WOW! I can't believe it has been one and half months since I last posted! Where does the time go?? Well, I have a really long one for today, so be prepared to sit awhile! Today is Jenna's 9th Birthday. I can't believe she is that old already!! Again, where does the time go?? We are having a party for her and 13 of her friends today. I will post about that later. Today I want to tell you all about our trip to Wisconsin over Christmas. We had a terrific time!!
Of course, it was very busy, but we saw lots of family and friends. We stayed at the new hotel in Darlington and got to see many of our friends the first 3 days. Jenna and her friends swam in the pool, which she loved, being the little fish that she is. But since she is not used to swimming in chlorinated water, her face and eyes were sore and red for several days. It didn’t bother her too much—she loves the water!!
We stayed at AJ’s sister’s house for a few days and got to relax and watch the winter weather. We enjoyed spending time with Sue and the family and got to “talk” to our niece’s baby (through her belly—but I’m sure he/she will recognize our voices some day! :-) We worked on puzzles and read and played with Eb, their big, fluffy, lovable dog.
We spent the next few days in Cuba City at my parent’s house. The days of quiet relaxation were done! There were 10 people staying the house-two of them being our niece and nephew that are 2 and 4 years old. Lots of noise and excitement!! Jenna had a ball playing with her cousins Ben, Jackson and Reese. AJ and I had lots of great family time talking and catching up with my parents, brothers and sisters. We put together a 1000 piece, nearly impossible puzzle that took several days! It was the most challenging puzzle I have ever made. My Dad is going to frame it so no one has to suffer through making it again! :-) We had “professional” family pictures taken the day after Christmas. I think it went very well. I can’t wait to see them!
I had a “pre-reunion” reunion with my classmates while in Cuba City. It was great seeing so many old friends that I haven’t seen in years! I counted 32 of 88 classmates, give or take a few! I can’t wait for the reunion planned for July 31, 2010. It will be great to see everyone again and hopefully some that I didn’t over Christmas!
We spent more time with AJ’s family for Christmas and went snowmobiling. I actually drove one and got up to almost 40mph! That’s pretty good for me! I’m a chicken when it comes to driving too fast! Jenna went sledding with her cousin Melanie and loved that too. Jenna enjoyed the snow –especially when it was snowing big flakes and she could catch them on her tongue!
AJ went home a week before Jenna and me. He was back at work the next day! No rest for the wicked I guess! :-) Jenna and I spent the remaining time spending more time with family and friends. We went to Milwaukee and stayed with my sister Lisa and her family. Jenna and I both loved having more time with the kids and Lisa and Aaron. Jenna spent some time with her friend Kaden and his family. It’s amazing to see how much the kids have grown in a year!
We spent New Year’s Eve with my friends Karen and Brock, and several other of our friends from our church in Darlington. It was a fun evening and so great to spend more time with everyone! I’m so excited that Brock and Karen will be coming to visit us in Hawaii in February!! I’m already counting the days!!
We were planning a birthday party for Jenna the day before we left, but unfortunately had to cancel it because Jenna got the stomach flu!! She starting throwing up about midnight and didn’t stop until 5am! Neither one of us got much sleep, but she was able to sleep the next day and finally starting feeling better about 7:30pm. She was really disappointed to miss her party, but she didn’t want to get everyone sick either.
Thank God she was better by Monday morning so we could get on the plane to head home. Thank God also that I did not get sick!! It was a long flight and I wasn’t able to sleep much. Jenna did. Of course. It seems she can sleep anywhere, in any position! We were really glad to be home. It was so good to see AJ. He met us at the airport with a beautiful flower lei for each of us! I think he missed us!??
It was a little weird being home. It seemed so surreal… sometimes I still have this mental battle within me about actually living here vs. just visiting. Everything looked like “home,” yet it sort of seemed like I was just on vacation and I would have to get on the plane again soon and leave. But then, the next day, I was doing laundry and getting groceries, and it was like “oh yeah, I do live here.” It took me most of the day to feel like I was really “home.” You probably think I’m really strange, but it’s hard to describe. “Home” used to be Wisconsin, and I was just there, feeling like I had never left, and then all of the sudden, here I am again…”home.” But the surroundings are VERY different! I’m weird, I know. I can say I now feel like I am “home” again in Hawaii and still loving it!
We home you have a wonderful New Year, full of God’s blessings! Until next time…aloha!
Hawaiian Sunset at Hapuna Beach
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Birthday/Anniversary weekend
Well, we made it through a busy, but wonderful weekend! As most of you know, my birthday was Sunday, the 15th, and our anniversary was Monday, the 16th. We started celebrating our anniversary LAST weekend! Jenna was invited to a birthday party, so AJ and I decided to go out for dinner. It was the first time since Valentine’s Day that he and I had gone out to eat by ourselves! We went to this small bar/diner near the ocean. It was very nice and the food was great! Jenna was invited to a birthday party again this past Friday, so we went out for dinner again. It was great! I love it when I don’t have to cook! We went to Ruth’s Chris Steak House, which is similar to Morton’s Steak House, if any of you are familiar with that. It’s a restaurant where you order the entrée, potato, vegetable, etc all separate. It can be quite expensive! When I made the reservation, they asked if it was an anniversary or birthday. I told them it was our anniversary, and then after I hung up, I thought…”Oh I should have told them it was BOTH!” Oh well. They were very attentive to us. Everyone that came to our table asked how “The Howery’s” were doing. We were given glasses of champagne at the beginning of our meal and chocolate covered strawberries at the end of our meal. I also got a rose. I saw someone get a piece of cake, so it must have been his birthday. I doubt they would have given us both!! We did tell them it was my birthday too, but I guess they only let you celebrate one thing at a time! It was a very nice evening. For my birthday, we went to the beach after church. We met some friends of ours and grilled burgers and hot dogs while the kids played in tide pools. It was a very relaxing afternoon. I told Jenna and AJ that all I wanted for my birthday was for them to complete the “job lists” that I gave both of them. They both did pretty good getting everything done. What a great gift! We both worked and I ended up being on call and worked until 7pm on our actual anniversary, so I’m glad that we celebrated the weeks before! We’ve been married 13 years for those of you who can’t remember. It’s gone by fast; it’s been trying at times; but overall, it’s been great!!!
Thank you everyone for all the cards, calls, and emails. You are all so loving! I appreciate everything very much! That’s all for now…until next time…aloha!
Thank you everyone for all the cards, calls, and emails. You are all so loving! I appreciate everything very much! That’s all for now…until next time…aloha!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Two months gone by...
I can't believe how fast time goes! I thought I better get another note posted before it has officially been two months since I wrote anything! I'm so sorry about my loooonnnnggg absence in writing. Believe me, I have thought about it many times, but thinking about it and actually DOING it are two VERY different things!!
Things have been quite crazy around here! My work schedule has been busier than usual the past 6 weeks. I usually work about 24-30hrs per week--48-60hrs per pay period. I had two pay periods in a row where I worked way over that! One pay period was 83hrs and the next was 93 hrs! I was exhausted, a little cranky and had a hard time finding the time to do anything else! Thankfully things have settled down a bit and the last two weeks have been better. I continue to try and be involved in activities in our church and help in Jenna's classroom once a week. It's challenging when my job consumes so much of my time, but I still try and continue all the other activities too...I guess that could contribute to the exhaustion! :-) Over all things are great and I really do love my job even if it is crazy busy and stressful at times!
AJ is also busy at work. As you may know, the bees here on the Big Island now have mites. It's a little parasite that attaches itself to the bee and weakens it. There have been mites on the Mainland for several years, but this is the first time they have been in Hawaii. It's causing a bit of anxiety for those who have never worked with bees with mites before, but AJ is handling it pretty well. The state of Hawaii has had some researchers from the Mainland over to do testing on hives on the Big Island, so Gus has learned a lot and AJ has been a reassuring voice of experience too. Of course, the mite causes more work, so Kona Queen is preparing for that. AJ and Gus and the other foreman are doing a lot of the leg work, but AJ is not worried. It will cause more work, but it shouldn't cause a decrease in production. AJ also recently bought a one-man outrigger canoe. He has taken it out in the ocean a couple of times. The last time the water was really rough! He said he had 3 foot waves he was trying to go through. He was a little worried that he might end up in Japan, but thankfully he was able to turn the canoe around and make it back safely!!
Miss Jenna continues to love school and is doing very well. We have parent-teacher conferences this week. I expect that she will do fine. I can't believe all that she is learning! She writes in cursive all the time now. She is learning multiplication, division, and just started long division with remainders!! I'm pretty sure I didn't learn all that in 3rd grade! You may have heard about "Furlough Fridays" here in Hawaii. In an effort to decrease the state deficit, the state decided to cut 17 days from the school calender this year. I think it is a terrible idea and a very poorly thought out solution! We're talking about the education of future leaders!! Hawaii is already at the bottom of the ranking for schools meeting educational standards for all the U.S.! Thankfully it only effects the public schools!! Jenna is getting a great education and I'm so thankful that we don't have to worry about missing so much school!
She just finished learning about New Zealand. The school had an event called International Day, where each class studied a country, prepared presentations and transformed their rooms into that country. It was pretty cool to see how each class decorated their rooms! Jenna's class had a volcano, a sheep farm and many other displays about New Zealand in their classroom. Jenna did her presentation on the sheep in New Zealand. She made a really cool display board and did a great job with her presentation to the class. All the kids in her class dressed like the Mowrey people of New Zealand. I've posted a few pictures of her, her presentation and some of her friends.
For Halloween, Jenna dressed up like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She designed her outfit herself, with the exception of the red slippers that her Mama bought for her. I dressed up as the Scarecrow. We tried talking AJ into being the Tinman, but he didn't want to...it would have been very hot and probably uncomfortable. He took along his nerd glasses and teeth and was going to wear them, but he lost his teeth somewhere along the way! If any of you have seen his teeth, you know he didn't have many teeth to loose, so it was quite disappointing!! We had fun. It's very strange trick-or-treating when it's like summer out. We checked the weather in Darlington and figured it was about 45 degrees warmer here for trick-or-treating than it was there! Sorry, not trying to rub it in...just making an observation!!
Well, I have a lot more that I could say, but it's getting late and I need to get to bed. Just a reminder, the time difference is only 4 hours now, thanks to Daylight Savings Time. We plan to be in Wisconsin over Christmas. We're still working out the details of when and where we will be, but hopefully we will see many of you in about 7 weeks or so! Time flies, so it won't be long! I'll try and write again before then. So until next time...aloha!
Things have been quite crazy around here! My work schedule has been busier than usual the past 6 weeks. I usually work about 24-30hrs per week--48-60hrs per pay period. I had two pay periods in a row where I worked way over that! One pay period was 83hrs and the next was 93 hrs! I was exhausted, a little cranky and had a hard time finding the time to do anything else! Thankfully things have settled down a bit and the last two weeks have been better. I continue to try and be involved in activities in our church and help in Jenna's classroom once a week. It's challenging when my job consumes so much of my time, but I still try and continue all the other activities too...I guess that could contribute to the exhaustion! :-) Over all things are great and I really do love my job even if it is crazy busy and stressful at times!
AJ is also busy at work. As you may know, the bees here on the Big Island now have mites. It's a little parasite that attaches itself to the bee and weakens it. There have been mites on the Mainland for several years, but this is the first time they have been in Hawaii. It's causing a bit of anxiety for those who have never worked with bees with mites before, but AJ is handling it pretty well. The state of Hawaii has had some researchers from the Mainland over to do testing on hives on the Big Island, so Gus has learned a lot and AJ has been a reassuring voice of experience too. Of course, the mite causes more work, so Kona Queen is preparing for that. AJ and Gus and the other foreman are doing a lot of the leg work, but AJ is not worried. It will cause more work, but it shouldn't cause a decrease in production. AJ also recently bought a one-man outrigger canoe. He has taken it out in the ocean a couple of times. The last time the water was really rough! He said he had 3 foot waves he was trying to go through. He was a little worried that he might end up in Japan, but thankfully he was able to turn the canoe around and make it back safely!!
Miss Jenna continues to love school and is doing very well. We have parent-teacher conferences this week. I expect that she will do fine. I can't believe all that she is learning! She writes in cursive all the time now. She is learning multiplication, division, and just started long division with remainders!! I'm pretty sure I didn't learn all that in 3rd grade! You may have heard about "Furlough Fridays" here in Hawaii. In an effort to decrease the state deficit, the state decided to cut 17 days from the school calender this year. I think it is a terrible idea and a very poorly thought out solution! We're talking about the education of future leaders!! Hawaii is already at the bottom of the ranking for schools meeting educational standards for all the U.S.! Thankfully it only effects the public schools!! Jenna is getting a great education and I'm so thankful that we don't have to worry about missing so much school!
She just finished learning about New Zealand. The school had an event called International Day, where each class studied a country, prepared presentations and transformed their rooms into that country. It was pretty cool to see how each class decorated their rooms! Jenna's class had a volcano, a sheep farm and many other displays about New Zealand in their classroom. Jenna did her presentation on the sheep in New Zealand. She made a really cool display board and did a great job with her presentation to the class. All the kids in her class dressed like the Mowrey people of New Zealand. I've posted a few pictures of her, her presentation and some of her friends.
For Halloween, Jenna dressed up like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. She designed her outfit herself, with the exception of the red slippers that her Mama bought for her. I dressed up as the Scarecrow. We tried talking AJ into being the Tinman, but he didn't want to...it would have been very hot and probably uncomfortable. He took along his nerd glasses and teeth and was going to wear them, but he lost his teeth somewhere along the way! If any of you have seen his teeth, you know he didn't have many teeth to loose, so it was quite disappointing!! We had fun. It's very strange trick-or-treating when it's like summer out. We checked the weather in Darlington and figured it was about 45 degrees warmer here for trick-or-treating than it was there! Sorry, not trying to rub it in...just making an observation!!
Well, I have a lot more that I could say, but it's getting late and I need to get to bed. Just a reminder, the time difference is only 4 hours now, thanks to Daylight Savings Time. We plan to be in Wisconsin over Christmas. We're still working out the details of when and where we will be, but hopefully we will see many of you in about 7 weeks or so! Time flies, so it won't be long! I'll try and write again before then. So until next time...aloha!
Friday, September 4, 2009
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!!
It is with great pleasure that we celebrate ONE YEAR of living in Hawaii!! The time has gone so fast! Sometimes it's hard to believe that we have been here this long already! On the other hand, it feels like we have always lived here. We are so comfortable here and we love it so much! Of course we miss our family and friends, but it amazes me to look back over the last year and a few months and see how the Lord has blessed us! From AJ getting the call to making the decision to emptying the house to packing and flying, it is really very amazing how everything fell into place! And in such a short time!!
We couldn't have done it without the guidance of the Lord and help from our families and friends! WOW! What an amazing adventure it was! AJ and I still working; trying to sort through everything we owned; deciding what to keep, what to sell, what to get rid of, what to take with us. Finding renters (which we scored big on!), deciding to leave the dogs behind (very sad time) DECISIONS! DECISIONS! DECISIONS! We were really sick of making decisions by the time we moved! Then throw in a fabulous trip to Seattle for a wedding (Yeah Karen and Issac!) and another fabulous trip to Disney (despite the hurricaine we endured!) You'd think we'd had enough! But oh no, we, apparently, are gluttons for punishment! We then had a two day garage sale AND THEN a two day party! Again THANK GOD for family and friends!! Those two ventures NEVER would have happened without their help!!
It was so hard to leave the house, the yard and the dogs. (And yes, the people too! I just mean the moment we left the driveway!) To me, it didn't seem real. It just felt like we were going on a vacation and we would be back. It didn't really hit me what had just happened until we landed in Honolulu. I remember that all of the sudden I just started crying. I looked at AJ and said, "What have we done?" I cried and he was so good to me. He assured me that everything would be alright. Of course I knew it would be, but I realized that I hadn't really taken the time to let it really sink in what we were doing. And when it did, WOW did it hit me! I suppose I was probably a LITTLE tired too! That might have had something to do with my emotions! But now, looking back, I can honestly say that is the only time I have questioned our decision to move. Of course I still miss everyone and sometimes I cope best by not thinking about the people and events that I am missing. We are slowly building friendships and memories here, which is the healthiest thing to do in my opinion. I praise God and thank Him for guiding us and paving the way here and making everything fall into place! What a blessing!!
OK. Now that I have babbled on forever, it's time for some thoughts from AJ and Jenna.
Jenna...My favorite thing about living in Hawaii is being able to go to the beach whenever I want (except when her parents say no or she has school...etc.) and making new friends. I also feel weird living on an Island in the middle of nowhere! I like to make sandcastles and tell people all I know about turtles. Turtles can get to be 100 years old. If they have a long tail, they are a male. If they have a short tail they are a female. It's pretty easy after you get to know it! I can also tell their age. And I forgot to mention how much I love to go to Captain Cook Monument and hopefully see Spinner Dolphins on the way! Aloha!! Oh, I forgot...I really miss all of you!!!
AJ...It's hard to believe that the time has gone so fast. It's hard to realize that time is getting away because we don't really experience changes in the seasons. We're happy that we have been able to build a life here with new friends and experiences. It's not that we have forgotten our other friends, it's just that we have made more friends. It's been great!
Each of us still comment that somedays it still hits us that "we LIVE in Hawaii!!" We are not just vacationing...WE ACTUALLY LIVE HERE!!! It's an amazing adventure and a true blessing. Come visit anytime...our doors are always open and you are always welcome! Until next time...aloha!
We couldn't have done it without the guidance of the Lord and help from our families and friends! WOW! What an amazing adventure it was! AJ and I still working; trying to sort through everything we owned; deciding what to keep, what to sell, what to get rid of, what to take with us. Finding renters (which we scored big on!), deciding to leave the dogs behind (very sad time) DECISIONS! DECISIONS! DECISIONS! We were really sick of making decisions by the time we moved! Then throw in a fabulous trip to Seattle for a wedding (Yeah Karen and Issac!) and another fabulous trip to Disney (despite the hurricaine we endured!) You'd think we'd had enough! But oh no, we, apparently, are gluttons for punishment! We then had a two day garage sale AND THEN a two day party! Again THANK GOD for family and friends!! Those two ventures NEVER would have happened without their help!!
It was so hard to leave the house, the yard and the dogs. (And yes, the people too! I just mean the moment we left the driveway!) To me, it didn't seem real. It just felt like we were going on a vacation and we would be back. It didn't really hit me what had just happened until we landed in Honolulu. I remember that all of the sudden I just started crying. I looked at AJ and said, "What have we done?" I cried and he was so good to me. He assured me that everything would be alright. Of course I knew it would be, but I realized that I hadn't really taken the time to let it really sink in what we were doing. And when it did, WOW did it hit me! I suppose I was probably a LITTLE tired too! That might have had something to do with my emotions! But now, looking back, I can honestly say that is the only time I have questioned our decision to move. Of course I still miss everyone and sometimes I cope best by not thinking about the people and events that I am missing. We are slowly building friendships and memories here, which is the healthiest thing to do in my opinion. I praise God and thank Him for guiding us and paving the way here and making everything fall into place! What a blessing!!
OK. Now that I have babbled on forever, it's time for some thoughts from AJ and Jenna.
Jenna...My favorite thing about living in Hawaii is being able to go to the beach whenever I want (except when her parents say no or she has school...etc.) and making new friends. I also feel weird living on an Island in the middle of nowhere! I like to make sandcastles and tell people all I know about turtles. Turtles can get to be 100 years old. If they have a long tail, they are a male. If they have a short tail they are a female. It's pretty easy after you get to know it! I can also tell their age. And I forgot to mention how much I love to go to Captain Cook Monument and hopefully see Spinner Dolphins on the way! Aloha!! Oh, I forgot...I really miss all of you!!!
AJ...It's hard to believe that the time has gone so fast. It's hard to realize that time is getting away because we don't really experience changes in the seasons. We're happy that we have been able to build a life here with new friends and experiences. It's not that we have forgotten our other friends, it's just that we have made more friends. It's been great!
Each of us still comment that somedays it still hits us that "we LIVE in Hawaii!!" We are not just vacationing...WE ACTUALLY LIVE HERE!!! It's an amazing adventure and a true blessing. Come visit anytime...our doors are always open and you are always welcome! Until next time...aloha!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Coming soon...
New pictures and an update about our adventures in Maui! Stay tuned! Until next time...aloha!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Summer Activities
I typed 3 pages on a Word document, but then couldn't get it to cut and paste into my blog! I was going crazy trying to figure it out, but with a little persistence and help from the Lord, here it is...our summer update! The summer is going by quickly! It always amazes me at how fast summer vacation goes! We have had a great summer so far, and we still have about a month to go. Jenna goes back to school on August 24. Since I haven’t done a very good job of blogging the past several months, I thought I would summarize our summer activities so far.
In early June, AJ’s Aunt Tudy and a friend of hers came for a visit. As usual it was great having guests! They were able to watch Jenna so we didn’t have to pay for a babysitter, which has become almost expensive as school itself! Although since we know the girls babysitting, I think we are getting a pretty good deal! AJ was able to get a little time off of work to spend some time with his aunt. We snorkeled, kayaked, gave them a tour of where AJ works, and tried new foods. It was great! Jenna was a great tour guide. I think Tudy and Rosie enjoyed spending time with her, but since they both either do not have kids or the kids are grown, they just about had their fill when they left!!
Jenna had Vacation Bible School for a week in June. It was an Australian theme and the logo had a boomerang on it. She had a great time learning about how we live “all comes back to Jesus.” She has 2 babysitters for the summer. One is 14 yrs old and I usually take Jenna to her house. She has 3 sisters, a brother and lots of animals! Jenna loves it there! The other sitter, Amber is 16 and has her license. It’s been so nice. She took Jenna to swimming lessons, to Petco, and to her dog agility training classes. Jenna enjoyed watching that! Amber also brings a craft project of some sort every day she comes. We have been very blessed with 2 great babysitters!!
A few weekends ago, AJ’s boss treated us to night’s stay at a fancy resort called The Kona Village. It is a resort that is supposed to be like “old Hawaii” with no TV or phones. The rooms, or hales (pronounced "holly", which is house in Hawaiian) are like straw huts from the outside but really nice on the inside. It was first class all the way! The pools were beautiful. We had a very short walk from our hale to one of the pools, so of course Jenna wanted to live there! We were also right next to the ocean. Gus managed to get Jenna out of the pool and into the ocean so I could swim and snorkel for a while. It was nice. AJ took an outrigger canoe out to see how similar or different it was from canoeing on rivers. He had to take a mandatory lesson before he was allowed to go out on his own. He learned a few things and did really good handling the canoe. Then he took out a one-man canoe by himself. He went out for about an hour. While he was out there, a pod of dolphins swam next to him. He said they were jumping in the air in front of him and swimming all around. He said it was pretty cool! I guess so!! I wish I could have been out there with him! I just love watching the dolphins swim and play! It was a short, quick stay but it was fun. It is usually very expensive, but since we live here we can get a “locals rate.” We think that we may go there again for some special occasion and stay a few nights--one night was not enough!!
The weekend after we went to Kona Village, I worked at Camp Erin. Camp Erin is a camp for kids that have lost a loved one. It is sponsored by hospice. I worked as a “big buddy,” or a camp counselor. I stayed in a tent with another Big Buddy and 4 girls, ages 5-7. We all slept on cots so just about every inch of the tent was filled! It was very interesting trying to get anything in and out of bags or walk in there. We had 2 small walkways; otherwise we just climbed over the cots. The camp was held at a ranch at about 6000 ft elevation. It was nice during the day, but it got cloudy, misty and cold at night. We had some rain, but not as much as last year I guess. One girl told me she could see her breath when she woke up in the morning last year! Thank God I was not there last year!!! Little Miss Wimpy would not have tolerated that very well!! I took AJ’s down sleeping bag and slept in sweatpants, 2 shirts and a hooded sweatshirt. I slept with the hood up the first night because it was cold! Overall, it was a really great experience!! I loved getting to know the girls and it was amazing to see how the kids bonded with and supported each other! Many of them had a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, or other relative die. They were all so brave and a real inspiration! It was an exhausting, but very rewarding weekend. I enjoyed it so much and I am looking forward to next year already!
Jenna just finished up with swimming lessons. We enrolled her in level 3 because I wasn’t sure how the classes compared to what she had taken in Darlington. She had taken level 3 last summer, so this was a refresher for her. She did really well. The instructor said that she was the best swimmer in the class! I guess it helped that she was familiar with the strokes learned. One of her instructors said that Jenna could maybe be on the Novice Swim Team. Jenna is excited about that. It involves a lot of practice and swim meets, so we have to really evaluate it before we commit to something like that.
AJ celebrated a birthday on July 24th. Jenna had a big surprise planned for him. She wanted to make him a meal. We made his favorite dish, Cheesy Potato Pork Chops. We also made rainbow jello and chocolate cupcakes. I had never made layered jello before, so it was an experiment from the start! We started making it 4 days before his birthday. We were able to make 2 layers a day, and by Friday, it was ready to go! Jenna and Amber (the babysitter) made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and sprinkles on them. I hurried home from work and got the dinner in the oven. I got off a little later than I wanted, but thankfully AJ was working late that day too, so it worked out really good! Jenna made a menu and made his gifts too. I just bought him badly needed shorts!
Jenna had this big story all figured out about how we would get him to get ready and surprise him. When he got home from work, we asked him if he wanted to go to the Outback for his birthday. Of course he did, so he went to shower. When he came out, Jenna told him Amber had told her about this new restaurant in Kona called the Kona Diner. She wanted to try it out. He was hesitant and asked a bunch of questions, but agreed to go. Jenna told him we had to leave out through the lanai (deck). She was so excited, she could hardly contain herself! It was so cute! We walked out onto the lanai and she said, “Here it is!” She helped him to sit down and showed him the menu. She had written 2 choices—liver and onions and “the surprise special.” Of course AJ asked for the liver and onions. Jenna went into the kitchen and came back saying “I’m sorry. We’re all out of liver and onions.” (We had practiced that because I knew AJ would do that.) So he settled for the surprise special. He had asked earlier why the oven was on and told him I was making bread to take to church on Sunday (which I really did have to do-at some time anyway, just not at that moment!) I went in and dished up his meal and Jenna served him. Then AJ asked if we would like to join him. So we had a very nice dinner together. The jello turned out great and the cupcakes were really good too! After dinner we watched a movie together. It was a great evening! The only somewhat bad and scary thing about the whole surprise is that we learned that Jenna is VERY good at making up stories, and at keeping a straight face while telling the story!! I hope she doesn’t have a future of lying to her parents and making up stories about where she is going!! Oh, by the way, we took him the Outback on Saturday night and we enjoyed another nice meal!
Now that you are updated on our summer activities so far, I will tell you about our trip to Maui. Hopefully it won't take a month to get it posted! So, until next time...aloha!
In early June, AJ’s Aunt Tudy and a friend of hers came for a visit. As usual it was great having guests! They were able to watch Jenna so we didn’t have to pay for a babysitter, which has become almost expensive as school itself! Although since we know the girls babysitting, I think we are getting a pretty good deal! AJ was able to get a little time off of work to spend some time with his aunt. We snorkeled, kayaked, gave them a tour of where AJ works, and tried new foods. It was great! Jenna was a great tour guide. I think Tudy and Rosie enjoyed spending time with her, but since they both either do not have kids or the kids are grown, they just about had their fill when they left!!
Jenna had Vacation Bible School for a week in June. It was an Australian theme and the logo had a boomerang on it. She had a great time learning about how we live “all comes back to Jesus.” She has 2 babysitters for the summer. One is 14 yrs old and I usually take Jenna to her house. She has 3 sisters, a brother and lots of animals! Jenna loves it there! The other sitter, Amber is 16 and has her license. It’s been so nice. She took Jenna to swimming lessons, to Petco, and to her dog agility training classes. Jenna enjoyed watching that! Amber also brings a craft project of some sort every day she comes. We have been very blessed with 2 great babysitters!!
A few weekends ago, AJ’s boss treated us to night’s stay at a fancy resort called The Kona Village. It is a resort that is supposed to be like “old Hawaii” with no TV or phones. The rooms, or hales (pronounced "holly", which is house in Hawaiian) are like straw huts from the outside but really nice on the inside. It was first class all the way! The pools were beautiful. We had a very short walk from our hale to one of the pools, so of course Jenna wanted to live there! We were also right next to the ocean. Gus managed to get Jenna out of the pool and into the ocean so I could swim and snorkel for a while. It was nice. AJ took an outrigger canoe out to see how similar or different it was from canoeing on rivers. He had to take a mandatory lesson before he was allowed to go out on his own. He learned a few things and did really good handling the canoe. Then he took out a one-man canoe by himself. He went out for about an hour. While he was out there, a pod of dolphins swam next to him. He said they were jumping in the air in front of him and swimming all around. He said it was pretty cool! I guess so!! I wish I could have been out there with him! I just love watching the dolphins swim and play! It was a short, quick stay but it was fun. It is usually very expensive, but since we live here we can get a “locals rate.” We think that we may go there again for some special occasion and stay a few nights--one night was not enough!!
The weekend after we went to Kona Village, I worked at Camp Erin. Camp Erin is a camp for kids that have lost a loved one. It is sponsored by hospice. I worked as a “big buddy,” or a camp counselor. I stayed in a tent with another Big Buddy and 4 girls, ages 5-7. We all slept on cots so just about every inch of the tent was filled! It was very interesting trying to get anything in and out of bags or walk in there. We had 2 small walkways; otherwise we just climbed over the cots. The camp was held at a ranch at about 6000 ft elevation. It was nice during the day, but it got cloudy, misty and cold at night. We had some rain, but not as much as last year I guess. One girl told me she could see her breath when she woke up in the morning last year! Thank God I was not there last year!!! Little Miss Wimpy would not have tolerated that very well!! I took AJ’s down sleeping bag and slept in sweatpants, 2 shirts and a hooded sweatshirt. I slept with the hood up the first night because it was cold! Overall, it was a really great experience!! I loved getting to know the girls and it was amazing to see how the kids bonded with and supported each other! Many of them had a parent, grandparent, brother, sister, or other relative die. They were all so brave and a real inspiration! It was an exhausting, but very rewarding weekend. I enjoyed it so much and I am looking forward to next year already!
Jenna just finished up with swimming lessons. We enrolled her in level 3 because I wasn’t sure how the classes compared to what she had taken in Darlington. She had taken level 3 last summer, so this was a refresher for her. She did really well. The instructor said that she was the best swimmer in the class! I guess it helped that she was familiar with the strokes learned. One of her instructors said that Jenna could maybe be on the Novice Swim Team. Jenna is excited about that. It involves a lot of practice and swim meets, so we have to really evaluate it before we commit to something like that.
AJ celebrated a birthday on July 24th. Jenna had a big surprise planned for him. She wanted to make him a meal. We made his favorite dish, Cheesy Potato Pork Chops. We also made rainbow jello and chocolate cupcakes. I had never made layered jello before, so it was an experiment from the start! We started making it 4 days before his birthday. We were able to make 2 layers a day, and by Friday, it was ready to go! Jenna and Amber (the babysitter) made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and sprinkles on them. I hurried home from work and got the dinner in the oven. I got off a little later than I wanted, but thankfully AJ was working late that day too, so it worked out really good! Jenna made a menu and made his gifts too. I just bought him badly needed shorts!
Jenna had this big story all figured out about how we would get him to get ready and surprise him. When he got home from work, we asked him if he wanted to go to the Outback for his birthday. Of course he did, so he went to shower. When he came out, Jenna told him Amber had told her about this new restaurant in Kona called the Kona Diner. She wanted to try it out. He was hesitant and asked a bunch of questions, but agreed to go. Jenna told him we had to leave out through the lanai (deck). She was so excited, she could hardly contain herself! It was so cute! We walked out onto the lanai and she said, “Here it is!” She helped him to sit down and showed him the menu. She had written 2 choices—liver and onions and “the surprise special.” Of course AJ asked for the liver and onions. Jenna went into the kitchen and came back saying “I’m sorry. We’re all out of liver and onions.” (We had practiced that because I knew AJ would do that.) So he settled for the surprise special. He had asked earlier why the oven was on and told him I was making bread to take to church on Sunday (which I really did have to do-at some time anyway, just not at that moment!) I went in and dished up his meal and Jenna served him. Then AJ asked if we would like to join him. So we had a very nice dinner together. The jello turned out great and the cupcakes were really good too! After dinner we watched a movie together. It was a great evening! The only somewhat bad and scary thing about the whole surprise is that we learned that Jenna is VERY good at making up stories, and at keeping a straight face while telling the story!! I hope she doesn’t have a future of lying to her parents and making up stories about where she is going!! Oh, by the way, we took him the Outback on Saturday night and we enjoyed another nice meal!
Now that you are updated on our summer activities so far, I will tell you about our trip to Maui. Hopefully it won't take a month to get it posted! So, until next time...aloha!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Happy 4th of July!
Well, here I go again. It has been almost a month since I posted a message! I cannot believe how fast time goes!! Where did the month of June go?? I can't believe the 4th of July has come and gone already!! The 4th of July was our ten month "anniversary." It's been 10 months since we moved! Can you believe it??!! Again, I say, I cannot believe how fast time goes! It was one year ago on July 1 that Gus called AJ and offered him a full-time job. I remember sitting on the front porch of our house on July 4th talking to my sister about the offer and getting her advice on whether we should move or not. It feels like we had that conversation yesterday...AGAIN I say, I cannot believe how fast time goes!!!
We love it here and feel like God has really blessed us with this move. We have settled in and are enjoying all that the Islands have to offer. For the 4th of July, Jenna and I were in the parade. We helped decorate the Hospice van, walked in the parade and handed out candy. It was hot! but fun!! We actually left the parade early because we were going on a dinner cruise after the parade. We got on the boat at 6:30pm. We had a great dinner and there was a band and hula dancer. After dinner, we watched the fireworks from the boat. The fireworks were pretty good, but really short!! The fireworks for Canoe Fest are actually A LOT better!! We were surprised at how quickly they were over. We both said, "they can't be done." But...they were! We enjoyed it, but not sure we will spend the money to do it again. There were several people that I work with on the cruise too, so it was nice to get to know them better outside of work.
We have plans almost every weekend for the rest of July! That will really make the month go fast! Next weekend we are going to a "fancy-schmancy" hotel for a "manager's weekend" for Kona Queen. We will be staying at this remote, super fancy room on the beach at a really, really nice resort north of Kona. Gus treats his managers to a special get away each summer and he chose this fancy resort this year. It's something we would probably never spend the money on ourselves, so it will be fun to experience!
The following weekend is Camp Erin. Camp Erin is a grief camp for kids that have lost a loved one. The kids participate in all kinds of activities that help them deal with their grief and it allows them to be around other kids that have experienced the same thing. I'm going to be a camp counselor or "Cabin Big Buddy" as it is known. I will be at the camp from Friday until Sunday. AJ is coming up on Saturday to help with the archery activity. Jenna is allowed to come on Saturday too. She is going to help set up the obstacle course and games. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will be a lot of fun and a great experience too!
The last weekend, we are flying to Maui for 4 days to check out the sights over there. We're not really sure what we are going to do, but the plans are in the works!
We had visitors in early June and are looking forward to our next visitors in August! I still have so much that I haven't told you. One of these days I am going to write a really long entry, just to fill you in! But...not tonight! It's late and I want to go to bed. So until next time...aloha!
We love it here and feel like God has really blessed us with this move. We have settled in and are enjoying all that the Islands have to offer. For the 4th of July, Jenna and I were in the parade. We helped decorate the Hospice van, walked in the parade and handed out candy. It was hot! but fun!! We actually left the parade early because we were going on a dinner cruise after the parade. We got on the boat at 6:30pm. We had a great dinner and there was a band and hula dancer. After dinner, we watched the fireworks from the boat. The fireworks were pretty good, but really short!! The fireworks for Canoe Fest are actually A LOT better!! We were surprised at how quickly they were over. We both said, "they can't be done." But...they were! We enjoyed it, but not sure we will spend the money to do it again. There were several people that I work with on the cruise too, so it was nice to get to know them better outside of work.
We have plans almost every weekend for the rest of July! That will really make the month go fast! Next weekend we are going to a "fancy-schmancy" hotel for a "manager's weekend" for Kona Queen. We will be staying at this remote, super fancy room on the beach at a really, really nice resort north of Kona. Gus treats his managers to a special get away each summer and he chose this fancy resort this year. It's something we would probably never spend the money on ourselves, so it will be fun to experience!
The following weekend is Camp Erin. Camp Erin is a grief camp for kids that have lost a loved one. The kids participate in all kinds of activities that help them deal with their grief and it allows them to be around other kids that have experienced the same thing. I'm going to be a camp counselor or "Cabin Big Buddy" as it is known. I will be at the camp from Friday until Sunday. AJ is coming up on Saturday to help with the archery activity. Jenna is allowed to come on Saturday too. She is going to help set up the obstacle course and games. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will be a lot of fun and a great experience too!
The last weekend, we are flying to Maui for 4 days to check out the sights over there. We're not really sure what we are going to do, but the plans are in the works!
We had visitors in early June and are looking forward to our next visitors in August! I still have so much that I haven't told you. One of these days I am going to write a really long entry, just to fill you in! But...not tonight! It's late and I want to go to bed. So until next time...aloha!
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