Mom and Dad Visit to Hawaii - Day 1

Welcome to Hawaii!!!


Mom and Dad arrived in Hawaii at 11:06pm on the 22nd. We got their luggage and headed to our house. We got home just before 1:00am (4am St George time) and they went to sleep and we all slept until about 8:00am this morning.










Then we got up and had a breakfast of macadamia nut and pineapple pancakes with coconut or passion fruit syrup and eggs. Delicious.





Brandon took Mom and Dad outside our house and took a picture by the banana tree (notice the bunch of bananas in the upper right hand corner of the picture).


Then he took a picture in the front yard.





Then we packed up and headed out on an adventure.  We drove up to Laie Point and took a few pictures. We read about the legend of the great lizard destroying the land and the warrior that killed it and threw it's pieces into the ocean, thus accounting for the little islands off Laie Point.





There was also a group of people sitting and watching for the whales to pass by.













 This is looking off the other side of the point. If you look closely, you can see all the fishing poles in the distance where the people are fishing for dinner tonight.







Then we headed for Sunset Beach. It is a bit windy today so Mom and Dad were worried about their hair in the pictures but I told them it's always like this so don't worry.










Here at Sunset we were able to watch some surfers catching some waves.

We headed over to Turtle Beach where we got to watch some green sea turtles playing and feeding in the water. One of them came up on the beach to sunbathe for a while.




























After that, we headed over to the Dole Pineapple Plantation for lunch.

We got to learn about the process of planting the plants and then harvesting the fruit. There are 28,000 plants on an acre and they each produce up to 3 pineapples over their 5 year life. Here we got to see some of them at various stages of the growing process.

This one should be ready to harvest in the next few months.









Then we got to enjoy some delicious pineapple ice cream!

 These are eucalyptus trees. When the bark peels off, they turn various colors of green, red, and purple.


Mom also liked the pine trees over here that you can see growing with the eucalyptus trees.

These are some red tea leaf plants. There was a pretty green lizard on one of them next to the flower.
























Then we stopped by the koi fish pond and watched them as people threw fish food in. They acted like they had never had food before!






Later tonight, we will attend the Broadway Musical version of the play Little Women that is being presented by the Fine Arts Department at BYU-Hawaii. Stay tuned...

Mele Kalikimaka 2012

So to keep with our new tradition that we started last year with Cory, we went to the beach on Christmas Eve! I broke out the boogie board and caught a few waves while Linda and Brandon played in the sand. It was a little cold because it was overcast so they didn't get in the water. Cold here is the low 70s - that's when we break out the hoodies with our shorts and slippahs (flip flops).







The next adventure will be learning to surf.  Not sure about that yet but we will see what happens.









Brandon's school also participated in the BYU-Hawaii Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. It is tradition for the school to do their Christmas program in the Cannon Activity Center on campus followed by the arrival of Santa and the lighting of the tree and lights on campus. This year his class sang a song about snowmen so they were all dressed up like snowmen...it's the closest thing we will get to snow here!!!

Brandon was also part of two violin concerts this month. His teacher and her students performed for a group at an assisted living center. They each played a number and then a Christmas carol. At the end, they played a group number in parts. It was the Carol of the Bells. They did a great job.

Brandon has also been helping the teacher that teaches violin after school. They played at a community concert with the Ko'olauloa Children's Choir. Brandon played the harmony for them. They did a good job.

At our ward party this year, we had a visit from Hawaiian Santa in his little hut. It was a lot of fun. He handed out treats to the kids and we all had a fun visit.


We had a visit from our landlords the other day and they told us that their daughter was buying the house we live in and we would have to move. There is no rush but the school is looking for a new home for us.







Since we will be moving from our current house, we were eyeing Hawaiian Santa's hut as a possible new home!!!







It is always great here to see the sky and the beauty it brings. While I was walking to work the other day, as I walked by the temple, I looked above it and there was a beautiful rainbow shooting up into a clear blue sky. I took this picture but it doesn't really do it justice

We also took a trip to town (Honolulu) and went and visited the Sheraton Hotel where they had these two sand carvings. It is amazing what they can do with sand. Sad thing is it all goes away when they build the next  displays and the artist has nothing to show for it but pictures.



This one is Santa and his Hawaiian elves.

This one shows the family opening their presents on Christmas day.













This shows you the size of the sand carvings as Linda and Brandon are standing right next to them.

The most exciting news of the month was the birth of our first granddaughter. Chris and Malley were hoping for a 12/12/12 baby. They went to the hospital that morning but the baby was born early in the morning of 12/13/12. Brandon was hoping for a birthday baby but we figured it was still 12/12/12 in Hawaii so she was still a present for Brandon on his birthday.







Juliette Christina Black was born at 1:11am on 12/13/12. She was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 21 inches long.












Brandon also turned 11 this year and moved from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. He had his crossing over ceremony and received some new scout equipment for Christmas.






Here are some of  his friends that welcomed him into the troop. He is excited to start working to become an Eagle Scout like all three of his brothers.










Here are the lights in the neighbors yard and palm tree. The pictures don't do justice but the lights are really nice.










This is our house. You can't see our palm tree too well but it is lit up on the right side.  It is always fun to see the lights and then the families gathered outside their house having a dinner party for the whole family. Christmas is about families and it is especially so here.







We also had the opportunity to go to the Temple Visitor Center on the Sunday before Christmas and listen to Michael Ballam and his family perform and tell about the history of many of the Christmas Carols.  It was a lot of fun and it was really inspiring and enjoyable.

And we can't leave the Christmas season without showing everyone the flower arrangement Linda put together for us to enjoy during the Christmas season. It is beautiful. She is such an artist. She will be taking a couple of classes next semester here at BYU-Hawaii.




We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.