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Back from Utah

I was lucky enough to go to Utah to spend two weeks. The first I spent at Joel and Meilani's house. Joel still works in Hawaii so while he was here, I was there with his little family. Hopefully I helped out some with little Lily Ruth, Anna, Eryn and Jojo. I loved being with the kids again and miss them so much already. It was snowy, windy, but that didn't stop us from playing. I especially enjoyed being with Lily since it was our first acquaintance to each other. She managed to melt my heart and wrap herself around my little pinkie.

I also visited with Jacob, Mandy, Jacob Tupou, Zion, and Izabella. They have such sweet children who look out for one another. We are excited that Jacob, Mandy and Izabella will be able to come to Hawaii in May. Actually Cubworld will have his concert on May 16 at BYU Hawaii so get the word out.

The next week I spent with Liana who had surgery. She had a growth taken out of her abdomen and it was benign so we are very grateful for that. I enjoyed playing, eating, and sleeping with Ileina and walking her dog, Sprinkles. Siope is a great support and is a wonderful cook even though he wasn't feeling well either. I'm glad I got to go up for a short while and already miss everyone.

When I got home, Rob gave us that great news that he is advancing to the rank of "Major". He has been working really hard and it has paid off. We attended a party to celebrate all the new Majors at Hickam Air Force Base. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful kids and grandchildren!!

New Pictures

I have been taking more pictures as we travel around the island of Oahu. I thought I would share them with you. We traveled to the south east shore of Oahu last weekend on our way to Kahala Mall. I am always inspired by the beauty of the coast on the south side of the island. It nearly takes my breath away.

Here there are many rock formations and there are several birds that hang around.




On the right is a picture taken near the Kahuku Hospital where several of my grandchildren were born so it has special significance to me.





Close by is a bridge on the way out of Laie. I have often wanted to stop and take a shot of the place where the water from the mountains empties into the ocean. It was quite tricky and I had to watch the traffic carefully so I didn't get run over while taking the picture since there is not much wiggle room but here is the result.




Hope you enjoy my pictures.








We went to a concert at Hickam AFB with Rob and family a couple of weeks ago. Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band performed a concert for U.S. troops and their families as part of a USO entertainment concerts for U.S. troops and their families.













I had fun taking pictures there also. Here are a few of them. I take the pictures and
then have fun manipulating them in Photoshop.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I have been taking pictures around the island with different settings on my digital camera. Here are some of them.

This one above was taken in Waiahole - we stopped the car and walked down the hill just to the side of the road and there is a river in a grove of trees. It is so beautiful. I like the reflection of the trees in the water.





This one on the right is from Kahana Valley looking back at Crouching Lion. It was a beautiful scene. The landscape of our island is so interesting and ever changing by the weather and tides.






This surreal picture was taken at the Blaisdell Conventional Hall in Honolulu - it is a reflection of a palm tree in the water which has large koi fish swimming in it. The colors are so beautiful.

Near Ko'olauloa Ranch there are ruins of a sugar mill. I took several pictures from Kam Highway that I thought were very interesting.




This is a high wall with vines growing on it which is also part of the sugar mill ruins.

I got a gift certificate to Headshots and had to use it before it expired. It took the makeup girl quite a while to cover all the wrinkles and age spots, but I think she did a good job. I enjoy being pampered for an hour or so - feel kind of like a movie star : )
Kind of look like a fat Barbara Walters - what do you think?

We had the grandchildren ('Israel, Prinsesa, Ali'i and Robbie) over yesterday all day and had a fun time with them. We played computer games, Playstation 2 games, drew, colored, stamped, played on the monkey bars and swings at the playground nearby, rode my bicycle, watched TV and ate. They are sure fun to be with (except when they are on each others nerves). Rob helped Grandpa with a few chores around the house - thanks!

I'm enjoying my new job more. I work for the International Teachers Education Program. My job is to be a liaison between the students in Tonga, Samoa, Fiji and Kiribati who are in the program and BYU Hawaii and CES. It is currently coordinated by a missionary couple, the Salvesens, but they will be relocating to New Zealand, and I will be running the program from BYU Hawaii. The more I learn about the program, the more inspired I think it is. These students from the islands can get most of their education in their own island, taught by missionary couples who have had much experience as teachers themselves before they retired. The missionaries selflessly share their knowledge and experience with the students. The last year the students come to BYU Hawaii to complete their Education degree. All of them return home to be teachers and share their knowledge. I feel privileged to work in this program, although I was very upset to be moving from the Fine Arts Department at first. Actually I have had a few chances to use my graphic artist skills to make posters for the School of Education, and stay in touch with the Fine Arts people.

I sure miss my Utah grandchildren and hope I can visit them this spring or summer.

Recuperating

I am still sore from moving all our worldly possessions to our townhouse. We are definitely not used to going up and down stairs all day long. My thighs ache and my arms ache from carrying things. I am going to get a steroid shot in my hammertoe and bum knee today. Luckily we had a moving company to move the furniture and large boxes otherwise both 'Isi and I would be dead already!! We were just going to move temporarily, but have decided we will probably stay put until we retire in five years!

Reasons to like the new place:
Closer to my new job
I get more exercise on the stairs
We have lots of neighbors (babies, kids, dogs, etc.)
Less to clean
More privacy

Reasons to miss the old place:
We miss the students that stayed with us - very interesting (I think we married off about five couples that met while they were staying at our house!
The Air Conditioning
The playground for our grand kids
Our trees - mango, breadfruit and banana

We are so happy that little Lily Ruth has been able to go home to be with her family in Utah. She has had a couple of surgeries and will have more to come. She is so cute and we are grateful to have her as part of our family. You can read more about her on Meilani and Joel's blog.

School has started again at BYU Hawaii. I am enjoying my new job more and learning the ropes. 'Isi is busy preparing for his many religion classes. Life is good. We are very blessed.