July 6, 2014

The weeks keep marching by…sometimes I can't phat-om the day holding so much activity.  Mark and Becky were here last week with us.  We picked them up at the airport and when we took them back to the airport, I had the feeling we had just been there.

We enjoyed the week with them.  It was a week of fun filled hugs, talks, family memories and then church, visiting center, temple, beach, eat, pray, sleep and do it all over again the next day.

Pictures tell all, so here goes.  On the way home from the airport we stopped at the Dole Plantation and had ice cream.  Drove to Hale'iwa to see the turtles.  Lucky us, we were able to see three big turtles just resting on the beach.  Drove home and settled them into "George's House".  Then we all went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for Dinner.

Sunday we all went to church.  The kids drove over to the Temple and to the Visitor Center and came back for Sacrament Meeting.  We had small attendance today.  Many students have ventured home for the summer break.  We ate dinner at George's House.  Drove over to Turtle Bay and took pictures and watched the sunset on the grass.  The kids got to see where their cousin was married last August.

Turtle Bay Left to Right,  Mark, Becky,  Derek, Matt, Emily and Amanda

Monkeys at Turtle Bay

Monday the kids went snorkeling before going to the PCC.  We met them at noon and went to the PCC with them for the afternoon.  About 3:00 pm Matt got sick.  He was dehydrated and I had to bring him home.  He didn't like the water at George's house, and had not been drinking.  He was pretty sick for two hours.  The rest of the family stayed at the PCC and went to the Luau.  We went back over with Matt to see the Ha Show.

Feeding the fish on the lagoon

Tuesday the kids watched the soccer game then went surfing.  Taylor, the young missionary who is working at George's House met us at Castle Beach and helped the kids try surfing.  The waves were good and the water was beautiful.  After we went to Wiamia Falls and hiked.  Ate at Teds on the way home.

                                    Emily and Derek on the famous Sunset Beach

Wednesday we got up early and went to Pearl Harbor.  We didn't have tickets so we went early to hopefully get them.  We were able to get tickets for 2:00 pm.  We left and went to the Swap Meet for two hours, then went back to Pearl Harbor and saw the USS Missouri.  Then we went to see Pearl Harbor and went to see the submarine tour.  On the way home we stopped to see the Pali Lookout.  It was a full day.  We were tired!

Arizona Battleship monument

Below are pictures of the kids in the submarine called the "Bowfin"  This sub was built in 1942, saw lots of action in world war II and in the Persian gulf war.  It was named after a fish and was called a lucky ship, because it never was damaged and it sunk many, many enemy ships.  It housed 80 men and they were in very tight quarters.  The men took turns sleeping because of the space.  They called their beds "hot bunks" because the man coming off duty took the place of the man sleeping, and then they rotated.

Derek, Amanda, Matt and Emily in Submarine

Big smile on Amanda, she wants to be submariner

Tight fit for Mark

Thursday kids went early to the beach.  Then Becky and Emily wanted to see where I worked, so I took them to the sewing room and to Costumes.   Then we went to the Kuhuku Grill for lunch.  The kids loved it!

                                           Amanda and Matt with giant hamburgers………..

                             
                              Mark and Becky with their fish and coconut shrimp.

We worked at the PCC tonight and the family came over and met us after work and ate at the Island Buffet.  They went to some of the shows and movie that they didn't get to see on Monday.

Friday was the 4th of July.  We had the day off.  We drove on the North Shore to Wiama.  On the way back we stopped at the Kuhuku Cafe Farm and took the Ride on the Wagon thru the papaya farm.  We received a free smoothie made with the fruit we saw.  Yummy good…..

Our guide on farm tour

Getting ready to take tour

Papaya Grove

Above is a papaya grove.  Papaya are very fast growing trees, they produce for 3 years and then stop. They produce a crop in the first year and then keep growing up the tree.  The papaya starts at the bottom and end at the top.  They have to be picked at the right time to get good fruit.  The trees you see at the top are the 3 year old trees and in their last year.  After the last crop they will be bull dozed over and left to rot on the ground.  The tree trunks are hollow on the inside and decompose very fast. After they decompose they will disk them in and plant a new crop.  They like to rest the field for a couple of years.

                                           Elder Tremea likes being with the grand kids.

Our favorite, apple bananas

Each banana stock has one pod or blossom.  It produces many bananas.  As you can see some are ready to pick and others are very small just coming out of the pod to grow.  After the bud is finished the stock is cut down and another comes up at it's base.

The week quickly passes and we had a dinner and play night at the house together.  Saturday Emily and Derek got up at 5:00 am and hiked to Laie Falls.  It's a 6 mile hike.  They made it and were back about l0:00 am.  They wanted to eat at the Kuku Grill one more time before they left for home.  We stopped on the way to the Airport at the Nut Farm.  All to soon were hugs and good byes.  We already miss them.

Sunset from Turtle Bay.

We are so thankful for the blessings that come from having a family.  We love all of you and pray daily for your safety and health.

Have a good week.
Love and miss,
Nona and Papa