And Christmas Comes

Merry Christmas (Mele Kalikimaka) to everyone. It was a beautiful Christmas day today and it has been a wonderful week. We started the week with a Family Home Evening out at the Gun Stock Ranch for a pot luck dinner and the kids acting out a live nativity scene while the Bishop read the Christmas story and the rest of us sang Christmas Carols. Brandon is behind the mule standing by the yellow box - he is the Inn Keeper (sorry for the blurry photo but it was a bit dark). They had live animals and it was really a fun evening.

We have adjusted to the climate because Linda was chilled during the show and put her hoodie on. When she asked me what the temperature was, I looked at my phone and it was clear down to 72 degrees ... welcome to Hawaii!!!

Then on Tuesday evening, the youth came by our house caroling and they sounded wonderful. They had a couple of them playing the ukulele and using bells and it was great.

Brandon and Cory were later playing their instruments together and I was able to record this rendition of Scotland the Brave. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

We also established a new tradition for Christmas Eve.  We went to the Hukilau Beach (after opening a Christmas present early - boogie boards!) and were able to catch a few waves. Being our first time, we did pretty good. We only face planted on the bottom (under the waves) a few times and actually caught quite a few waves that we rode in to the shore. Lots of fun, good waves, but a little windy so it was a bit chilly getting out of the water.

This is how a snow (sand) man is built in Hawaii, complete with hula skirt and lei.

Christmas Day was great. We got up and opened our presents. Brandon was excited about his bag Brenda sewed him with a violin on it and immediately rounded up his violin books to put in it. He was also excited about the new lego pickup truck, trailer, and four-wheeler (which we spent the rest of the day building).

I was very excited about the new ukulele that Linda gave me...got to get some lessons now!!!

Cory was happy...he got food - jerky and candy!!!  It doesn't get much better than that! He also got some boring clothes and a few other things.

Mom just had fun handing out presents and enjoying her boys!

 Brandon liked his truck gift his cousin Emma made for him.

It was a great day and we loved going to church and hearing the choir sing the beautiful songs of Christmas. The closing song was Silent Night but it was done a little different. They had all the Japanese speakers sing it in Japanese, followed by the Tahitians in French, the New Zelanders in Moari, the Samoans in Samoan, and then we all sang it in Hawaiian and English. It was really neat. It really brought the Spirit of Christ into the day.

After church, we were able to Skype with Chris and Malley, and then with Skyler and Kellie and watch the grandkids open the presents we had sent them. They were so cute. It was really fun.

We also had a young couple, the Tablers, come over for Christmas dinner and some games with the family. It was a great day and we really enjoyed it.

We hope you all had a great Christmas today and pary that the Spirit of the Savior and His infinite atonement will bless your homes in the coming year.

One week to Christmas

Another exciting week on the island. Cory arrived Thursday evening after travelling for 22 hours (drive from Rexburg to Idaho Falls, fly to SLC, fly to Seattle, fly to Honolulu, drive to Laie). We are excited he is here but it was a long trip for him with all the layovers at the airports. To celebrate his arrival, his birthday, Brandon's birthday, and anything else we could think of, we took him to breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe.

Cory had the ham and eggs with potatos and gravy.

Linda and Brandon had pancakes.

 And I had the eggs with potatos, sausage, and SPAM with pancakes.  Welcome to Hawaii Cory!











On Saturday was graduation and Elder Jeffrey Holland from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke at the graduation. He then came over for the groundbreaking for 9 new buildings on the campus. One is a large multi-purpose building that will host the College of Business and IT downstairs and the Student 3rd Stake upstairs. It is really needed.

 There will also be two new married student housing buildings with 24 more apartments and 7 new dormitories over the next couple years. The university is doubling in size.











 After the ground breaking ceremony, we took a hike a couple miles to a place where the scouts camp on occasion and they had tied up a swing in the trees. We all took our turn on the swing and had a good time.






Brandon was a little tentative, but Linda set the stage and Cory and I gave it a good go. Brandon enjoyed watching us and laughing.

We had a great view of the ocean and Laie from the hike. You notice that I hiked in my slippers (flip-flops) so it wasn't too strenuous but a good time none the less.


We also made it all official this week...the car now has a rainbow on the license plate!

Another interesting week

Aloha from Hawaii...We went to the Polynesian Culture Center (PCC) with Brandon last Saturday and had a lot of fun seeing the various villages and performances around but, I forgot to take the camera so I took some pictures using my phone until the battery died. The bad thing about that was this...we went to the Samoan village for their last show of the day (it was our second time seeing the show that day because it was the one Brandon enjoyed the most) and as we sat down, I looked over and there was a small group of PCC guides standing together by someone. I looked and turned to Linda and said, "that is Stevie Wonder" and sure enough it was. He was there with a Samoan dancer experiencing the show through his hands (for those who don't know who he is, go to You Tube and look him up - he is a blind entertainer). Unfortunately, my phone was dead by then so we didn't get any pictures, but here are some we did get.

 This is the canoe pageant beginning with the Hawaiian Royalty.

 Fiji and New Zeland.

 Fiji and Samoa.

Colorado and somewhere else?!!!

We also had our ward Christmas party this week and it was a lot of fun. They had a talent show and all the auxiliaries had to perform. Brandon played Silent Night on his violin.

 Santa was having fun.

Notice the bare feet under the boot covers!!!  Only in Hawaii!!! 

Brandon was a little unhappy that his bell didn't work and had a little chat with Santa.  Fortunately, Santa had an extra and replaced it with one that worked.

We also went out to the beach Saturday to see some of the surfing competition. The waves were pretty big (we were calculating they were about 20 foot waves) and the surfers were having a good time. (We were too late to catch any of the competition but maybe next week).  We could watch some surfers through the binoculars so we could see them pretty good but I couldn't get very good pictures - maybe you can get an idea from these.

 I took this picture through the binoculars.

These are kites some surfers use to pull themselves across the water. It's pretty amazing to watch them.

To round out the week, we were invited to a "meet the candidate" lunch and got to meet with Matt Romney. He spoke of his dad and told some stories about the family and shared with us some of the things that his dad will do if he gets in office and allowed us to ask questions. It was an interesting lunch.

We also went to a BYU-H Seasiders basketball game this week which they lost, but it was still fun watching the game.

Mele Kalikimaka

It's Christmas time in Hawaii!!!  This week Brandon had his school program at the Cannon Activities Center on the campus. It's a pretty big deal here. There were probably close to 3000 people in attendance. Each class did a song and dance followed by the grand finale, the lighting of the Christmas lights on campus, and of course, a visit from Santa.

Brandon after his program.

 The campus Christmas tree.

In front of the McKay building following the lighting ceremony.

The next day, the grade school did their fundraiser "walk-a-thon" and Brandon ran (not walked) 30 laps followed by a piece of pizza!!!

Here is Brandon pointing at the door to his classroom.

We also finished our unpacking and hung the Christmas lights on our house. We're are starting to feel more settled and ready for Christmas.

We also thought we would add a picture of our neighbor's house. They decorate all their trees with these huge ornaments so every tree in their yard is a Christmas tree (except for the banana trees).

We also had a wonderful visit from some friends from Colorado Springs, Kent and Jen Carlson. It was fun to visit with them and catch up on what is going on back in Colorado...thanks for the visit!!!

So, Mele Kalikimaka to everyone. Hope your having a great Christmas season.

We're getting settled in Hawaii

Well, we are finally getting settled here in Hawaii just in time for Christmas. It was a bit unusual this morning decorating our tree in shorts and a T-shirt. It's been a long time since we lived in a place where it isn't cold in the winter (the last 19 years in Colorado).

We have been here for a month now. We went to the beach the first weekend and Brandon had a blast. He played in the sand and jumped in the waves (or on at least one occasion, the waves jumped him!!!). He loves the beach.

We live across from the stake center and another chapel and a block from the temple.  There are beautiful sunsets of the temple. I walk past it each morning and each evening as I go to and from work.

We also took a hike up the "mountain" behind our home on a path that leads to Laie Falls. We were told it was a short mile and a half hike to the falls so we left one afternoon to take a little break. Two hours later, we were still not at the falls and come to find out from our friends looking at the pictures I took, we were only about half way there. We turned around and came back because we only had about two hours left until it got dark. We made it safely but we'll have to go back another day and leave early in the morning in order to get to the falls.

Our mountains are a bit different. They have have flowers in the trees along with coconuts (watch out for the brown ones, they could fall at any second!!!!) and lots of ground cover. Then you turn around and look down from the mountain and you see the ocean. It is a beautiful site. They have told us the mountains are about 2000 feet tall. Different from Colorado but just as beautiful.