Quick reminder to all those who (are still here) read this

I suppose the title is misleading, I don't really have anything to remind you all of. Do have some new stuff to let you all in on though.
Currently my parents and little brothers (yes the retarded one and the one with Down's Syndrome) are here. Yay. I do so enjoy family visits. It gives me a reason to get out of the house and to tourist'y things. The funny part is that we haven't done much of anything even though they've been here for a week. Most of what we've done is just cook and eat (that's what the Foley's do best donchaknow) and hang out. The visit has also included a good deal of maintenance and getting ready for the fireworks tents. Most of you folks remember that we work for a week selling fireworks. Its grueling work but its rewarding in its own way. I get to shoot off the random leftovers that don't go back to the warehouse. Yay. As far as Christmas preparations go we're doing fine. Thanks Mom B for the gifts for the girls, they are under the tree and awaiting Christmas day. Santa was kinder to us this year than last. We're actually doing alright. Still in the process of trying to sell our Utah house, but other than that we have the liberty to get and do some nice things for eachother. Last year April got me body wash and gum........yeah, you're probably right, she was trying to tell me something.....how rude. So this year I am getting her some rubber kitchen gloves and a bottle of laundry soap. ha ha.
Funny thing, happened to me the other day and it got me thinking if this is how all wives are. April admitted to looking through the internet browsing history to see if I had ordered her anything online. Not only is that unfair but rather deviously out of character for her, those of you who claim to know her best can back me up on that one. She said to me in not so many words, "I guess I just gave myself away, since now you know I was looking for what you got me". This brings me to the question. Isn't that sort of like reading someone's journal or parusing through their locked treasure chest? Hmmmmmm. Needless to say I covered my tracks well enough she didn't get wind of any possible gift ordering. But the fact that she was 'peaking' through the virtual wrapping paper makes me wonder.
Meanwhile back at the batcave, I want to wish the family(ies) in general a Merry Christmas from the heart. It is at time like these when the pangs of solitude affect us most. The nativity at the barkers with the standard characters and 40 angels with 35 sheep. The complete lack of oxygen in the west wing due to all the singing and laughing. The cleanup crew that wisks through the dishes and empty pop cans from half a million people, games at the Whittingtons where we learn that we're all a little more 'twisted' than we thought, food at home till you can't even lay down because it hurts so bad, yeah that's Christmas for me, and now that we're a quarter world away, please know that even though we won't be there with you in person, we're there in thought and feeling. So eat and laugh and sing and play, and know that no matter what happens to us on this volcanic speck, home for us is where you all are.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good (pie) night.

Use the comments section on this entry to leave your answer

Click the comments link below or the title of this entry and leave your answer. If you know what this is and you get it right, I will send you your very own Maui Gold Pineapple just in time for christmas. If you know where this came from (store and/or city) I will send you something else as a surprise with your pineapple. THE MYERS' AND THE THOMSONS ARE EXCLUDED FROM ANSWERING. (cheaters, thought you were gonna get a free pineapple? well guess again and no telling anyone else and splitting the reward for that matter)

Oh where to begin...again

Funny thing, for the past two months I've had this nagging feeling that I had forgotten something, or someone. It dawned on me that the someone I had forgotten was, well, YOU. Actually, I didn't forget, but due to a complete lack of motivation, coupled with a lot going on, I just haven't posted anything. I will try to make up for it in this entry.
There is A LOT to cover. Here are the highlights. In early October we were visited by the Stokers. Colby, (Lyman Stoker's oldest son) his wife Lexie and their daughter Anna, stayed with us for a week. We did take quite a few pictures but only a select few are going to make it into this entry's slide shows. Since the Stokers had planned this trip months in advance April was fortunate to have taken a good deal of time off to play host(es). We probably did more during that week than any other week we've lived here. We went to the beach, pearl harbor, the dole plantation, Wiamea Valley, The PCC, and even had a night to take them crabbing. There should be a few pictures of that in the slide. We thoroughly enjoyed the time they spent here. Since Colby is an exceptional tight wad, they probably wont be back for some time. The next big occurrence was the Thomsons came with some friends from Morgan, The Eldridges, Ty and Marina. I knew Ty and Marina from back in the day when we, Jarrod and I, went paintballing in Mt Green near the cemetery. The property we used to play on belongs to the Eldridges. Funny story about getting kicked off the grounds...ask me some other time.
Aaron and Melissa came on Halloween and stayed for a week. Due to the time that April had off earlier in the month we weren't able to play guides for the Thomsons. They came and went and we played rockband at night and even got to do a little rooster hunting, another story for another day...maybe never.
****TANGENT ALERT******
For those of you who know what I am talking about:
THE ROOSTER IS GONE. Halla'freakin'looya. Ask Lindsey, she'll tell you.
*****Back at the batcave*******
I convinced April to let me dress the kids up this Halloween and we went as a skeleton family. Aaron and Colby brought pieces of my costume over from UT and I donned it and scared the dickens out of the neighborhood. Apart from that, I turned our front porch into a literal mini-haunted house, complete with hanging bones in the walkway, skeletons coming out of the ground, strobe lights and fake fire cauldrons. It was GLORIOUS. Check the last slide show. It was most fun!! The best part of the Thomson's visit was a great chance to go scuba diving at Hanauma Bay. There are plenty of pictures from 30 ft down on the slide show. Sorry they're really blue, the water was just a bit murky. But it was a great dive. All six adults went that day while the kids were with a sitter. We saw all sorts of great stuff, and April almost died, well so she says, she got caught on the reef, not in the coral but on some rocks and had a bit of a panic until she got washed up on top of them, there is a picture or two of that. She's completely bruised now and has at least one lady in the relief society thinking that I beat her from head to toe, which isn't a bad idea sometimes, just not where the marks will show up.
All visits aside, we are doing fine. We are still working on selling our house in Ogden, the paperwork is well, in the works, and we've signed another year lease on our house here. April has been chosen to do some educator thing at work and she teaches relief society once a month. Funny, it takes her three weeks to prepare for the one week she's doing the lesson, then she gets up, does a fantastic job and then stresses over the next time she's due for a lesson. Amusing isn't the word I'd use to describe watching someone fret over having to leave their comfort zone. More like fascinating. As I am sure she'll say when she watches me do um....stuff....uh, like...um stuff that I um.....ahh.....well..don't do all that often....ok perhaps not.
I'd like to take a quick few minutes to reflect my personal feelings about how this Hawaiian adventure has turned out for me personally. I do like it here, in the year and a half we've been here, I have learned more than just electronics skills and parenting tactics. I've learned survival skills, adaptation techniques and marital solutions that I don't believe I would have anywhere else. I have made great new friends and have been able to cultivate a part of my testimony that you take for granted in the 'bubble'. My kids wake up every morning to the beautiful Koo'lau mountain range and the exotics flora therein. I have become almost dependant on the humidity to keep my skin soft and my lips from being chapped. I particularly enjoy the rain, and we get no shortage of that where we live. All in all, I am contented still. But just that, contented. In spite of the personal growth and accomplishment. I still miss thanksgiving with the family. Don't get me wrong, Don and Bob throw a thanksgiving dinner almost as good as the Foley's, but its the entire family that is missed. The same will be said for them if and when the day arrives that we take our leave from this volcanic rock. I miss the Sunday dinners. Chalupa night, babysitting for the Arnells, Motorcycling with Aaron, getting yelled at for motorcycling with Aaron, taking April on the fourwheeler to avoid getting yelled at for motorcycling with Aaron. I miss 2 dollar milk, 5 dollar flat rate shipping, cheap steak buffets with Jay, and a myriad of other experiences.
You certainly don't know what you have till its gone, so the trick is to realize what you have here that you will miss. Free beaches, coconut and pineapple stands on the side of the road, sharks cove, shrimp shacks, angel's shaved ice, majestic views, aloha spirit, the Derykes, the next scuba trip and most of all the real joy and happiness that we get from being reunited with visitors long loved and never forgotten.

Road to **** pavement

You know I had every intention of continuing the story of what happened to Abbi and me on our trip back home, suffice it to say that the trip back was equally difficult. We should have gotten on a plane that the lady said was full and it wasn't. We ended up in LA for another several hours, finally had to fly to an outer island and pay $60 to fly to Oahu. Yaddy yah yah, The final impression I want to leave you with regarding that trip, besides the mourning for a passed on love one, is the sensation of feeling truly alien, at home. After another VERY long day in and out of airports, April picked us up and we headed home. Once here, it took me almost a week to feel like I was back at home. It was an odd sensation. It had nothing to do with the people or reception, more perhaps, to do with a lack of belonging. I am glad I had the opportunity to go back to UT, the dry air killed my throat and lungs and the lack of flora was appalling to me. What made me laugh is that I was there in the pinnacle of springtime, when the desert blossoms, even still, it was all so, BROWN. We are so spoiled to be in one of the greenest places on our island. Aside from the de-acclimatization, I felt a lack of real 'home' whilst visiting Utah. Again, this had nothing to do with company or their greetings, just, geographics? The impact of this feeling was directly contrasted by my previous opinions of Utah. I had always said that I loved Utah for its diversity and recreational possibilities. Commonly heard was that, 'I'd never want to live anywhere else,'. Now having been abroad, as it were, for over a year's time I wish to recant those statements from before. I speak for my family when I say that we really like it here in Hawaii and we plan to stay for at least a few more years, but I am not yet 'settled'. We've lightly discussed the possiblity of moving somewhere else in a few years. Perhaps in time I will find the peace that Don talks about or the belonging that we all seek, but time is a fickle friend. It gives you untold opportunity but ultimately kills us all, that kids, is your paradox for the day.

Hannah is starting Kindergarten in a week or so and I, unlike many I have spoken to regarding the exodus of the first child to school, am totally stoked for her. She is excited to go and I am forced into some good exercise, I will take her to school via mtn bike and child trailer, when its not raining that is. The trip is about a mile and a half and takes about 10 minutes on the bike. That's a good 20 minutes 2x a day for me. So I will be fit, cut and trim in no time, right? Now all i have to do is give up crack and my life will be in order!
I don't have any good pictures to post for you, yet. I took the camera to our ward camping trip two weeks ago but there was little or nothing 'picture worthy'. These people don't know what camping is. They take tents and shelters, generators, full bbq grills, air mattresses, its like the entire house in one package. I am dying for a real backpacking trip. Slim pickin's on this island for that though. Jordan Masaki, Ted Locey (both YM and Scouts) and I went crab hunting one night tho, Here's a couple of pics about that.



Most of the crabs we caught were MUCH bigger than this. Let me set the scene for you. At midnight or later, you make your way to the beach and armed with a 5 gallon bucket and flashlights you walk the beaches looking for baseball sized holes in the sand with recent excavations. You then get on your hands and knees and start carefully following the hole as is spirals downward about a foot and a half. You scoop away the sand till you feel the crab shell or till he comes out to chase you away. Its quite intimidating when they come running at you brandishing those big white claws. They have a nasty pinch that can cut through skin and draw blood if you aren't quick enough. The crab will then make a break for a nearby hole or the open sea. You have to grab a handful of wet sand and, for lack of better description, bean him with it. Not too hard to kill it, but just to stun it for a second. The crab will then think its hidden and you can wipe away the sand and grab the sides of its shell where it can't get to you. I'll take you when you guys get here. The sand crabs are a delectable treat. You can boil the crabs and eat them if you want, there's not much meat on the small ones. The wicked looking spider crabs that crawl on the rocks aren't supposed to be eaten, I don't know why, that is just what I was told.
Enjoy.

Well, so much has happened, I forgot it all.

I don't have any really good pictures to accompany this entry, If I come across any, I will upload them. I have a choppy video of our pooch playing with Hannah
During the last month or so, I had the opportunity to visit home. Now before I go any further, its important for those people already thinking to themselves, "you dirty rat, you didn't come visit!" to know that I was there only for the funeral of my dear Grandmother. She was the primary reason I came back and I didn't stay long enough to see anyone. On top of that I had Abbi with me which made any real visits quite impossible. Oh the joys of traveling with an infant.....never again......
Cue the wavy story lines.
About mid may or so Grandma passed away. My grandmother raised the first four of us during a difficult time for my parents. I was very close to Grandma, having been one of the two oldest grand kids and able to remember her care. My Grandma had very severe Alzheimer's disease, she has for years now and we all knew it was just a matter of time before she passed away. It helped to know that I had had my chance to say good bye a few years after I returned from the mission field and before she had lost her cognitive abilities completely. But all in all it was still very difficult for me to see her gone. This was a first for me. In all my immediate and extended family this was the first real death that was close, or well, part of me. I've never had to say goodbye to a cousin or an uncle that I was particularly close to, in this same capacity. It was always someone else's relative that passed away. I don't care to go into too much detail on the actual service other than to say it was beautiful. It was well organized and I feel like it could not have gone any better. I will tell you that my stay was very brief and I am sorry for not getting to make the rounds to see everyone. Aaron Thomson, my good friend and emotionally adopted brother, works for Delta airlines and was kind enough to give up one of his very limited buddy passes for me to travel with. This pass saved me almost $700. If it weren't for that opportunity I would not have been able to fly to UT. We are making ends meet here but just barely. A full priced ticket would have been hundreds of dollars out of the question, and not for lack of wanting, but for sincere lack of funds. Moving on.
A buddy pass is basically a stand by pass. You are allowed on the plane if there are empty seats and no one with a higher priority trumps you out of that seat. April and I decided that the only way for me to make the trip happen was to take Abbi with me. April is contracted into a certain amount of hours during her '90 probational period' with her new job. She couldn't take the time off to be home. Having Hannah watched by ward members and Uncle Don was easy enough but an infant is another ball of wax entirely, 'specially my lil puka (pooka) who has stranger danger anxiety up the wazoo. Since she's not two yet, she came as a lap child. I knew ahead of time that having a child with me would prevent me from getting into any empty first class seat, what I didn't know is how much I would later regret that fact. Coach is always full, first class isn't. The first night we tried to board a flight to SLC we missed it by a grundle of seats. There were several folks ahead of me with a higher priority. Which meant that the following days would be full of those same people trying to get wherever they were going. Aaron counselled me into flying to LAX and then on to SLC. The next night, Thursday, I made the flight by the last seat. Lucky indeed. It was nice to be on my way. The tension and nervousness of flying is something I always get. I don't know why. I am not afraid of anything except my girls going into puberty. But for undisclosed purposes, I get that small shot of adrenaline accompanied by the pit in the stomach. My hands sweat a little, my breathing speeds up. Similar to the feeling of a the anticipation of the rocket ride at lagoon, you know the one that shoots you down. Only not to that extreme. Later it all turns to a floating sensation in my head, odd, I know. The flight to LA was a six hour red eye. I figured that would be good because my lap ornament would sleep most of the way, right, WRONG. I got lucky and was on a 767 with nice seats and a great 4 year old seat partner. If you've never been on a plane that big, it has three rows of seating. Two seats on the outer most rows and four in the middle. The little guy to my left was a Hawaiian boy flying with his papa, (granddad) and a few other members of his family. It was his first time flying. He looked out the window and would lean over and tug on my shirt sleeve "uncle, uncle, whats that?!" I had a good time answering his questions. Some may have been annoyed with his constant petitioning for information, but I found it endearing. His family apologized and I told them not to worry a wink. I started a conversation with them and found out that they live only minutes from me. That settled it, they provided all the inflight food and drinks for us, I had snacks and Spam Musubi's all I could eat the rest of the flight. Abbi was too restless on my lap to sleep. It had been a long day for her but this was all new, not to mention the fact that she only sleeps in a crib, never in arms. Nearly three and a half hours into the flight she finally fell asleep. It was about 2 am and the cabin was silent. She had settled into an awkward position with her head in my left armpit with her torso on my lap and legs between mine. I shifted her hoping to make her more comfortable and that's when my right leg went warm. The kind of free flowing warm that you can only get from a hot liquid soaking through the fabric of your jeans. Yep, she peed on me. SOAKED my whole leg. Still sleeping like an angel though. I had to change her, I got up and ferried her to the back of the plane and attempted a diaper change in that TINY lavatory. I managed to change her diaper and drenched clothes but had no remedy for my leg. I only had her diaper bag on board, My luggage had been checked. I sopped up as much as I could with toilet paper and then tried to blot out the rest. I made my way back to our seat and tried to get her to settle back down. She was a full mast now and didn't show any signs of interest in sleeping. By this time the plane was due to land in about an hour or so anyway. I coddled her the best I could and entertained her with the nice lcd screen in front of us. The free games and such were nice. She watched the first half of Bolt in silence. My Headphones weren't working. We landed in LAX at about 4:30 am. The next flight to SLC was about 30 minutes later but was already full to capacity. So I called Aaron who was gracious enough to sit by his laptop all day and help me every step of the way. I really owe him for this one! He got me booked on the next flight and we began the 'wait'. This time it was only an hour more and the gate was only two away from our arrival gate. The lady at the gate was kind enough to find out who I was and where I was going. She booked me on the flight knowing that I wasn't going to get on but there was another hours to kill and there's always the chance. Abbi had no interest in sleeping. She wanted to walk around. So we walked to the bathrooms and did some butt changing. We then bided our time till the flight came. I talked to the same gate lady and asked what it was looking like, the answer was "not good, Mr. Foley, its filling up fast, I can tell you that you're not getting on this flight unless someone doesn't show up". We waited there anyway. She was right, an hour and a half at LAX and we were weren't going anywhere. Sure enough, the flight filled up and took off leaving me in my blue carpet and bench seated kingdom. The next flight out was leaving from a different terminal in little less than 35 minutes. The gate lady said she was headed over there and would make sure I got transferred over. I thanked her and started the LONG walk to terminal 5. Because the airport wasn't open yet, I had to go outside and walk all the way around and go back through security. We hustled the best we could and made it there with only minutes to spare. On the previous flight to SLC I had missed the seat by two people. The last person to get on was a young lady, partnered with a freckled guy, that didn't want to be separated from her boyfriend. He insisted on her going anyway and he'd catch up. The gate agent tried to tell them, pointing to me, 'he only needs one seat and has a child, the man, late 20's skinny freckles, horsey face, snubbed his nose at me and ran his bony fingers through is wool-like orange/blond hair. Turning to the girlfriend, 'No, you go now and I'll meet you in Salt lake.' he insisted. She reluctantly boarded the plane. 'What a douche,' I thought to myself, but hey that's the way you play the game. Well the same douche was waiting at the next terminal when I got there, how he'd beat me I don't know, well, I guess he wasn't carrying an infant, a car seat and a duffel. I couldn't find a bench seat anywhere and my cell phone had nearly died. I found an outlet near the ticket booth and sat on the floor with my dear daughter. She was over tired, hungry and ornery as a wildebeest. The gate agent, same one from the previous terminal, found me in the crowd and smiled. She was a pretty lady, early 30's, Hispanic but raised American. She told me that my chances were good on this flight but that it was a small plane. She coo'ed at Abbi a second and went back to her counter. The flight began to fill. Now, in LA you can see the standby lists on the monitors that are placed strategically around the terminals. They list the people in front of you and how many seats are available. Its a bit like watching horse races. Its a constant gamble and the only difference is that the horses are eating cinnabons and drinking Starbucks. Abbi seemed to sense the tension and began to fuss and act up. The numbers began to fly up as the 8:30 flight began to board. They were close, I was getting on the plane, on the last available seat. Just as the final boarding call came up, a pilot came hustling down the isle and trumped the guy in front of me, the red douche guy. The pilot, dressed in full uniform, hat to boot, took a ticket and doomed me to be the first person to not get on the plane. The other douche guy got on and the gate agent looked at me and Abbi, now all red eyed from crying (her not me, well not yet anyway) and said with a forlorn tone. 'I am so sorry, I thought you'd get on that one for sure. I am not the gate agent for the next flight but I will book you on it ok?' I thanked her for all her work and wished her a good day. She looked at my luggage predicament and said, hang on, she walked over to the trolley rack and swished her card by the reader. She pulled a luggage cart off the rack and said, here, I hope this helps a little. I thanked her again. The next flight was at 10:30 am. We had two more wretched hours to kill in a now bustling airport. I had only taken a 5 dollar bill with me, that's all I had. And I knew if I had any hope of calming my poor sweet overtired puka it was with hot greasy cheap burritos. Ok, I didn't really know that but I had my hopes. We sombered back toward our original terminal 4 and the next gate. We got to use the tunnel this time which connects the two terminals without having to go through security again. Its the longest echoing hallway I've ever seen. Abbi loved it, she finally got to run and stretch her legs. We made our way up to the Mcdonalds and I spent my money on some food for Abbi. She snarfed down the breakfast burrito and then yawned. My hopes rose. We had two hours to kill and she was finally showing signs of exhaustion. I rigged the carseat that I had been lugging through LAX to the trolley so that it would lay back slightly. I laid Abbi down and pushed the cart next to me over in a darker corner. I sat in the worn, blue leather seat which creaked as my weight settled in. The light through the windows had fully illuminated the airport now. Much to contrast the darkness we were greeted with when we landed. Notwithstanding the noise, Abbi zonked out. Finally I had some peace. I had been dealing with a fussy infant for 15 hours and had been peed on once. Mind you, I was still wearing those shorts. Slowly the noise began to fade to a dull buzz in the back of my mind and my head began to do the high priest head bob. I tried to stay awake to make sure I didn't miss the call for the next flight, but I had an hour to go still. I caught about 10 minutes sleep and woke when my head fell through my hands. I had propped myself in a familiar 'sleep in church' position and was tyring to look inconspicuous. The final hour began to slow trudge by. The boarding calls began and I perked up. Abbi startled with the overhead announcement, 'attention all passengers, we are now boarding flight **** to Salt Lake City. Will our first class passengers board now followed by zone 1.' Having played this game and communicated many times with Aaron throughout my now 6 hour ordeal. I waited patiently as the standby list came up on the monitor. There were 20 or so seats available for buddy passes and I was number 40 something on the list. Disappointed but not devastated I put my chin back down into my open palms. My fingers rustling the hair over my ears. Suddenly, my ears perked. I sat straight up in my chair as I heard my named called on the loud speaker. "Mr. Chadwin Foley, please report to the agent counter for check in." WHAT!? there was no way I was getting on this flight! I roused Abbi and grabbed out luggage. The two ladies standing there at the counter looked at each other and chuckled in recognition of something. They then smiled at me and said right this way sir, issued my boarding pass and showed me to the gate and onto the plane. I didn't find out till later that the first pretty Hispanic gate agent had done me a solid favor. She had put a little mark on my name when she booked the next flight. Melissa, Aaron's wife, told me it was a letter "N". This gave me, at least, priority over the last person to board. I noticed several other people looking over their seat request tickets and proverbially scratching their heads trying to figure out how I was suddenly in front of them. I nearly shouted I was so thrilled. I was finally on my way to Salt Lake City. Home.

If only there were something more exciting to tell

Well here we are mid may-ish and there's really nothing to report. Jenny and her son are here. They spend most of the time here at home but are out and about during peak times. Jaren, my cousin, is working for Don doing all sorts of odds and ends. Landscaping, flooring, masonry. He's gone most every day and with April at work, that leaves me and you, dear reader, me and you, so what do you want to do?. Well and the girls of course. Which over the last few days have been quick sick. Fevers, runny noses, coughing, the nasties. Abbi is cutting teeth and Hannah just got a cold or something. April had it and likely brought it home from the hospital with her. Now, I'd like everyone to know that the only three confirmed cases of swine flu are on Oahu at Tripler Army Medical Center. So when April came down with it and went in to have it checkd I told everyone in the ward that she had the swine flu. This was done entirely to benefit me of course, I figured if the word got around and since everyone seems to be treating this like a deadly plague, the relief society would eventually have to bring over food since my wife was going to surely perish after growing a little curly tail and pointy ears. So far, no good. Oh well it was worth a shot. She in fact does not have the swine flu, just a normal something or another. Funny thing, one day we were on our way back home and stopped at a busy light and on the radio was announced that the three confirmed cases were now accompanied by two suspected cases. I rolled down the window and shouted, "wahooo, my wife is FAMOUS, she has suspected swine flu!" I thought it was hilarious and our moment of fame, the other drivers just looked at me like I was nuts. But hey, it doesn't really matter what strangers think of you, right? As long as you have your day in the sun at your poor sick wife's expense. Heartless, yes. Everyone now seems to be on the mend. The fevers are gone and April has felt good for a few days now. I, thanks to my mom for the immune system, don't get sick very often. I make up for it with a bad back that loves to go out under stress. See, there really is justice for all.
April's job seems to be going very well, my job seems to be lagging though. When tech prices fall, so does my profits, and its starting to seem a little less than fortune building at this point. Oh well, onward and upward. April and I did go to the local waterpark the other day, that was fun. We forgot the camera but did enjoy ourselves. Its not quite as big as lagoon-a-beach. But they have to big Keiki (child) pools that have lots of slides and waterfalls. The even let abbi go down the big tube slides. Well I say big but its probably not half the size of the tube ride at crystal springs. When money isn't so scarce, we've considered getting season passes because they are so cheap and that would enable us to get a discount on passes for our guests. So WHEN (notice I didn't say IF) you all (Stokers being called out on this one) decide to come, we can add that to the itinerary of excellent things to do. Just so you all know, Jenny and Jaren leave early next month. That means we're gonna have a big house in paradise with no one to help us occupy it! Hint Hint.
Speaking of mad cows. Some of you know that the temple is shut down here on Oahu for MAJOR rennovations. They have closed it for 18 months. The white coral facing has all been stripped away and the insides are completely gutted. The are leaving the shell of the building intact and starting over I guess. But being that it is closed, the wards are now scheduling visits to the small temple in Hilo, on the big island. April and I are going on the 22nd to the 23rd for a temple excursion. Funny how it means so much more to you when its not readily available. Kind of like going to the beach. Inter-island tickets are about $30 for residents and well, we're gonna make it an over-nighter. We'll send pictures. From what I hear, that island looks just like the one we live on! NO WAY HUH!
So lets recap, naw, did that last time.
PLEASE COME VISIT (Nambi Guazu)

The adventure takes another turn 2.0

Alright folks, here's the 411 on recent events. Mirjam has been here for almost a month and leaves tomorrow. Jaren arrived last week and Jenny and Ethan the week before. The biggest news we have is that the Myers have finally chosen to abandon us. After all the ups and downs and landlords and moves, they have made their arrangements and are headed back to the 0-town tomorrow as well. Lindsey will be missed, Chris smells like the frog you dissect in biology so him, not so much, but Lindsey oh Lindsey why for art thou leaving me oh sister? Ok thats not nice so Chris you don't really smell like the frog. As afore mentioned we added to our family. We brought home a 1.5 lb furry ball of love on April's birthday. Her name is April too. We just yell and at least one of them comes in a hurry. Ha ha, just kidding she hasn't finished that part of her training and the dog doesn't know her name yet either. I'll put more pictures up later on. Now for those of you who know, I have a dog named copper that my cousin was gracious enough to take in. I tried every method I could to find a cost effective way to bring her to Hawaii, but after all the vet visits, shots, kennel, plane ticket and quarantine fees, it would be near $2000 to have one poor beagle mutt brought to the volcanic spec we call home. Obviously it was just too high of a cost so we invested in another pooch that wouldn't require more transportation than the ride across the island to a new home. We named her Sascha. Moving on, I am going to attempt another video post, this one is a direct upload so it shouldn't slow down the webpage. This video is of Abbi and her backup dancers at the Local Thai restaurant. They had some jammin' belly dancing music going on in the background and out of the blue Abbi starts shakin' what her momma gave her. It was hilarious, the waitress kept coming by to watch. I whipped out my cell and tried to capture the moment, I mostly succeeded:
Hopefully it works, if not I probably won't get around to fixing it anytime soon. April got her first permanent paycheck as an official government employee. Being a nurse employed federally means that she not only has great pay and benefits now, but total job security too. Her retirement will also kick in when she is 46. Now I am going to make this next comment with the best of intentions. It has come to my knowledge that a couple of weird rumors are floating around about us moving back to Utah. April and I don't have plans to change or domicile any time soon. In fact this move may very well be permanent. Of course we miss being near the family but we both agreed that the life we lead here together has not only improved us financially but has really cemented our marriage. In spite of the hardships we've faced here, we will be staying for a minimum of a few more years, if do move it will have to be a state that April can transfer to. Now the next comment is made with a little less sugar spice. If you haven't spoken to ME (Chad) directly about visiting and planned exact dates, I am not planning on lodging you. We cannot support more than one (entire/parents and kids) family at a time. This was a lesson hard learned during last Christmas. If you'd like to pair up with another couple and come without kids, then by all means make plans. We just don't have the room to put up more than about 4 adults or 2 adults and a few kids. As of this moment, the Foley's are coming again for Christmas, the Melos have hinted at a possible summer visit and the Spencer's have requested some time early next year. So jump on the band wagon folks because we would love to have the family visit. As always the same visitng house rules apply, the first two weeks are on us, just help with the food bill, after that you we'd like you to help cover the utilities. The average electric bill in our neighborhood is between $300 and $400 per MONTH. Keep in mind that our water heater is electric so when you throw another 4+ people in the mix, well you see where I am going with that. I hope this doesn't come across as being short or rude, just want to clear the air so everyone knows how we feel. Keep in mind that the family is VERY important to us and we miss being around you and all the kids, so please make arrangements to visit. We can provide a free two weeks stay and a 24 hour buffet, just open the fridge, and all the card games you can handle.
As a quick recap, Lindsey and Chris Myers leaving, Mirjam leaving, Jenny and Ethan, and Jaren Arrived. New dog arrived. Dancing Abbi. We're not going to move back. Please call us so we can plan your visit. Boy, what a great post. Glad that's all cleared up, So how are you?

Well I have survived the first week of Mother-in-law-dom

Ok so its not really that bad. In fact April and I finally have someone to play games with! Its been a while since the last posting and frankly, its been rather uneventful excluding mom's visit. But boy oh boy do we have the up and comming household. My Cousin Jaren will be returning on the 14th and JENNY is comming home to hawaii! Yay, well I say home because it is my home and I wish it were her's, under better circumstances. So we're back to the overflowing house again. *sigh of relief* Just the way I like it. I am so excited to have more people here that i dusted off the ol' aggravation board and am getting it ready for some late night marble tossin'! Wahoo.
April is doing her "training" this week for her new job. Funny that they are training someone who has worked there for the better part of a year! But that means we finally have health insurance for the entire family. I can finally have that growth on my neck removed, good thing too, it started talking to me and requesting Carl's Jr.
My job is going well and is all that's keeping us afloat right now. Because the govt. pays you for the two weeks previous to the current, we have to wait an entire month before the checks start coming in....that means a tightened belt and no Thai food for a while....oh well, mom can't eat it anyway. Who's bright idea was it to go on a diet before you go on a tropical vacation? Seriously, there's something amiss with that rationale. Hey, whatever tips your canoe.
Well, and this next news bit is just for Lynette, we are adding to our family! Yes, that's right we are adopting a new baby girl. We've decided to name her Sacha (pronounced Sasha). That's a Russian name for 'defender of mankind'. She is a black little baby with only trace amounts of white in her. We figured it would be good for us to show that we are more than just typical Haole's (that's Hawaiian for white mainlander). We have all the paperwork done for her and are almost done paying the bill. We will get to bring her home in May. Mom was really excited because it brings back memories of her own addition from a few years back. Sad that it ended so tragically. No one should ever have to part with a loved one like that. Life is so unfair and people drive way to fast on 2600 N. It'll be nice to have our own little adopted barker. Its been a long time since Abbi was that small.......so have I laid it on thick enough yet? Here's a picture of our new baby girl: http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk37/captain_axle/zoo/IMAGE_006.jpg

Ha ha, Poor Nyettie, I keep picking on you. Its out of love. You can repay the favor when you visit someday.

Back to normality

Well true to form its been a few weeks and time to update again. The biggest update I can think of is that April got her permanent position at Tripler and will be making a nice chunk more than before. Plus Government benefits for the family. I think I have already touched on this subject before so I am not going to delve into details. It just means that we will be here a few years longer or as long as we can hold out. The economy here isn't really suffering like it is everywhere else. There are help wanted signs all over the place. From big retail to construction and even private businesses there isn't as much decline here. Tourism is down and that hurts but overall, Hawaii, particularly O'ahu has a long way to fall before it even comes close to the mainland. So, with that in mind, and the fact that my electronics ventures are still keeping us well paid, we're going to stay. The uncles have voiced an overwhelming opinion that they want us to put down permanent roots here. For the life of me I can't figure out why, wait, I think I just did, we regularly take strawberry banana cream cheese pies to them.....who says love can't be bought. I'd like to take a second to pick out Uncle Bob. I seem to dote on Don a lot and this time it is Uncle Bob's turn. You all remember the dog bite incident right? If not, look through the archive and find it in July of last year. Turns out that when you take a little jaunt down to the E R, you have more than just one bill. You pay the Doctor, the Hospital, the Radiology people and whoever else sees fit to bill you for some obscure service. "sir, here's the floor mopping bill to cover the cost of the pinesol, and don't forget the tic tacs you ate while here, there's an outside food fee as well." In our case the big two were the hospital and the doctor bills. These two totalled more than $1200 and coincidentally were almost identical in amount. Bob had always insisted on paying the bill, there was never any question that he claimed responsibility for the accident even though it wasn't his dog to begin with. As time went by we gave him the bill for the HEPA, the doctors bill and he said he would promptly pay it. April covered the small radiology bill and we thought we were done. You know that feeling in your gut that you get when you think you've just done or accomplished something good, but there is that pit that naggs at you like you've forgotten something. Well, that about sums it up. We kept getting collection notices in the mail saying that we hadn't paid the bill. Finally I manned up and called the agency and the less than sociable lady on the other end insisted that it had already been turned over to an agency and that it wasn't paid even in part. I was astonished. I could hardly believe that Bob hadn't paid it. But how to bring up the subject. The man has cared for our family and gone out of his way to provide for us and here I am searching my wits for a way to bring up, 'hey unc, remember that bill I gave you, ". Now as most of you are thinking, "chad, you are a mooch, you'll figure it out" I did just that. I found a way to ask him about it without damaging the relationship were are trying so hard to foster. He later produced a copy of the cashed check and all the info that was submitted to pay the bill. With renewed confidence I puffed up my chest, thanked him graciously and proceeded to completely ignore the collections notices and hounding phone calls. I had won and had the evidence to prove that prude of a lady wrong ...... *cue the stomach pit*. The notices kept right on flowing, and the calls still woke me up at 3:00 AM. Months went by, without a break in the mail chain. Finally I figured I'd put a stop to all this nonsense and I called the collections agency lady back and let her have it. This was an argument I was determined to win. I held my head high because I had evidence to back up my claim and I told her I'd fax her the info and that I had proof it was paid and that she was a moron and that her parents were cousins. Funny how ironic life is sometimes. She immediately calmed down and said politely, "Mr Foley, look at the canceled check, what's the amount?" I examined the copy that Uncle Bob had furnished for me, "$604.32," I said snubly "The WHOLE thing, made out to Hawaiians Emergency Physician Association, you cant tell me I didn't pay the ENTIRE BILL, says right here you cashed it..." She stopped me. "Sir, this bill is for $631.73 and is for Castle Medical Emergency Facility..." "...." "....." I went cold.... utter defeat. "...." the phone was silent for what seemed hours even though it wasn't more than a couple of seconds. The pit had just grown like one of those preshrunk fabric toys you put in water and watch it turn from a cheaply imitated tiger shape to a beach towel. "Oh," was the best thing I could come up with. I had just fallen victim to her hail Mary play and whether I liked it or not, she was right. The two bills were entirely separate. "I'll look over my records and get back to you." I told the lady, with complete sincerity and manners she replied " You do that sir." As I pushed the button on the receiver and anticipated the subtle beep that corresponded to the phone disconnecting, horror set in. I had to tell Uncle Bob. The man had already shilled out almost $700 for us, Joanna had gone with us to the hospital that day and waited there for hours till April was released. They had done so much for us in the months that followed and reality was, we couldn't pay this bill. April hasn't started her new job yet and the credit bureaus had already come calling. I tried to tell April the best way I knew how. I sat her down and calmy and irrationally told her that she had to confront Uncle Bob again, almost 8 months later and ask him for another $600+. Now most of you know April, she doesn't do confontation, and she uses this knowledge as a tactic to get out of it. But I was determined that this was her leg and her uncle and that no matter how I was tied to the situation....yeah right..... she told me flat our that either I would make the effort or we would just scuttle the ship and go down right then and there. We are at the breaking point of making it or breaking it so with a complete lack of confidence I did what anyone else would do. I tucked my tail between my legs and tried to ignore the situation further. That was the end of January. February came and with absolutely no sense of reassurance, I knew that if we planned on paying bills, we were going to need help. Yesterday, Saturday the 28th, I quickly put the paperwork in the truck and headed over to Don's to spend the day in the wood shop with Bob. I don't really know how it finally came up but something to the tune of inspiring a "family is the most important thing in the world" conversation I told him the story I just related to you all. I told him about the collections notices and how I had tracked down the bills and what was paid. I showed him the paper work and began to profusly apologize for asking for more money especially as much as this. I let him know how hard it was for us to bring this up to him and that we had debated just dealing with it and hopeing that somehow the landlord wouldn't miss the $600 from the rent check. I conveyed our feelings of gratitude for everything he had done, and just when I thought I couldn't dig myself any deeper into a hole, he stepped back and groaned a little. He ran his hand over the top of his head and while examining the paperwork, said "stop by later and I'll take care of this". He and Don then left for homedepot while I spent another couple of hours working on my project. When they returned it was about 5:00 pm and Bob asked me to follow him back to his house. We we got there he asked me to wait and he went inside. Minutes later he emerged with a check book and wrote it out for the full amount. In a moment I will always remember, he looked me right in the eye and said candidly, "Don't ever hesistate to ask for help again, that kind of feeling should never happen with family, and we hope it never does again, you can always come to us with anything. We care about you guys and are really happy you're all here." Uncle Bob has always struck me as the more rigid and blunt of the two. But in that moment, I honestly felt like we were finally family and not an imposition on thier volcanic island. He topped it off with a bit of what I interpreted as humor and told me that this wasn't even a dent in his pocketbook. He smiled and gave me a hug and I thanked him and headed home. Mom's brothers are genuine as they come.

So, we are still alive, although you'd never know it

Due to laziness difficulties I won't be able to lavishly engross you on many details surrounding the Christmas season and the results thereof, but I will tell you that we had a full house and loved every minute. The fireworks tents (yes that's a plural) was a complete success, we made more money in one tent on the 31st than we had during the entire week in UT. These Hawaiians are CRAZY when it comes to flammables. There was guy down the street that put on a show with commercial tubes and electronics ignitions, ON HIS FRONT LAWN, that rivals any show I've ever seen in UT. We will be doing these tents again next year and are taking applications (from teenage and older family members) as we are going to need help. It is a week from Hell but it pays well and is a great way to cover the cost of your plane ticket, the rest of the time you stay here is just free vacation!! There are a good deal of pictures from Christmas and such, but since it is now February, I'll only post a few. Here's the news from our volcanic speck: We are expecting a new arrival!!!! Yep you heard it, well read it correct, in a few months we'll have another mouth to feed. We are looking forward to this bundle of joy, we've made preparations for HER, that's right another girl, made up a room and arrangements to keep the costs down. Now its just a matter of time till she gets here, we sure are looking forward to having MOM come!! HAHAHAH suckers, you fell for it!!! You rumorsome lot! Just to make sure everyone knows, I was talking about Mirjam not a baby. 'T'aint gonna be no mo' kids in this house!!Seriously though we are looking forward to having Mom come, Hannah asks everyday when Gramma Barker is coming. Also, speaking of mad cows, April and I are on an assisted diet. We have been since the end of January. I have lost 15 lbs so far and April has lost 9. April didn't want me to tell anyone, but I figured since Mom knows, you all know by now. What does 'assisted' mean, well if you call my biological Mother, she can tell you all about it. Jarrod, you can't call, the only way you're losing weight is if you lop off an appendage. Lets see, what else, April was called to the Relief Society Board, I am still the scoutmaster. I have a cousin coming to visit in a week. Jaren will be here till March 10, then the Myers are having family visit, followed by Mom's visit, so the calendar is filling up fast, if you all want to come out you'd better call soon and book your week(s). Uncle Don still needs his roof done, he tells me about it at random times. Speaking of Uncle Don, he and Brenda took us to the China Town New Years shebang, I've got lots of pictures of Hannah feeding the dragons and such, it was fun to see...once. The girls are growing up very fast, Abbi is in the stage where she will try to mimic words, its pretty funny. She does this very funny little question skit, when you ask where her nose is, she puts her finger on it, then you ask where her ears are and she points, then you ask where her mouth, eyes and hair are and she'll point them all out one at a time, but her favorite is her belly button, she lifts her shirt up and pokes her belly out and points and laughs and laughs. Usually its followed by a zubert, hence the voracious child laughter. I will try to get a video of it, someday. Well that's about all I can think of that would be of much interest to the lot of you. Feel free to call or post comments, that's how I know you haven't abandoned me due to my neglect of you.