Getting Older

This is a picture of me when I was just a few months older than Ben is now. The picture was taken 53 years ago.

When I returned from my mission to Germany, I attended BYU. This was taken for my BYU Picture ID. I was 1/4 inch short of 6 ft. tall. I think I weighed about 165. I had my tonsils out when I was five and knee surgery when I was eighteen, Other than that, I felt pretty healthy. I was married in 1979 to Kayleen. We lived in Boise, ID for a few years and moved to Tucson, AZ in 1986. This picture was taken shortly after I moved to Tucson. I had a "procedure" for prostitises in 1989, and had my appendix out in 1996. I still felt pretty healthy.

I went back to school in 1992, and graduated with a Master's in Organizational Magement in 1994. This is my graduation day with Phillip and Timothy. We left a few days later for Disneyland.

We did not travel at all (other than to Utah, Idaho or Disneyland) until our 25th anniversary. We traveled to Kuai to celebrate. Lecia got sick (Tianna took care of her) , but Kayleen and I enjoyed the time together. We seem to have traveled a lot since that time. I like to experience the sunsets from the beach.

Our children have grown to become respectible members of society. We have 7 wonderful grandchildren. I have good employment. I try to serve the Lord. Unfortunetly, I do not have the energy and stamina that I had when I was Ben's age, or even Mike's age. I live with chronic back pain, which is a pain. I can not do many of the things I used to enjoy doing. I still spend time and energy with my grandchildren. Maybe it helps me capture some of the exuberance of youth.

So now that Geoff has become a reality. Oh, many of you do not understand the connotation. In the movie "Men in Black II", there is a 600 ft worm named Geoff, that lives in the New York Subway. I was going to title this post "A Hemroid Named Geoff," but thought better of the title.
Kayleen still loves me. I'm not really sure why. I've lost my looks, my trim figure, my athletisim, and my hair. But she goes with me still, and we will walk together. SOmetimes I look forward to going home to see Father. But there are places in Hawaii and other tropical islands that I have not seen. I wish to spend more time with my grandchildren. I want to change a few things still in my life. Getting older is not for wimps, but we are doing what we can.

BONUS

Kayleen and I went to the ballgame last weekend. On Saturday, the Diamondbacks were losing. But I did get this Homerun on tape. We were cheering so the video is a little shaky, but it is a home run, cutting the lead to 6-3. That was the losing score.

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.