Greyson, the..

Yes, it's true! Bri and Geoff are going to have another baby! We're so excited to welcome this little person into the family in September 2010 (not JUNE, thank goodness)! I love his pose for this. He's already talking about his baby in mommy's tummy.

Congratulation Geoff, Bri and Grey. We love you guys.

Loka Ea and 'Uko'a Fishponds

Yesterday I attended a meeting put on by Kamehameha Schools to discuss their plans for the north shore. Kamehameha is a huge landowner out here, so it was very interesting to hear what they had to say.

One of the things he talked about was a place I pass every day. It's the Loko Ea fishpond. This is located directly behind Jamisons Resturant across the street from Surf and Sea. It's also back there where the peacocks are (in case you've been on my hidden Hawaii tour). The history of this beautiful place that is being restored is so interesting.

"Fishponds as a part of the Hawaiian cultural landscape
Both Loko Ea and 'Uko'a are two important cultural resources for food production that contributed to the abundance and wealth of Waialua being known as an 'aina momoma (fattened land). In pre-contact times, these royal ponds were linked to ali’i (chiefs) and were controlled production from the adjacent ahupua'a and socio-political center, Kamananui (Sahlins 1992) Loko Ea and 'Uko'a are part of a storied landscape of Waialua, linked to three 'aumakua, or ancestral deities that are considered guardians and protectors for the pond areas. These guardians brought blessings of abundance of fish, and health to the people, and preserved the welfare of the 'ohana (families) of Waialua, These deities include the shark god Niukala, and the eel god Puhi'ula, but the most famous was the large mo'o (lizard) named Laniwahine. "

( reprinted from :Loko Ea and 'Uko'a Fishponds of Waialua - (an article from Aina Ulu)
A brief introduction to aquaculture as a traditional means of food production )

Kamehameha Schools is working hard to restore Loko Ea to it's orginal beauty and use.

Pupus for dinner

Met up with some friends tonight for an early dinner of pupus. Poke, mushrooms, the Wedge salad, ceviche, edamame, garlic smashed potatoes, Paradise salad, and rolls. Dessert was the "Love Cake" a la mode. In a word...YUM!

(fyi: the four of us shared above items...just the right amount)

From this to this...

Today I'm going from this... leaving this behind...

flying over this tonight...

And will get to see this tomorrow...

HOME!

Slow Down...

(Flicker photo)

Come on Southern California drivers...SLOW DOWN!

I just returned from taking hubby to Orange County Airport for a quick business trip to San Fran. On the way back there were four, yes 4, accidents! Could this be because the drivers here refuse to slow down, even when it's pouring???

I've had people tell me that the Hawaii drivers are horrible. I'm not sure if people really understand what "Drive With Aloha" means. I know it can be frustrating coming from a place where people drive so fast. There are times in Hawaii where it rains so hard and the rain is coming straight down, that people actually pull over to the side of the freeway and just wait it out. It will pass pretty fast. Our speed limit on our 50 miles of freeway (in the whole state) is only 50mph and that's ok. We seem to get where we're going just fine.

Seems like driving 75-80mph in the pouring rain just can't be that safe.

note to all So. Calif. drivers: try driving with a little Aloha, you just might like it!

Big Night Out In Waikiki...

We met up with Iris and Dave tonight in Waikiki for this program that the Royal Hawaiian is doing to bring "traditional Hawaiian" to Waikiki. The concert was supposed to have been the Makaha Sons, but because one member is in the hospital with continued heart problems, Amy Hanaiali'i performed. She's always great. We met at the Cheesecake Factory early for dinner (we forgot how BIG the salads were...should have shared). Then walked over to where the concert was going to be.

Manu Boyd explained the history of Waikiki (originally called Helumoa-chicken scratching), the Royal Grove and the surrounding area. It was pretty interesting. When they re-did the hotel and the shopping center, the company and Bishop Estates did a wonderful job. You can actually see the Royal from the street now.

We all decided that this was a really fun thing to do in Waikiki. So if you ever get into town or are visiting, try to catch one of these concerts or just walk around the beautiful grounds of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Service and Aloha

(thank you Heidi and your girls for letting me take a pic of you picking up rubbish)
A few weeks ago I spoke in Sacrament about service. Since then I've been thinking about service and it's importance. Since it's the beginning of a new year, everyone comes up with resolutions (myself included). In my post "New Years Thoughts", one of the things I mentioned was giving more service. Isn't part of the "Aloha Spirit" showing kindness to others?



"An act of service may seem so small, but to the person receiving it, it's huge", I said in my talk. In our church we're taught at a very early age to perform small acts of service, and this early training will carry throughout our lives.



There are tons of opportunities in our community for service; cleaning the Anahulu Stream, Beach cleanups, library service, tutoring, school volunteer, outreach programs, the list goes on.

What about just the small acts of kindness that could make someones day? Letting cars go in front of you on the highway, offering a neighbor a ride when it's raining, airport pick-up, etc.

These are all things that really are small, but could really "make" someones day.

Today, after I left school, I came across a friend and her two daughters picking up rubbish along the side of Haleiwa Beach Road. She told me that all the wind was blowing it across the street from the beach park. She and the girls were just walking along with their bags.

Let's all try to give a "little" service, that turns into something HUGE. Isn't that in the true spirit of ALOHA?

Final Christmas Fun

A couple of days before I left the mainland, Traci and I took all the kids to see the new Chipmunk movie. This was a BIG deal because it would be the first time that Grey had been to a movie. This was a great time for his mommie and daddy to have some "adult time". He was so excited!

Lauren is Grey's buddy. He always wants to hold her hand, or sit by her. It's so cute. She's so patient and loving with him.Everybody was so excited! For never having done anything like a movie before, Grey was great...he just went along with the BIG kids.

Jack (funny guy), Grey and Lauren with the Chipmunk figures in the lobby.

I know this is dark, but it's Grey and Lauren with their eyes glued on the screen, eating popcorn.



Dinner after the movie at Chili's.

I just love these sweet kids!

New Year's Thoughts...

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." ~Oprah Winfrey

This year I've decided...

to keep in touch more

be a better sister

look forward without the worry of court dates

give more service

enjoy the beauty of this place

when things look the worst, try to look for the best

make sure that those that I care about know how much they mean to me

be more at peace

Kaamooloa Road New Years Eve 2010

We had our annual New Year's Eve celebration on our street tonight. Our neighbors got permits for certain types of fireworks and everyone brought huge boxes of them, that can be bought EVERYWHERE. Ed even had 5 rolls of the Chinese type of fireworks , the ones with the red paper and on the long strings. He had 2 rolls of the 10,000! They attached them to our telephone pole. So fun, but so loud! Even when the rains came, we moved all the food inside because the tent didn't even help, people still stayed out.

At midnight in our surrounding neighborhoods it's like Disneyland! Everywhere you look there are the huge arial displays. It's unbelieveable! Never seen anything like it before. HUGE displays!

(It's now 1 am and there are STILL tons of fireworks going off everywhere.)

The video is what it sounded and looked like at 12:00!

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou