Monday, January 21, 2008

We had 2 Chirstmas days while in Hawaii. Melanie and her boyfriend Paul and Emily came down to mom and dad's for a Christmas together on December 21st, as they were leaving to return home on the 23rd. Mom and dad put together huge stockings for everyone full of all kinds of goodies, and had presents for all too. We had a great dinner together and played games.

My sister Nancy and her husband Larry and kids Ammon and Lindsay came over from the Big Island on the 23rd, the same day the girls left, so mom made a fantastic brunch for everyone. We had sushi, shrimp, fruit, and a egg/bacon/cheese caserole, and a variety of breads. It was fun for the cousins to see each other, since they don't get to do that too often.

My second Christmas was on the real day. Mom and dad, once again had filled stockings for everyone and had presents ready too. We exchanged gifts, ate a delicious Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinner and played games and worked on computers.
Nancy is a computer whiz, not to mention Microsoft Certified, but I think she really uses "pixie dust" - because there has been many times she can fix my computer in Wenatchee over the phone from Hawaii.

One little mishap over the holidays regarding computers and ipods was that I wanted to download Nancy's movies and music from her ipod onto my computer and then onto my ipod. I acted like I knew what I was doing (but I obviously didn't) so Nancy gave me her ipod. What happened is I downloaded all of my music onto Nancy's ipod and completely deleted everything she had on hers. It took her 3 days to restore it all!! And she was even nice enough to load some movies onto mine too. I can't believe her sense of humor through it all.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Arrival on O'ahu

Emily and I flew Alaska Air and Melanie flew Hawaiian, but we all arrived within a few minutes of each other. Mom and dad were there to great us with beautiful orchid leis. We visited for a bit and then Melanie and Emily went with their dad Joe up to North Shore and we headed to Kaneohe, via Costco of course - had to get some of my local treats.

As soon as I step off the plane in Hawaii I still remember the first time I stepped off, June 15, 1969 - the warm humid air that makes you almost melt and the fragance of the flowers in bloom. Of course, back in the good old days you were served cold pineapple juice and given a lei and a kiss.

One of the first days on O'ahu I headed up to Malaekahana Beach where the girls were staying in a yurt. Mom and dad came up for a short visit, then I spent the night and we went to North Shore the next day and layed in the sun and swam in the warm tropical sea. And only in Hawaii would you see a rooster just playing around at the beach.

Friday, January 11, 2008

My month in Hawaii

I just returned from an awesome month in Hawaii, which included visits to O'ahu and The Big Island. It was very difficult to return to the white slopes of Wenatchee instead of lying on the white sand beaches of Hawaii.