Our Best Christmas Present

Our best Christmas present for 2017 arrived Christmas afternoon.
We met Steven, April and kids at the McDonalds near the airport,
 since that was one of the few restaurants opened.

Our first day of exploring took us to Kawela
Bay. All the kids loved climbing the
massive banyan tree.

That's high enough William!

Pillbox "Zen" at Kawela Bay.

Walking out on the coral at the pillbox.

Our friend Alma (from our Ward) is one of the student
 Fijian dancers at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

We so enjoyed Pearl Harbor, especially
the Battleship Missouri and the
 Bowfin Submarine.

We had to take this  pic in front of the Missouri. It is the
copy of the same statue we saw in Normandy, France.

I am guessing that my father may have worked on building
this Douglas airplane during WWII. He worked for Hughes
and Douglas in Santa Monica, Ohio  and Pennsylvania
   during the war. The plane is the Douglas Dauntless and
was known as the "Hero of Midway" for sinking 4
Japanese carriers during Midway.  

We did finally make it on the Arizona Memorial.
It was so crowded even when we arrived at 7am,
we were lucky to get 3 pm tickets. Fortunately,
April had purchased "GO Oahu" cards for
the trip that included admission to all the
other Pearl Harbor sights while we waited.

We had to hit Seven Brother's Kahuku for their
famous coconut macadamia shrimp.

And of course Matsumoto's for shave ice.

Our "Go Oahu" card included a 2 hour sail on the Makani
Catamaran in the Honolulu Harbor.

We saw this turtle and also some whales.

Mele Kalikimaka and Out with the Old and in with the New

We went on the Hauula Loop Trail again with a few of
our "closest friends." At the end of the hike we saw
some amazing graffiti.

We had over 30 missionaries on the hike.

We filled up the narrow, muddy trails.

We had to cross some slippery streams.

Santa was among the amazing graffiti. 

And of course we had to visit Santa and the Mrs. at the
Hukilau Marketplace with our friends the Seilers. 

Bill finally got 4 of the 6 permits for the duplexes they
are building, so here they are tearing out one of the old houses.
Gratefully, it's out with the old and in with the new for 2018.

Another Graduation

It was lucky for us that my cousin Hilma Bellessa and her hubby
had a layover in Honolulu on her way home from serving in
Mindoro, Philippines. It was so great to meet them and hear
all about their mission over dinner.

This was the magical  sunrise on one of our morning walks.

Here we are celebrating the crew that hung the Christmas lights
The Hukilau Marketplace. Colleen Williams, Kathy Himle,
Kathy Stott, Spring Seiler, me, Nancy Waterfall, and  Earlene Swasey

Graduation was fun with one of our student workers in
our office, Ryan, from Hong Kong. Elder Rasband spoke and he called on
Donny Osmond to say a few words. Donny  was there for his
daughter-in-laws's graduation.

Jamie from our office needs more leis. She is from Tonga.

Yuri from Japan, another office worker.

Bill and I with  our Mission President Becker and his wife.

Lilikoi Junction

Karla and Clyde Robins took us on a fun hike
for our P-day. We only got lost twice.

We started in a neighborhood in Pupukea above Shark's Cove.

Looking up we don't quite know how this happened...

but perhaps George met the same fate.

Someone had even decorated this palm tree. This trail was
full of mountain bikers and we have vowed to bring our
bikes next time.

The scenery was beautiful with great views. We ended up at
the Sunset Beach Pillbox Trailhead. We had left a car there.

Our Christmas Open House with the BYU-H missionaries.
Sister Perkins (in the yellow) will be returning to Orem soon.

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas (Well, Sort of)

We attended the lighting ceremony for the BYUH campus and
it was very crowded.

This is the best pic of the tree, but not
the best one of Elder Garff.

This is the Aotearoa Devotional. It includes the
 islands of New Zealand, or the Maori people.
The carvings represent their various tribes
 which go back hundreds of years.
 The students all seemed to know  the tribe they
descended from and they told us about it as
they stood beneath their family carving.

The entire group. The couple in the front are senior
missionaries serving at the PCC. 

The haka can be very intimidating to unwelcome visitors. The
young man on the right of center with his tongue out is Sam
from our Ward. We had to speak on dating at our sacrament
meeting last week. There are many more young women
than men here so it is a challenge.

After the devotional we rode to the North Shore where this
was happening; the Vans World Cup. We were glad we
rode our bikes since the traffic was horrible.

There was quite the crowd on Sunset Beach watching the event.

The waves weren't enormous, but the surfers are judged on their
maneuvers and they have a time restraint to perform. They
have to catch the right wave in the allotted time.

Lots of wave runners and  lifeguard support.

Thanksgiving or Grandma's House Hawaiian Style

This is how our Ward sets up "Grandma's House" for
the Thanksgiving feast.

Jema on my left and girls were in charge of
the fun activities.

Sister Bishop (Mahoni) was thrilled to
see my jello salad arrive. 

Bill and I and Sister Dunham from our Ward.

Daniel Joseph Aaron Moricancumer
 Ravia scored a drumstick.

The pie fight was a hit,

Friday  after Thanksgiving we had a rather muddy
but pretty hike on the Hauula Loop Trail.

There was a great view of Laie Point.

Saturday was game day. Here we are at the BYU Tailgate
party with Carrie and Randy Smith, volunteers from our office.

Bill was under duress with this photo with Cosmo.

Here we are  sitting with some of the missionaries. glad
to be out of the rain in the nosebleed section.

They don't call the University of Hawaii the Rainbow
warriors for nothing. Though BYU had a dismal season, they
did beat the Warriors 30 to 20.