Saturday, November 28, 2009
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)
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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.
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.
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