Kaamooloa Road Thanksgiving

This was the third year we've had a "block" Thanksgiving on Kaamooloa Road. The weather was perfect, tradewinds, no rain and sunny. The day was a fllurry of activity; using each others ovens, borrowing needed ingredients, the girls making cupcakes...

Christine's beautiful table settings

Some of the 40+ guest arriving

The kids went first. We had 3 turkeys, 1 turkey breast, 2 hams, 6 pounds of cranberry sauce, garlic potatos, kamaboku, soup,yams, creamed corn, green salad and more and more and more... Too many desserts to even count.

This made all the work worth it! I just realized, this is almost everything that I made, orange rolls, cranberry sauce, creamed corn and yams. Yum!

Hope your Thanksgiving was as nice as ours was.

Happy Thanksgiving from Waialua

Hula Pilgrim
Yum~ cooked in this...

Sunset on Thanksgiving Eve

Happy Thanksgiving and Aloha from Waialua, Hawaii

hana hou TWILIGHT

translation: do it again, repeat or 1 more time ~TWILIGHT

Last I got to see TWILIGHT again! There were some gals from church that wanted to see it for the first time, so we decided to go to dinner and then the movie. Two of them had read the books and the other two hadn't, so they only sort-of knew the story.

At dinner, we said something to our waiter about going to see it. He said he'd already seen it three times! My kind of guy. We gave just a general story line to the two who hadn't read the books, so they would have some idea what was going on (I realized you don't really have to have read the books to enjoy the movie). We were so excited, could hardly wait to get inside.

This was a Tuesday night, 7:20 pm and there were a lot of people (mostly girls, a mix of ages) some guys, I was surprised just how many people were there.

Funny, since I've already seen it once, I picked up on some different things. Did you see Stephenie Meyer? I probably loved it even more the second time and might even see it again.

Afterwards we stood around outside and talked about the movie along with several other groups. We all decided that we can't wait for the second movie. Now when will that be?

Funny Thought...

Today at church, I saw the funniest thing. What really made me laugh was that I'd seen Jack do the exact same thing a few weeks ago.

During church, when the Sacrament was being passed to Jack, instead of sipping the water~ he put the whole cup into his mouth! He really didn't panic, just had a funny look on his face. Since he was sucking the water out, it held it in. It took Traci to dislodge it, trying not to laugh.

Today at church I saw a little boy about the same age, do the EXACT same thing! The parents also didn't panic, but they actually laughed. Since they had several boys, they were probably used to it. Hubby and I can't remember Geoff ever doing that.

Jack, Oh, Jack...you're such a funny guy! Just the thought of you makes me laugh.

In Hawaii...

In Hawaii when it's like this...

We still do this...

And complain that at 70 it feels cold!

I Couldn't Wait

I just couldn't do it...wait. I'd thought about going to the 12:01am show since hubby is off island, but I had to work at the school today, I nixed that idea. Plus driving back from Mililani at 2am just didn't sound like something I wanted to do.

Anyway, as soon as I left school I headed up there. I loved it!!! It stayed pretty true to the book (which is good). It really was Edward and Bella, just as so many of us had pictured them. Hummm, Jacob~

Sorry my RS sisters, I'll still go with you, but I couldn't help it. I just couldn't wait.

Soul Surfer

Last night there was a showing of the movie "Heart Of A Soul Surfer" at the WCA. This is the story of Bethany Hamilton, the young girl from Kauai that was the victim of a shark attack several years ago.

Several of my neighbors and I all sat together. All of the little girls were enthralled by the movie and her answers to questions afterwards. It really is amazing that she survived the inital attack, the paddle back to shore, let alone a very, very short time was back in the water trying to surf.

She's 18 now and still competing in surf contest and trying to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life, but what 18 year old isn't?

The Chief & his tattoos

We were invited by a friend of ours to his final tattoo ritual. John has become a chief through his family in Samoa, so because of this, he went through the ritual Samoan tattooing. Tonight was the final step in this whole process. These tattoos are full of tradition and meaning. It was so interesting, from the use of egg, where all life comes from, to the dancing and gifts that were given to the tattoo artist and his assistants.

the traditional Samoan tattoos on men start just below the knee and go up the torso

John's group, this group also had three women who went through the process.



John dancing. You can see the tattoo around his belly-button...that's the final one done

one of the fine woven mats presented as a gift. So beautiful, almost like cloth

you can see a lot of John's tattoo here.

the Chief

Thank you so much John and Trisha for inviting us...we had a great time.

Waialua Sunflowers

for the last few years, about this time of year the fields in Waialua become a breathtaking color of yellow. After everyone had told me that the sunflowers were in bloom, I just had to take some pics. On my way home from town as I came over the hill, the sea of yellow greeted me. It really is amazing. There are always cars pulled off to the side to take pics of these short-lived beauties.

looking towards Kaena Point and Waialua

just a sea of yellow, with the blue sea in the background

I actually went into the field because the gate was open. While I was sitting there a lady came walking out of the plants (think "Field of Dreams'). She explained to me that these sunflowers are grown by a seed company in CA to sell. As I stood there looking at them, I realized EVERY plant was the same height, the same color, the flowers were the same, just like carbon copies. She said that this is very important that they look like that, then the company can actually say "this is what these plants/flowers will look like". She told me that the climate here in Waialua is perfect for growing these plants. She expalined that before they get too mature they harvest them, so it's a short growing season.

I'd always wondered about them. We have to appreciate their short lived beauty. Such a contract to all that red dirt and green hills!

crazy song

Geoff At Sunset

Geoff sent me an e-mail yesterday and said they were going to surf at Sunset. I decided I'd brave the traffic and try to watch him. I had my binoculars so I found him with some ease. After watching two waves, I decided I couldn't take it anymore, my heart was racing, stomach jittery and left. This wave wasn't as big as some, but still...he's 6 feet... so you get an idea of the size.

The haze is actually the mist from the water, it's salt water in the air because of the size of the waves, yesterday there wasn't a breeze, so it hung there.

Glad I got to see him surf on a wave by himself, it was thrilling to say the least. He's always said Sunset was his favorite spot, now I know why.

Dinner With The Boys

Tonight Geoff and some of the guys from his team came for dinner. It was fun sitting outside with the tiki torches, full moon, no rain, and warm air. I'd made my country style ribs in the crockpot, hapa rice, coleslaw, Paalakai Bakery rolls, and Chantilly cake from Teds. Ed, Laura and the kids came and brought some yummy squid luau, so good. Even Kamalei said it was the best, and he doesn't really like it.

It was really nice to spend some time with Geoff. Everyone (except Terry & I) had out their iphones showing the really cool things they do.

thanks guys for coming over, we loved having you!

Only In Hawaii, vol V

A car wash to support some local group happens every week at the community center
Red dirt, pineapple plants and Kolekole Pass in the background
Mc Donalds looks like the "Enchanted Tiki Room" at D'land
flowers for sale on the side of the road.

So lucky we live Hawaii!

Geoff At Ali'i

Today hubby & I got to go to see Geoff surf here. He came down to Ali'i Beach Park in Haleiwa to talk to the contest people about one of his riders. Not often that we actually see him surf. The waves were only so-so. It was really fun to see him still having a good time. After all these years of watching him in contest, I can still pick him out of the line up.

Sorry for the not-so-good pics, I just tried taking anything.

soccer 2008

This was Lauren's 2nd season playing soccer and she had such a good time. This team was made up mostly of girls from her school. Going to these games really brought back a lot of memories of the Saturdays we spent at Traci & Geoff's games. Not much has really changed, except now they really don't have the felt banners that some mom glued together. The new versions are so nice...fancy and made by a company. Progress!

Good Job Lauren! We're so proud of you.

I'm going to try and use this new format to get some of the "kazillion" photos posted from my trip.

Aloha,
Jane

Home-Sweet...

Green Hills...
warm, clean water...
smell...
beautiful sunrise...
rainbows...

Home !

after being gone to the mainland for almost three weeks, I got home last night and spent today looking at everything I missed.

Why Obama won...

last night during dinner I was explaining to the kids why it was so important to vote and the reason for having a new president (Jack said it was because "George Bush was old"). Lauren was telling us that in her class they had held an election and Obama had won. We talked about the results coming in and I told her that we probably wouldn't know who the new president was until the middle of the night (remembering elections past). I promised that when she got up we'd turn on the tv and get the results.

On my way over to their house this morning, I stopped and picked up a paper with the above headline and sat it next to her cereal bowl. She was excited when she came down and could read the results herself.

Tonight at dinner, we were talking about school and I asked her if any thing was said about the new president. She said they talked about it and she was glad he had won because she had "voted" for him. I asked her why she "voted" for him and why did he win. Her answer: "Because I knew that he would get the most votes and that's why he's the new president".

Well, guess that pretty much sums it up...