December is Here...Already?

 The month of November flew by very quickly for us.  We got back from our trip to the mainland and realized that we had less than 3 weeks left with Bethany, Cammon and Cortlynn, so we took advantage of every moment before they returned to the mainland.




We visted the Waikiki aquarium, where we got to see lots of fishes and this lovely monk seal.  They are a protected species and are hard to see in the wild, but Bethany got to see one on the beach about a mile from the house.  Lucky her!

   

Lucky Cammon too! He won a Nook at the Wahiawa Haunted Botanical Gardens.

 

 

  

Halloween was a lot of fun this year.  In addition to the haunted gardens, we went to parties, carved pumpkins, and went trick-or-treating. 

 

We got to go back to the Bishop Museum for the much-anticipated Lego exhibit.

 

 

The great home-school group that Bethany found here went to Kualoa Ranch. 

 

We got to visit a native village and learn about traditional Hawaiian games, plants, food, and houses.

 

We also got a fantastic view of Chinaman's Hat.

 

We made sure to get in one last vist to the North Shore shrimp trucks.Look at those "shaka" hands!

 

And, we took every chance we could get to have some famous North Shore shave ice.

 

We visited the Laie LDS temple and visitor center.

 

Getting lemonade from these girls on the corner of our street is always fun. They make the best lemonade ever, and treat their customers well.

 

Bethany got hooked on - and good at - stand-up paddleboarding.  The ocean has been a great adventure for all of us.

 

 

Dash the cat got quite used to Cortlynn. 

 

Grandpa and Cammon went on an awesome hike on a steep trail.

 

In the early morning when Grandpa left for work, the children would go to the window, chant "good-bye Grandpa" and wave and blow kisses.  He really misses his send-off.

 

 

We really miss having our fence look like this.

 

We had such a wonderful time having these wonderful people here with us.  It went all too fast, and

 

much too soon we had to say goodbye.  But, we are glad that they will have time in Texas with their other grandparents.  And, we are glad that soon they will be saying hello to their wonderful Daddy, who will be home soon from Afghanistan.

 

Sooooo......

What do we do now?

 

Well....

We took a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii so we could see the Kilauea volcano.  It was awesome.

 

And mesmerizing, especially at night.

 

 

Standing next to a stem vent was like feeling the earth breathe.  It was fascinating.

 

On this trip we also went to Mauna Kea, home of a wonderful observatory.  No good pictures of this because we went at night.  The stars were incredibly bright, and very beautful.

 

This year, the Thanksgiving turkey left a beautiful stand-up paddle board for Sarah.  She is delighted and had a great day on the water!

 

As we begin the Advent season, we are truly grateful for our family, wherever on the globe they might be.  We love our children, and are delighted to be grandparents.  We are grateful Stephen has been safe in Afghanistan, and grateful to him and thousands like him who sacrifice on behalf of their country.  We are grateful for the wonderful world we live in, for the beautiful ocean, and for blessings too numerous to count.  May you all have a blessed, joyful holiday season.

 

 

ALOHA

and

Mele Kalikimaka

 



There and Back Again

You might have noticed another gap in entries.  It is because we were on the mainland. 

Salt Lake LDS Temple

 

We went to Salt Lake City Utah for our annual visit to the LDS General Conference and Chaplain's Seminar.  Each year Layden needs to attend - it is his annual endorser's conference.  Each Chaplain, in addition to being rated and accepted by the Army,  must be endorsed by their sponsoring religious organization.   We look forward to this all year.  It is a chance to meet with Chaplain's in our own faith group, get relevant and timely training on issues that we as Chaplain's and spouses deal with, and to be able to attend LDS General Conference in person. 

 

This conference center seats 21,200 people, who come from all over the world to attend.  We are glad to get good seats.  One of the best things is getting to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir live.

 

We got to eat at the Blue Lemon Cafe at City Creek with Doris and Tab.

 

 

Layden received a particular honor this year when he was asked to officiate at the wedding of Sarah Brown, daughter of my college roommate Susan.  It was a lovely ceremony, and since it was outdoors we were all glad that the weather was warm and clear

 

Next, a trip to 

 

   From these pictures it is very clear that we are NOT in Hawaii -            so much space.  So little traffic. So much speed.

 

We got to visit Theresa, Layden's mother.  She made us a marvelous Italian dinner - brigiole, one of Layden's favorites.

 

And we got to visit Layden's brother and his family, which is alwyas a treat.  They live in a charming older neighborhood with a wonderful yard and big trees.

Of course, big trees often mean big squirrels.  This one made a great feast of the pumpkins on the porch.



Zane and Heather always manage to come up with something interesting when we visit.  This time it was the Idaho Ice Cream Potato, which really did look like a potato and which also happened to be quite delicious.  What a fun treat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back to

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

we found this very odd and rather fun gas station and store.  It featured alpacas, and we loved the sign in the restroom that was a stand-in for the mirror.

 

We drove all the way to southern Utah, enjoying sights along the way. 

 

One of them was "Y" Mountain.  We saw this at night as we passed through Provo, all lit up for BYU Homecoming.  This big block letter, 380 feet high,  is on the hillside above BYU campus.  When Layden and I attended, the Y was made out of rocks and rubble.  Every fall, there would be a day designated as "Y Day" and students would participate in campus clean-up projects, and in whitewashing the Y.  The Y used to be lit with flame pots, but in 1985, due mostly to fire hazard, the pots were replaced with electric lights.

 



                                   

A better daylight picture.

 

After living on an island it was really amazing to see such vast amounts of open land. 

 

 



Yes - it really is a big boat behind a truck.  Hard to get the shot through the window, but there it was.  Odd to see a boat in the middle of high desert, but it is not uncommon.  There are quite a few lakes and reservoirs which are popular, not to mention Lake Powell recreation area.

 

 

We stopped in Richfield, where Layden's grandmother lived and where she is buried

 

and got the chance to catch up with Layden's Uncle Rusty.  He now lives in the family home, an old early 1900's brick farm house on a lovely piece of land at the edge of the city.

From Richfield we drove to Hurricane, where JenniLynne and her family live.

 

Dinner in St. George - us with Jenni, Travis and baby Diesel.

 

Grandpa gets acquainted with Diesel, our newest grandson, born in May.

 

We also got the chance to see Marin.  Ansd Joshua too, but he managed to evade any pictures.

 

We stayed with friends in St. George (next to Hurricane) with Layden's mentor and former professor, R. Wayne Pace, adn his wife Gae.  They avoided pictures too. but the landscape stood still.  It is such a dramatic landscape, full of colors

 

and strange shapes.  The evidence of water, now long gone, is still here.  It is such a contrast to the beach and the ocean, yet equally as arid and as compelling.

 

We saw some of this landscape on the way to Veyo, up the canyon from St. George. Veyo's claim to fame is that it is nestled amid conder cones and dormant (very) volcanoes.  Also, it has an awesome warm springs swimming pool.

 

And, a great pie shop

If you buy this ranch (a very nice piece of property) you get free pies for a year.  They are good pies - we were tempted.

 

 

We had a great trip - seems like we were gone a lot longer than 16 days. 

 

 

ALOHA