Laie Days Parade...

Saturday morning, I stopped by Laie and got to watch the "Laie Days Parade"

with the Latu family.  

I think it might also be part of a "Pioneer Day" celebration.

This was a great little parade.

PCC was out in force

the boys got LOTS of candy that was thrown by the marchers

Kahuku football team marched

 and gave out more candy

golf carts were decorated

Boy Scout troops marched

and of course the last thing were the horses.

It was fun to sit in the shade at a perfect spot and get caught up with one

of my very favorite little families.

Kasanita's Blessing

On Sunday I went over to Laie to Maafu and Kirsten Latu's new, sweet baby

girl, Kasanita receive a father's blessing.

It was such a moving experience…Maafu actually spoke the blessing in Tongan,

and I didn't know what he was saving but I could feel it.

When their youngest son, Trevor, was born was when Maafu was working towards

getting his GED and I was his tutor. We had quite the system with me holding

the baby while he typed or he held Trevor while he dictated to me.  

Now Maafu is at BYUH working towards his degree and working at PCC.

I couldn't be more proud of this sweet family.

After church they hosted a luncheon at one of  the fales in TVA.

I loved all of the Tongan food!

I'm so happy that I got to share this special event with such a sweet, special family.

7 Brothers (again )...

we were excited to go back to 7 Brothers with two friends of ours who

also love burgers.

They were not disappointed ...

and we were glad about that!

Sometimes hate giving such high recommendations .

What if they didn't like it?  Yikes, how embarrassing .

But Gary and Benita did like it and said that they'd go back.

...we actually went there on Saturday after seeing a movie at Laie Palms Cinema.

It was hubby's idea, glad we did.  We were later than the night before, so it 

was crowded but just as good as before.

7 Brothers in Laie, well worth the drive

Seven Brothers...

last Friday after a movie, hubby and I went to a new 

place in Laie...Seven Brothers.

It's in the Laie Shopping Center next to Laie Chop Suey.

I had a veggie burger that was so good.  It wasn't a patty, just grilled onions and 

mushrooms with cheese,avo and tomatoes.

hubby had the Teri burger that he said was the best he's had.  Hand-formed patty and 

a soft bun.

We liked their fries...big, huge pieces of potato sliced

same guys started this place that have "Kahuku Grill"and that 

yummy coconut shrimp.

Glad there's someplace else to eat after a movie in Laie.

Christmas Concert @ PCC

Last Friday Hubby and I went to a Christmas concert at PCC.

We love going to PCC.  It's close (we don't have to go to town)

and the concerts are usually reasonably priced.  This is the second

concert that we've gone to our there that included a buffet dinner...pretty good deal.

This was the first year that PCC started something new "Christmas Canoe Rides".

We've talked to people that went on them and they loved it.  There are so many lights

put up "must have bought every string at Wal Mart"

Sort of wish we had time to do that.

Anyway, the whole place was really decorated.

Hubby watching the concert

Surfing Santa out front

I loved the lauhala hats that were decorating the huge tree

Amy Hanaiali'i put on a great concert!  Love her and her voice.

Love having Christmas come to the North Shore.

Oh, We went to the hukilau...

One morning I took Traci & kids over to the Hukilau for breakfast.

It was so good.  Pretty easy to get something there for Lauren

to eat that was GF.

I love their hash!  Yummy!

After breakfast, we had to make a quick trip by the Temple.

What a way to start a day!

Iosepa...

The Polynesian sailing canoe, Iosepa (Joseph) came into Haleiwa

Harbor.  This canoe looks like the Hokule'a, but is smaller.  The Iosepa is 57 feet and the Hokule'a is 61 feet. Hokule'a is a double mast, Iosepa is single.  The biggest difference

is that the Iosepa is all wood, and Hokule'a is not. There aren't very many all wood canoes around

so it makes Iosepa more special. It was carved by hand in Laie.

Years ago we went down to Sand Island to see the Hokule'a being blessed after being in dry dock, hubby 

went on it.  61feet might seem big, but in the middle of the open ocean it's  small!

A friend of ours from our ward, Daniel Skaf, did a documentary about the Iosepa. 

You can read about  the documentary here.

The Isosepa was blessed and put into the water again in Laie in November 2011.

Here  are some photos from that day. This canoe has special meaning to so many people.

After dinner on Wednesday night, I took Travis and Marisa to see the Iosepa.

I didn't realize that the scouts, YM and YW from our ward would be there 

learning about it.  

We started talking to a guy standing there and it turns out that he was

Kawika Eskaran, one of the master carvers of Iosepa.

He has sailed also on the Hokule'a.

We were so honored to be talking to this man.  He told us a bit about the canoe

and then gave us a very short lesson on the art of navigating by the stars.

We were very lucky indeed. I even asked his permission before taking his

photo....a huge mahalo.

I felt like I could have talked to him all night and asked him a thousand
questions about both the Iosepa and Hokule'a.

The Iosepa is another example of the 

importance of keeping the Polynesian culture alive here in Hawaii.

Laie Palms....

Sometimes we go over to Laie to watch movies.

We love this little theater.  Only two screens (small side),

cheaper than the multiplex, nice people and really good popcorn.

 A few years ago the old scuzzy theater was closed down and a

private owner bought it and re-modeled it.  

Since there are only two screens, there are only two choices, but there

are times when showings are sold out.  All of the movies are first run.

It's nice to stay on the north shore and not have to go into Mililani (or farther) for a night out.

This House...

We've driven by this house a 100 times.  it's over in Laie. Beautiful grounds, huge yard,

looks like a family compound...

this is the house where the scene in "The Descendants" that

the cousins are all meeting about the Kauai property was filmed.

Only took watching the movie about 5 times to realize that's where it was.

1/2 hour East...

I'd always wanted to just drive for 1/2 and hour and see where I was at the end of that 1/2 hour.

This morning I had to go to the east side and decided this would be the perfect day.

At about 28 minutes, I was at the Malekahana Bike Path, so I figured Laie would be the 1/2 hr mark.

Laie is well-known for several things; the LDS Temple,

BYU Hawaii

Polynesian Cultural Center

and Hukilau Cafe.

There are a lot of other things that make this a great place...

the re-done Laie Palms Cinemas (two smallish screen, really good popcorn and cheap prices!),

Laie Village Center,

Laie Point,

a great little market,

more round-about signs than anywhere else,

also probably more ulu (breadfruit) trees than any place else on Oahu

and

the famous Hukilau Beach.

We love Laie for its mellow local feel.