waterfall, I overheard the following exchange:

Lady: “siiiiigh”
Man: “what’s wrong?”
Lady: “siiiiigh, I was just expecting something more GRAND”

Of course, I have to mock people like this, and wonder if their ennui is affected, or if they really just have no joy. Oh well. I reenacted the little exchange loudly a few times for differently people (once while she was within sight). I hope she heard us.

After the falls, Elaine headed home with the kids and we continued on towards Hilo, first stopping at the most beautiful cemetery I have ever seen. While there, Leah saw her first mongoose, and mom asked the guys there where we could find a farmers market. I refused to take lead car on this one, so we followed Chad and Greg, and ended up at Rainbow Falls above Hilo. Pretty waterfall, no farmers market. After driving all around upper Hilo, we finally went to where the normal farmers market is and lo and behold, some stalls were set up.

While we didn’t find any mangosteens for Tita Digna, we did get some pineapple for the cakes, and some rambutans to munch on. Greg also bought a big, beautiful bouquet of flowers for Naama. It was all very cute. At this point, Chad and I turned around. We wanted to go back to the house and run through the ceremony with the kids.

When we got back to the house, we moved some of the patio chairs over to where the ceremony would be held, and set up a little aisle to walk down. We handed Razak the gorgeous koa wood bowl we had bought that day at Dan DeLuz Woods – he kept trying to wear it as a hat. I had to get a little stern with him, explaining that it is not, in fact, a hat. Aurora got a pretty woven tray that belonged to the house – in which she would be carrying the leis for our lei exchange.

I didn’t think Ozzie would be interested in having a job, and since he’s only three, I kind of preferred for him not to have one. However, Razak had a job and Aurora had a job – this meant Ozzie needed to have one too. So we made one up for him! Ozzie’s job was to keep an eye on Chad and make sure that he didn’t run away before I came down the aisle. There was even a practice run. Chad ran away from the aisle and Ozzie ran after him and pushed him back over. It was sooo cute!

After a few run-throughs, we got ready for dinner and headed down to Cafe Pesto for the ‘Rehearsal Dinner.’ It was more of a family dinner than rehearsal dinner, since the only people who needed rehearsing were the kids. But it was nice to get all of the aunts and uncles together so people could catch up, or meet each other. Cafe Pesto has great pizzas, and we set up a special pizza with them called the ‘Chad and Melissa’ pizza, to personalize things a little bit. The Chad and Melissa Pizza had basil pesto, chicken apple sausage, mushrooms, goat cheese and garlic. They were delicious, and great for breakfast the next day!