The Tomb Arizona

I have been very excited to go to Pearl Harbor. More excited for it than anything else because there is nothing scary about it! There is no cost because it's a national monument.

They start you off with a film inside a theater. Air conditioned! Then you board a sea shuttle. It's a short voyage.
 

This is the first boat ride for these kids. Not that big kid to whom I'm married.

The building sits perpendicular to the USS Arizona. 

I heart the ideals of American freedom which our founding fathers were inspired to author. It was, at that time, considered to be an experiment of extreme degree and risk. I believe they, as well as Christopher Columbus and the leaders in the Revolutionary War were prompted, led, and protected by the Holy Ghost so that this land, the promised land, would become the fertile soil in which the Lord could restore, in its fulness, His Gospel.

That round, white buoy marks one end of the USS Arizona. You can see some of the ship sticking out of the water. 

This is the other direction but doesn't show the other buoy. 

Rylee really appreciated the significance of this monument. 

This is an overlook where there is a hole down into the ship. In the past 20 years or so, they have interred the ashes of those who survived the attack, by going down into this hole and using a long pole to push the box into some kind of tunnel. Men who have performed this task say that there is a point when the box is pulled in, as if the ship is accepting the box into it. I think it's neat that these men want to be back with their crew. You can see here how the metal is now encrusted with nature's jewels of the sea. 

You see the design on the left? I love it SO much. It is called the Tree of Life and was designed specifically to honor the men who were killed in the attack of Pearl Harbor. Tree of Life. That is a very significant term. 

Flying my colors. 

You can read Rylee's post about this on her blog. 

This is the entrance. I shot this as we all reverently walked back out to the sea shuttle. 

Had to take a photo with Kiki on the boat. 

I just found these amusing. 

Each has its pros and cons, I guess. 

Guess what we found on the world map painted on the ground?

That's where I was born. 

Girls doing hair back at the house. 

Very cute, eh?

This is called musubi. Yummy.

This was when we came out of the Hawaii temple. Another one added! Woohoo!