Well  there you go...another Luau come and gone and hopefully enjoyed by all.

I think Kelley has it down to a science now and doesn't get the least bit ruffled.

I love that about him! 

Things really went off without a hitch...everyone pitched in and helped and that just made it fun!

Seriously, everyone is just so great!  Andreasons were asked to head up decor and details and that took a load off of me.  Karen and Jo Ann helped out with the decorations too.  Friday afternoon, Brian, Rick and Kelley set up the tents  then when they got done,  Dave M., Taylor and Mark S, and Rick helped get all the meat ready. 

this is quite a process. 

Kelley and I had gone to Costco earlier in the day and bought large amounts of pork shoulder and  chicken thighs. Then we came home and got them in coolers with ice.  So when were ready to prepare them, they open the packages of pork,...(these are huge roasts) and wash them and make big slices in them.  Then they put coarse  salt all over them and then the liquid smoke.  ( oh and before they start that, they make big sheets of foil by fixing two sheets together...then they double that and it's ready to put a big chunk of meat on it)  then they wrap it up in the foil and put it back in the cooler till morning.  The chicken just needs to have the packages cut open and the chicken dumped into a cooler that we add the terryaki marinade to.  The hard part about this is that the chicken is still partially frozen so after opening several bags, your hands go numb.  Taylor got the job this time and was a good sport about it.

Friday night Andreasons also brought over the tiki hut  ( so cute!) and their huge barbecue grill.  That really makes it nice so we don't have to borrow so many grills from the neighbors.

Saturday morning...Kelley was up and getting the fire going around 4:30.  Rick was right there to help him and really was just the biggest help all day long. (ps, he cleaned out the fire pit a few days before the luau which is about the crappiest job ever!)

Around 8, the High Priests showed up with the tables and chairs.  There was a bunch that came to help, so they had the job done in a jiffy.

Around 4, Vickie, Jo Ann, Karen and Charity came over to get the table covers on and decorations  put up.  They really went all out and made it really cute!

Jeremy H came over and set up a photo booth which was awesome!!!   He had some cute Hawaiian back grounds and different props they could wear.  That was really a hit!  How great of him to share his talent and equipment with us for the night! 

David C. came over earlier and set up an awesome sound system too.  When he started playing music, it really sounded great.  It worked out just perfect for the entertainment.

I was in charge of the rice again this year.  I do not cook rice very well....in fact I stink at it.  Last year, KC made all the rice with Hatsumi's fancy  Japanese rice cooker and it turned out perfect.  This year KC was gone on a hiking trip with his buddies over the weekend, so I was on my own. 

When I was at Costco, I had noticed this rice cooker that looked a lot like Hatsumi's fancy one.  I thought I might as well give it a try. 

I started cooking the rice at about 11:00, cause I had to make a lot!  Karen brought over her two  big roaster pans to keep it in and that was a life saver.    So I go to make the first batch and was following the directions perfectly.  It said to put in a cup of rice, then fill the pan to the fill line for however many cups you had used.  It seemed like not enough  water, but then I figured I better do what it said.  Oh this was after rinsing the rice several times.  I had never done that before either until Hatsumi told KC that that was very important.  So I thought I would start out small, ( this rice cooker holds 20 cups of rice!)  so I put in 5 cups of rice, then filled it up to line number 5  After a while, the beeper went off and it said it was done.  I opened the lid and it was kind of crunchy and dry.  Oh NO!!!!I can't make rice!  Even with a rice cooker!   So I went to the trouble shooting section of the instructions and it said if it was too dry, to add more water and turn it on again.  So I did...the next time I looked it was better, so I added even more and turned it on again.  This time it came out perfect.  I was just like why doesn't this dumb thing work though.  So I started looking through all the little papers that came with the cooker.  On one little paper, it said 'The cup that comes with the rice cooker only measures 3/4 of a cup, so you should always use this cup or just measure 3/4 of a cup of rice. 

I had used my own measuring cup.  HA!  So next batch I used the cup that came with the cooker and the rice turned out perfect!  Man I always have to learn the hard way!  So anyway, I was cooking rice all day and just finished up the last batch when people started coming.

p.s. now the rice cooker is my new best friend!

OK, so this was funny.  Deslie brought over these two cool kayaks to put the ice and bottled waters in... so clever!.  Kelley had to try it out.

The Elders were in charge of cooking the chicken on the huge grill so they showed up about 5.  That is a really big hot job.  Sure appreciate the good guys that worked on that! 

Carol and Brian were asked to man the Tiki hut and spent their night making smoothies for everyone...another huge job!  They did a great job and everyone loved it!

Brother Barcarsy came early to set things up for the entertainment.  There were about a dozen  cute dancers that were part of his group.  They used the downstairs rooms to dress and get ready for the show,.

We had a wonderful turn out.  I think more people than we ever had before. It was good to have some friends who have moved from the ward years ago come...they are life long friends no matter where they live.   People were all great to bring their food they had signed up for so there was plenty.   By the time the entertainment people had eaten though, most everything was gone, so that worked out really good.

Brother Barcarsy sang and played the guitar while we ate, then brought in the dancers later.  He has a beautiful voice and really put on a neat show.

Everyone was so great to stick around and clean everything up!

Gina and Stacey, and Brenda came in and did all the dishes. such sweet friends!!!

After everyone left, Kelley and I came in and collapsed in the big green chair.  Tired, but happy everything went so well. It amazes me what Kelley is able to get done in that one day. He doesn't ever look at it as a burden though...just as a fun time.  I also love that about him. 

 Couldn't have asked for a better night!