The Return of Downton Abby...

finally after months and months of waiting, Downton Abby

returned to PBS.

As always it was worth the wait to see the goings on

both upstairs and down.

Wasn't sure Mary would actually go through with it...

but so glad she did.  She was a beautiful bride

Some of the best lines/scenes of the night came from Maggi

Smith and Shirley Mac Lane...the two Grandmas.

The were perfect...I'd read somewhere that some of their

lines were actually "ad libs".

Oh, handsome Matthew

will you save our beloved Downton Abby?

hummm, what WAS Mr. Bates final line with

his prison cellmate?

yes, it was worth the wait

Acres of Sunshine...

Every few years in the fields off "Snake Road" sunflowers are planted.

Acres and acres of them.  A few years ago I wrote about them here.

It's always been a sight to see.

While we were on the mainland for the holidays, I saw some pictures on 

Instagram of the sunflowers. Only this time they weren't

off of "snake road", they were right up across from Pa'alakai 

market.  Before we left, I'd notice a lot of cars parked on 

that side of the street and people walking into the cane field.

Little did I realize that this is what they were looking at...

Since we've been back there's been so much rain and what people I've seen have been trying to

get mud off of their shoes, etc.

Why all the sunflowers? We learned that sunflowers act as a natural cleaner for the soil.

Thank you so much to Laura Cho-Stutler Cua for the beautiful pictures

and sharing them with me.

Good Taste...

One day we took Grey to lunch and Poppa asked him

if he wanted to go to the "Audi place"

He said he didn't know what that was, so since we'd taken the other grands 

to the "Audi Place" we took him.  

Right away he told Poppa "this car is like one that's on my dad's game"

Sure enough he was looking at the R8.  He knew that it went really, really

fast and was a race car.

They had to check-out the sticker price and what it came with

Grey had to check out the seats

see how the steering was

Glad to see that all of our grands have such a good taste in cars like their poppa does

New Years Day In A Christmas Wonderland...

Our friends, Dave and Iris, had a New Years Day

party at their house.   Dave & Iris are serious vintage Christmas

ornament collectors.  Walking into their house was like

walking into a wonderland of pure Christmas treasure.

I counted 6 decorated trees, each one of them different.  

They have a perfect place to set up a HUGE tree covered in

nothing but Italian De Carlini ornamanets.

part of this scene was a full-size sleigh

There was a tree decorated in Hawaiian ornaments

This small tree were their newer De Carlini ornaments 

There was an Asian tree

A tree that was so valuable that the topper couldn't be placed because it

may break

You can see some of the trees

there was a display of Santa tree toppers

A Disney tree

and of course...wonderful food (a lot)

I thought I had seen some serious Christmas decorations, but nothing as stunning 

as this beautiful wonderland. I didn't talk enough pictures to even do it justice.  

New Years Eve, 2012...

This year Billy & Molly decided to host New Year's Eve.

It was a beautiful night with everyone just sitting around talking

like it used to be.

Molly made a Thai meat dish that brought tears to my eyes because

it was so spicy, but oh so good.

as always, lots of food

Billy and Ed decided to wear ugly shirts...hard to decide the winner

We lasted until about 10 because we were still on CA time.

We woke up briefly at midnight, Paalakai folks were shooting off

rockets (so much for the fireworks ban)

Again, it was nice to spend time with such great friends and neighbors.

Thanks Garners!

Year In Review, 2012 edition...

January started the year off with the beautiful Waikiki

wedding of dear Colleen  & Drew

February we were on the mainland and got to see 

Grey score a few goals

March was another Grandparents Day
at Our Saviors for this Grammy to enjoy classwork pride

April found Traci & I traveling to beautiful Utah

for Women's Conference

May came with lots of hits coming from this
baseball lover

June celebrated a double-digit 10 girl,

a smiling 7 year old,

and a surfing 5 year old

July found my sweet RS sisters on a North Shore
night under the stars

August again brought Na Hula and all that goes with it,

and a visit from these two that included

some Waikiki surfing for Lauren

September saw Miss Emerson turing 2

and a breathtaking sight for hubby & I

October found both girls at the gym and loving it

and another Tsunami scare without the hubby

November finally came and we got
to see Honolulu welcome Wicked

December ended this crazy year that was filled with employment
upheaval, a long journey to home ownership, some tears, plenty of laughs,
some head-shaking, and thankfulness but through it all we still had our
health, each other and our beloved family.

Happy New Year...

Here's saying good-bye to 2012 and hello to 2013 

and all the promise it holds

We're so thankful for health, friends and most of all family,