Hawaiian Weapons

For FHE we learned about Hawaiian weapons. Since
they didn't originally have any metal they used stones,
wood, shark's teeth and swordfish and marlin spears.
They took most of the consonants out of the
Hawaiian language. My coworkers were laughing at
me the other day claiming I was speaking pigeon
English. They said I said "da kind" instead of "the kind"
and I was totally unawares. You can tell I have
been living here for over a year now.

You think you get out of hanging up Christmas lights
when you go on a mission? Not at all. The only
difference is you do it in the rain instead of the snow.

Our Bishop Mahoni was helping that day at the PCC too.
By the way he carves some of those native weapons.
They are beautifully done and are sold at the ukulele store.  

One last farewell to Bill's office mate, Elder Riley.

Tongan Devotional at the PCC. There was dancing, singing,
talks given and food served.

They even threw money at the male dancers

Anniversary in Hawaii

Bill took me to Haleiwa Joe's to celebrate our 38th 
wedding anniversary. He ordered the whole fried fish.
If you look closely, you can see the spines on the back
of the fish. We sat outside overlooking the harbor
and it was lovely.

This is Winston Lee from the Philippines. He served a mission
in the San Fernando Valley. He is one of the many students that I have
helped with his MBTI Personality Assessment and a career
report. We are the same personality type and I told him he is in good
company, as it is the most common type.

Our reward for our latest North Shore bike adventure was a stop at
Bonzai Bowls at Sunset Beach. It was the best acai bowl so far.
I am morning the loss of the calm waters on the North Shore for snorkeling.
However,  the upside is we can watch the big wave surf
competition with the higher winter surf.

Elder and Sister Riley are leaving to go home. Bill has
served with Elder Riley in the construction dept. 

They don't let you go quietly around here. When you leave your mision
you have to give a talk and all the missionaries sing an Hawaiian song to you,
Aloha Noi..

Aiea Park Loop Trail

Twenty two of us set out on this 5 mile loop.

The trail wasn't difficult and went along a ridge.

Most of it was shady and not too hot.

This was one of the views overlooking Pearl Harbor.

The trail was surrounded by fern-covered slopes and
a variety of trees.

Some trees were Eucalyptus.

A great view looking back at the freeway we took to
get to the hike, H-3.

Some of the group; Leslie Lewis, the Farnsworths, Elders
Croft and Heaps.

Some of the lush vegetation.

Elder Jones, "Don't let the mission president see
this photo!"

Some interesting tree roots.

This was the pay-off view.

You can see Diamond Head and Waikiki to the right
of Bill's hat.

To cap off the morning, cowboy poetry from
Elder Walley.

ALOHA MICHAEL, CATHERINE AND SCOTTY

The weather was windy, but we were grateful it wasn't too hot.

                                                            

                                   

Scotty loved the beach and grandma loved holding Scotty.

The Lighthouse Hike with it's amazing views was nice and cool.

                                     

Pearl Harbor was interesting and going out to the Arizona
was sobering.

Black tears as they are so called from the constant oil seepage.

One of the highlights for Bill and Catherine was going inside the Bowfin.

It is a WWII submarine. Karen and Michael stayed in the car
with Scotty.

Tight quarters for the 70 sailors.

Occasionally we are rewarded with rainbows on our morning walks.

You can see who got the most attention among my office peeps.

Love these students.  The girls especially went crazy over Scotty.
Many of them spoke to him in their native tongues and were convinced he
understood Chinese, Korean, and Mongolian. 

Some of my "adopted daughters" from Mongolia and Korea.

Best place to see the PCC canoe dances is the porch on the
Plantation Settlement House.

Where to go to watch the sunset? 

Sunset Beach of course.

What parents won't do for..

that one  magical shot.

Surrounded by God's beauty.

Needless to say, we were worn out by the week's end,
but were so grateful for family time together in this
beautiful part of the world.

Michael and Catherine and Baby Scott Visit

First stop? Haleiwa's Chow Truck for Coconut Shrimp and Poke Bowls. 

Scotty's first real food was Matsumoto's Shave Ice.

Matsumoto's 

Do you think that Scotty has the "Garff Eyebrows?"

Three Tables, one of our favorite snorkeling places.

Scotty is such a fun age. 

So glad they came to see us!

Beach Baby

We like this beach because there is lots of shade.

Another favorite snorkeling spot, Shark's Cove.

This is BBQ Tongan style. Our next door neighbors stored the pig in a barrel along the side of their house, slaughtered it and put it on this rotisserie they fashioned out of a pipe. It was cooked over an emu.