Pizza Hut Connect Holiday Party ON A BOAT!


Andrew

Samantha

This year our Pizza Hut Connect Holiday party was on a river boat. But not just any boat, this boat had glass walls and a glass ceiling so you could take in all of the views as you floated around the Chicago River. I heard it was so new that it had been on less than two dozen voyages so far! Dallas went to the Cowboys vs. Bears game, so Kristin came along as my +1.

Chris, Esther

A bunch of the leadership team flew in from Plano and spoke briefly. Artie is the CEO of Pizza Hut and Carol is the CTO of Pizza Hut.

A lot of recognition awards were given out by different leaders. This is Laura, our HR Director, recognizing someone.

To my surprise, I was recognized by my boss’s boss, Chuck. I was literally taking a bite of my salmon, when I looked up and was like “uh, he’s talking about my team.” A few seconds later he called out my name to come to the front.

Steve, Chad, Jatan, Jerry, Mayur

Jatan, Sampath

Chris, Esther

Jeremiah and his wife, Emily

Umesh, Kishore, Vinay, Elric, Tanya, Tanya’s husband, Kishore

Samantha and her husband

Janet and her husband

Savannah and Carol

Marc and Jeremiah

Madhan and his wife


Madhan and his wife

LaShunda and Umesh

Jess’s friend, Casey, Allison, Jess

After dinner there was a lot of dancing! Members of my team, especially Kishore, pulled me out onto the dance floor! Jim, the owner of Quikorder, attended the party and he even got pulled out onto the dance floor!

 Umesh, Jessica

 Umesh, Vinay

Back: Jeremiah, Madhan, Kishore, Chris, Fred, Sampath, Peter, Sheena, Harish, Jatan, Tanya
Front: Vinay, Umesh, Kishore, Mayur, Esther
Back: Jeremiah, Madhan, Kishore, Chris, Fred, Sampath, Peter, Mayur, Harish, Jatan, Tanya
Front: Vinay, Umesh, Kishore, Esther

 Savannah, Andrew, Carol, Umesh

 Susan, Jerry, Carlos

Casey and her husband


Allison, Carlos, Jessica, Susan

Susan, Me, Esther, Guadalupe

Catherine, Casey, Susan

Jeff, Samantha, Tom

Fred and his wife, Kerri, and Peter

Erin, LaShunda, Chuck, Sampath, Kishore

Fred, Kerri, Baby #3

Vinay, Jatan, Sampath, Kishore, and Kishore

After our 3-hour boat ride, everyone got off the boat and walked into River North to go out some more. I walked with them for a bit, but then got a ride home to relieve the babysitter (Ms. Lauren). Great time. So much fun hanging out with everyone outside of work. I wished I could have stayed out longer.. but then the next day I heard some people were out until the sun came up, so I was actually kind of glad for an excuse to go home!

Family Barbecue


Liz with her sister Shannon and mom Toni


Uncle Dee and Jordan


Liz with Uncle Dee and Cousin Casey


Time to eat!


Jose and Caroline


Uncle Dee, Casey, Aunty Kathy


Uncle Mel and Aunty Wendie. Aunty Wendie’s quote of the day: “I never ate poi with chopsticks before!”


Xavier, Janet, Aunty Helen, George, Larry, Eleanor


Eleanor, Uncle Bob, Steve, Kathy, Xavier, Janet


Uncle Mel, Aunty Wendie, Uncle Dee, Jordan, Aunty Kathy, Jose, Caroline

The night of Liz and Jordan’s wedding we had a family barbecue. Well, family and some very close family friends. A lot of the food was from Joe’s on the Green, where we had our wedding last year. Uncle Dee also picked up a lot of local favorites like lau lau, poke, poi, kalua pig and Chinese noodles.


Casey


Dallas


Uncle Mel

Actually, a few people picked up poke. I think we had about 8 or 9 different ones to taste test! All of the food was so good. The lau lau that Uncle Dee brought from Da Imu Hut was getting rave reviews. Even the vegetarians ate it! For dessert we had cupcakes from Cakes by Kristin in Kapa’a.


Jackson and Savannah swimming in the pool.


A little frog that Jackson and Savannah found.


Liz and her family: Steve, Toni, Shannon, Kathy, Charlie, Savannah and Jackson

We had some drinks and visited. It was all very relaxed. At one point Savannah and Jackson, Liz’s niece and nephew, went back to where they were staying to get their bathing suits and take a dip.


Looking through old family photos.


Just a sample of what we found: This is Caroline, Jordan, and Dallas!

We also spent a lot of time looking at old family photos that Aunty Kathy brought from Dallas’s grandma’s house. I have only seen maybe two photos of Dallas as a child so it was so fun to look through books and books of his childhood. And very good to spend time with the family looking through grandma and grandpa’s adventures. Dallas never realized how much they loved to travel together. It was nice to see them so young and happy and having some great adventures. I think it helped the family a lot.

Family Photos at Jordan and Liz’s Wedding

Some family photos from the wedding. I didn’t have one with everyone, including myself, but I found one from their photographer:


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After family photos, Jordan and Liz took a whole slew of photos just with them on the beach. If you want to see them all, they’re here. We hung around for a little bit and took a few of our own photos but then decided to head back to Poipu.

Oh, and Chad’s house on the beach on the way out. Many thanks to him and his family for giving us unlimited use of the restroom and the beer in the fridge!

Jordan and Liz’s Family Lei Exchange

After the wedding ceremony, each family got to spend a moment with Jordan and Liz and there were extra leis so that the bride and groom could give them to their parents and family. It was kind of like a receiving line, but instead of Jordan and Liz walking down a line of people, people approached them. First the parents on each side, then the siblings on each side of the family, etc. I thought it was kind of a nice touch.

Oh, and this was Dallas’s super important job during the ceremony:

Hold the leis!

Getting Ready For Jordan and Liz’s Wedding

Some how drunkenly at the family dinner the night before the wedding, it was decided that Dallas and I would pick up Liz, her dad Charlie, and her step mom Kathy, and take them to the wedding. I did not mind doing this, but hey, no pressure… you just have to make sure the most important person makes it safely and on time! The morning of the wedding Jordan was at our house hanging out while Liz got ready. That first photo is his “Hey, I’m still single!” pose. When it was time to leave (the wedding was on the complete opposite side of the island, more than an hour’s drive away), Jordan went to pick up other family members and we went to pick up Liz. To add on, only a couple of Dallas’s family members actually knew where the location was so we had to also lead Liz’s stepdad and make sure his car full of family made it there.


Kathy, Kathy, Charlie, Liz, Savannah, Shannon, Jackson

Jordan and Liz chose Kalihiwai Beach as the location for their wedding. This is a beach that has special meaning to them. They have visited it together and a good friend of theirs, Chad, who is also a distant cousin, lives right on the beach there. The wedding was planned to be very casual. There were no attendants, just Jordan and Liz, and the people attending were only immediate family. And Chad. Because, you know.. he lives there :). Oh, and his mom, because she was home. Haha.

Kalihiwai Beach is a wide, white-sand beach and is located in the Kalihiwai Bay. The wedding took place where the Kalihiwai River feeds into the ocean and the backdrop was some beautiful lava cliffs with shady ironwood trees. The beach was a bit rustic, with lots of coconut shells and sticks and things. Very natural. There were not too many people on the beach. Enough to have some onlookers, but not enough to be a nuisance or to get random people in all of the photos.

While all of the family assembled themselves on the beach, Jordan got instruction from the officiant. He also was told to face the water and not look back at the beach. This was because Liz did not want him to see her until the actual ceremony. Meanwhile Liz made her way to the beach with her mom, Toni, and Jordan’s mom, Kathy. Liz’s dad, Charlie, walked out to meet them and to walk to the ceremony area.

The mom’s helped each other put on wrist corsages while the wedding planner helped Liz and her dad get ready for their big “entrance.”

Family Dinner at Yum Cha Asian Eatery


Yum Cha Asian Eatery


Good selection of local, Hawaiian-brewed beers, as well as Asian imports.


Also a great selection of fancy martinis. This is the Lychee + Pomegranate Martini with house-infused lychee vodka. Liz and I drank too many of these! Such a pretty presentation, too. The v-shaped martini cup balances in a round bowl of ice.


Pretty interior at Yum Cha.


Indonesian Chicken Satay | red curry chicken | spicy peanut sauce


Yum Cha Pork Spring Rolls | red leaf lettuce | mint | nampla sauce


Jordan’s dad, George, and Liz’s dad, Charlie, chatting it up.


Yum Cha Fried Rice | chicken | carrot | celery | egg


“Spoon Tender” Short Ribs | sweet soy | crystallized ginger | lomi tomato. This was my favorite. SO GOOD. So tender and flavorful.


Caroline (Jordan’s sister), Jose (Caroline’s boyfriend), Shannon (Liz’s sister), Savannah (Liz’s niece), Toni (Liz’s mom), Steve (Liz’s stepdad).


Emerald Steamed Fish | cilantro | ginger | lemongrass soy vinaigrette


Korean Sizzling Pork | tofu | kimchee


Me (!), Dallas (Jordan’s brother), Kathy (Jordan’s mom), Caroline (Jordan’s sister), Jose (Caroline’s boyfriend), Shannon (Liz’s sister), Jackson (Liz’s nephew), Savannah (Liz’s niece), Toni (Liz’s mom), Steve (Liz’s stepdad), George (Jordan’s dad), Charlie (Liz’s dad), Kathy (Liz’s stepmom), Liz, Jordan

As with our wedding, Jordan and Liz didn’t really have much to rehearse the day before, but they did want to get their families together to meet and socialize before the actual wedding. We all headed to Yum Cha Asian Eatery, a high-end Chinese restaurant at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu. This place was pretty much everything you’d expect from a Grand Hyatt: Delicious food, very attentive staff, beautiful surroundings, and a price tag to match. I had many Lychee + Pomegranate Martinis, which probably explains my awkward pose in that last photo, and ate too much. And I had a great time getting to know Liz’s family more.

After dinner, Jordan, Liz, Caroline, Jose, Dallas and I headed over to Stevenson’s Library, also at the Grand Hyatt, to quietly play pool and drink the most expensive cocktails on the South Shore.