The Circle of Family

We traveled to Utah for the Name & Blessing ordinance for Hunter. First event on the docket - Peter's Soccer game. I have included a short video for viewing enjoyment.




We went to dinner at the Old Spegetti Factory. Lecia & Matt were there.

Mike and Tara were there.

Kennedy enjoyed the company and the food.

DJ & Laural came to the blessing on Sunday, but missed the lunch at the Old Spegetti Factory on Saturday. They did add to the entertainment on Sunday at lunch.

Saturday night we watched Kennedy while Matt and Lecia went to Prom. Then Sunday was Hunter's day, and he was Looking Sharp!

He did well, not crying or filling any diapers or that kind of stuff. He was surrounded by good men, who called upon the powers of heaven to help him and to welcome him to mortality. Afterwards, we took some pictures. Ben was finally willing to allow us to take one picture of him. As fun as he is, he seems to be camera shy.

We had a great visit, only problem is that it was too short.

Who woulda thunk?

Okay - On Thursday we rented a car and drove around the north shore. The water was pretty roiled up. Snorkeling in Sharks'cove would have been on the stupid end of the spectrum. We did see some beautiful beaches. On Friday, we walked along the canal and down to the Army Museum. Those pictures will be shown in another post. My new camera will let me take up to 3 pictures and then it bolts them all together, giving some good landscape views.

We found Kayleen's true calling, as a priestess to worship at my feet. (lol)

We found a new area down by the museum to watch the sunset.

At 3:30 AM, we got a phone call from one of Kayleen's friends, telling us we better move to higher ground. We turned on the news, and sure enough, there was a tsunumi warning. We were evacuated vertically ( at or above the 3rd floor.) we checked out of the hotel, but stayed in our room. Security actuall would not let us out of our room after about 10:00 AM. Here is a video of the sirens going off, and police cars trying to clear the beach area.


When the surge hit it was not immediatelyy noticable. Here is a picture of some rocks sticking out of the water about an hour before the surge hit.

This is a picture of the same area after the surge hit. This tsunami was more like going from low tide to high tide in a five minute time period, and then repeating that sequence 5 more times over the next 90 minutes.

The largest surge was the 3rd one to hit. Here is a short video of the waves over those same rocks.


We changed our flight to Sunday, checked back into the hotel, and went for a walk. Again, the sunset was beautiful.

An interesting, but crazy day.

A Change of Plans

The intestinal issues that have been in and out of my life the past 3 months were back in this morning. I stayed close to the WC while Kayleen walked down to the Aquarium for a couple of hours. When she got back, I was feeling better. We had canceled the rental car, so we decided to WALK out to the light house. This is a view of Diamond Head point from a park. It took us about an hour and 15 minutes to walk there. This is a view from the road.

A lady in our ward told me there was tide pools down below the light house, so we found the path and walked down. It was mostly surfers on one end of the beach, and single men in thongs at the other. This is a view from the beach below the light house.

We really didn't have proper footwear to go into the water, but it was neat to see the tide pools.

On the trolley this evening, we saw a sculpted palm. It almost looks like a Kachina doll, that one would buy in Tucson Arizona.

The sunset this evening was beautiful.

We will try to rent a car tomorrow and go out to the North shore and stuff that we did not do today.

The hike up Diamond Head

We left fairly early in the morning - the number 23 bus to the base of the trail.

The trail was not overly long - only about a mile plus a bit from the bus stop to the trail head. But as you can see, it was a climb. The climate was much dryer inside the crator than I expected it to be.

After climbing almost to the rim, we had two flights of stairs that were very steep.

But the view was wonderful. This picture shows the inside of the crator.

Some of the ridges had pathways along the top. The ridges were steep and narrow.

This is the lighthouse down below the summit, warning ships of the shallow waters and the reef.

Back down at the bus stop, waiting for the 23 bus to take us back to the hotel. We were tired but happy. We got too much sun, but the only thing we have to do the rest of the day is our anniversary dinner.

Tomorrow we will rent a car and visit some sights out at the north shore - sharks cove and the like. We may get some snorkeling in, depending on the water and the weather.

Thursday it will be back to Hanauma Bay for more snorkeling. We have not yet decided what to do on Friday.

A few pictures -

This is the trip for our 31st Anniversary. Kayleen was gone last year for Kennedy's birth, so we are taking the "big" trip this year.

Flying into Honolulu on Friday.
We visited Pearl Harbour. This is the submarine. We went down inside, which was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, we did not get to go out to the Memorial becuase of the lateness our our visit. We will make plans to go back and take the boat ride out to the Arizona.

The love of my life, sitting on the jettie, waiting for sunset on Sunday evening.

Monday we took the bus out to Hanauma bay. The snorkeling was the best ever. We saw three small turtles, a fish or two, and a brown spotted Morey eel.

Evening time on Waikiki.

A view of Diamond Head from a park close to the hotel. We will try to climb it on Tuesday, before eating our Anniversery Dinner at Dukes. (which will include some Hula Pie)

Monday's Sunset. Nice color. A great ending to another day in Paradise.

Visit to my mother

I flew to Utah last weekend to see my mother. I had heard that she was not doing great, and that we probably needed to come see her. When I visited her on Friday, she was doing okay. She recognized me and was able to make herself understood, which is sometimes a challenge for her. On Saturday, she was not doing quite as well, but was still Cleo. On Sunday, I was concerned, because she seemed to have lost touch with the world. She kept asking me the same question, which had nothing to do with me. I'm not sure where her mind was, but it wasn't in Orem. I'm glad I went.

I stayed with Lecia Friday night, and Kennedy let me know who the boss in the home really is.

Ben had decided that I couldn't take his picture. Perhaps he felt i would be taking some of his soul away, similar to the Austrailian tribes. I finally asked him if I could please take his picture, and he said I could take a few.

I met my new grandson, Hunter while I was there. It was cold outside, but Hunter is content to snuggle, so I was happy.

Here is a short video of Kennedy, again showing Grandpa how big she is.

New Year Predictions and Speculations

It is always fun and exciting to look forward, wondering what will be in store for us this year. Last year we had 3 births, a funeral, a wedding, family pictures, two college graduations, two trips to hawaii, BYU education week, visiting general conference, as well as a whole bunch of day-to-day living experiences.

So what will 2010 bring? I have some thoughts, conjectures, predictions and dreams.

Here are the top 10 predictions for 2010. I am tryin to sell these to the National Enquirer but so far, they have declained.

1) World peace. Probably won't happen immediately, but I will begin work in that direction by starting with myself. I will work to be a more peaceful person, even when confronted in not so peaceful situations.

2) Continue building memories. We will continue to strive to build memories with our children and grandchildren. Two years ago we took a family to Disney World, and last year we took another family to Hawaii. We have some plans to continue this process this year, but reservations have not yet been firmed up.

3) Saving for Retirement. We have a very good start on retirement funds, but we do not have any extra. We don't think the dollar is going to be worth very much in 10 years, but still, we should do what we can. I will be doubling my 401(k) contribution (which I can becuase the other HC employees are no longer considered HC, which means I can give a bigger percentage without going over the discrimination limits.)

4) I think there will be a general rebellion at the ballot box against un-restrained government spending. It will get bigger, but the corruption in the governement will be too powerful for the people's voices to be adequatley heard.

5) My back pain will continue to get worse, as it has this year, and will deteriorate to the point where I will no longer be able to work full time. I will then need to devote my time to my wife, children and grandchildren.

6) Intenet viruses will effectively shut down the electrical grid on the East coast.

7) Al Quada will run out of suicide bombers. The new recruits will realize the lack of upward mobility and will decline their assignments.

8) Congress will shut down talk radio as subversive and inflamitory

9) The pope will declare, as an official communication, that he as been visited by an angel, who said his name was Maroni, and that Joseph Smith really was a prophet.

10) Unleaded gasoline in Los Angeles will exceed $5.00 a gallon.



So how visionary am I? Feel free to post your own predictions here.