Waimea...

I went to Waimea to buy tickets for a concert that going to be 

there in a couple of weeks.

I got there right when they opened, so I ran into...

three of my most favorite people in the world,

Coco, Aunty Kanani and sweet Marisa.

All three of them are working at Waimea

and I was so happy I got to talk story with them for awhile before they got

super busy.

 Since Marisa is the food manager, she asked me if I wanted to take a ride with her

out to one of the sites to drop of the cute worker and the supplies.

It's hard to believe, but I've never been far back into the canyon, so

I jumped at the chance.

We dropped the girl and supplies off and Marisa took me out by the waterfall.

I only had my phone with me, so these are the best pictures I got.

lots of people already out there swimming.

There are now life guards and you have to wear a vest, but it still looked like fun,

Marisa took me all around the park looking at the beautiful plants.

Hubby would be in heaven!  He's got so many books on tropical plants that

here they are actually growing.  I want to take him back so he can see them.

 We came across this sign and these little ones...

sweet Marisa showing me her office

how great is that?  I loved it.

I had watched a piece on "Hawaiian Miles" on the plane coming home

a few weeks ago about Waimea.

Marisa, Coco and Aunty Kanani and the other employees chant every morning

before the park opens, asking for permission to work there and to protect the beauty of

this place.

Mahalo Marisa for my little mini-tour of beautiful Waimea Falls.

Noah...

last night after hula, I was having dinner at Big City Diner with

Dave and Iris.  As we were getting up from the table to leave, I hear

"there's Aunty Jane" and turn around to see this guy...Noah!

I hadn't seen him in a long time.

Noah used to work at the pool desk at the Outrigger Waikiki.

He'd take Geoff surfing all over, hang out with Traci...

just be a wonderful friend.

His mom took hula from Aunty Lei and Miss Alama from

the time that she was a young girl.  So we danced in Na Hula together.

We'd run into each other every once in a while, so it was great to see him.

when I got home I had to pull out a photo album (that's why the quality isn't so great and

their old photos)

Noah back in the pool desk days...

Suzanne Noah and Traci celebrating his August birthday

Noah and one of his boys with Traci in front of the old pool deck.

He was at BCD having dinner with the Foote family.

He actually introduced us to "my other friends from San Clemente"

and we've now been friends for a long time.

It was so good to see him and get caught up a little bit.

When Traci comes in August, we'll all have to get together again.

sometimes I think that we should do a "Waikiki Reunion Party"

here in Waikiki for the people that live here.  

When I look at my old photo albums, I realize what great times we had during

that special period in Waikiki (before the aloha left)

Old friends are the best!!!

Only In Hawaii...

another reason we love Waialua Ward...

the missionaries doing a haka for the ward members

as a gift at the ward Christmas party!

(thanks Lyle Moody for the video)

Only in Hawaii!

Haleiwa Fire...

last Friday afternoon we were on our way to the movies and 

saw a huge amount of smoke in Haleiwa.

We could tell that it was something big but couldn't exactly

figure out where it was.  Some people on FB were saying

it was a homeless camp others were saying that it

was a house fire.

We went to Laie, didn't see a movie, but had dinner

and came home.  It was still burning!  At this point it was almost 4 hours.

We finally figured out where it was.  Between Haleiwa Beach Road

and Kam Hiway (downtown Haleiwa).

the fire department had a helicopter doing water drops and they

were using Ali'i Beach Park as a staging area.

Mahalo to HFD for saving the houses and for not letting it get any worse.

Haleiwa is a small town in so many ways

and there are so many little farms/houses that are old and wooden, that are tucked away down side streets that

if it had gotten out-of-control, it could have been disastrous .

Can Take The Boy Out of The Island...

but can't take the island out of the boy!

We had dinner the other night with our friends the Parkers.  Jamie was dared to

husk a coconut and he did it (pretty fast too).

Jamie spent his childhood growing up on the North Shore and Claudia in town,

but when they come home, it's back to their local roots.

their two daughters have grown into such pretty girls.

They're also my hula sisters from my Lani Ola days.

they're off on a 5 week adventure to Europe together 

their brother is staying home and making plans for next year.

We love this family and so glad we met in Duke's Waikiki so many years ago.

Cracker Box Art...

one of our neighbors has just returned from about 6 weeks 

in Japan with her children.

She stopped me the other day and gave me a box that she said were

rice crackers (she knows I love them).

Right away I noticed the wrapping on the box...

it was the sweetest artwork.

I just love the story that it tells.

So much better than some little elf.

I don't know what the writing says, but I was thinking

that maybe it's something about how this cracker recipe has

been lovingly made for generations.

Thank You Naoko for such a pretty little gift.

They're Back!...

the Trade Winds have come back to Hawaii!!!

(blowing flags...only way to show the wind)

without those breezes blowing, it's HOT + HUMID= YUCK

we were actually talking about getting a  window unit for the living room, but

decided that : 1. because our windows to seal tight, we'd be cooling the outside and 2.

because of #1, HECO would get even more of our $$$$.

So we ran the fans all the time, went to the movies or hung out in 

AC someplace until our beloved trades returned. Hubby HATES that type

of weather.

and they have.  Yesterday they blew all day.  Loved going to hula and having

to hold down my skirt so it wouldn't blow.

I woke up a few times during the night and could hear the movement of the palms.

what a sweet sound.

even now as I'm watching the leaves and listening to them blow

I'm so thankful for them.