SURFING

Yesterday we were able to go to Waikiki with the Guthrie's (some of our good friends in our ward). Shane is a good surfer and and even better instuctor. Nate, Brock and Austin went with Shane at 5 am, so they would be able to surf with out too many people around. The girls and I showed up about 9 and we had a great time. Everyone was able to get up, except me, I only tried a couple of times and couldn't get past my knees. Next time I will put in a little more time and stand up, it really was fun.
Even Nate was able to surf. Living on an island has made him enjoy the water a lot more, and he as been such a good sport. Brock was able to get up and ride better on the smaller board, which is supposed to be a lot harder for beginners.

Austing making it look easy.

McKenna gets the award for the best form.

KING FOR A MINUTE

Our family went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Nate had the chance to be King and pose with McKenna and Alyssa. The PCC is a beautiful place with a lot of amazing sites. There is a lot of history to learn about the polynesian culture and its islands.

We are kama'aina (locals) now and have the ability to visit the center as often as we like. It is fun to go and hang out.

The Thunderbirds

Last Saturday we went down to Hickam Air Force Base to our first air show. Two other families from our ward joined us. They had been before and knew just were to sit for the good seats we were right on the front row, very nice since the kids were able to see everything. It was an amazing show, lots of flying upside down, near misses and super loud. Everyone had a great time and it renewed Brock's love of airplanes. He went right out to the book store and bought a book about all of the airplanes to study and learn about each of them. Besides the Thunderbirds there were alot of planes and helicopters out that you could walk through. Everyone really enjoyed it and the boys especially were in heaven and considering joining the Air Force. (Good incentive for getting good grades right.)

I am not sure how to work this blog stuff and I had to ask Brock how to do it, well he being a boy sort of told me and so I tried it. Well as you can see it didn't turn out quite right so I will have to keep working on it. Here is a little bit of what has been going on since I haven't posted in a month. The end of August we had Annette and Curtis and their family come and visit. They planned a quick family vacation over to visit us before Chance left on his mission on Sept. 9th. It was so fun I had a hard time seeing them go, and so did Alyssa she wanted to go home with them. We had a good time showing them around to the few places that we had learned about in our 3 weeks on the island. Of course we went to the swap meet, it was really big and there was a lot of good things to buy. We took them snorkeling at Hanauma Bay, it was alot of fun Chance and Austin and Joelle swam with a turtle, and the bay is so beautiful. We went to the PCC and the Luau and the show after was really amazing. We also went to Pearl Harbor, and the the beach serveral differnent times, Kailua, Waiminalo, and Waikiki. On the night that they were flying out we drove up to the Northshore and saw some tutles up on the beach and had a famous shaved ice. They weren't here very long but we had a great time.

Eating a Yummy shaved ice

Turtles on the beach at the Northshore.

The famous shrimp truck on the Northshore.

Chance feeding the birds.

The Luau at the PCC

Learning the Hula at the PCC

Wild peacocks here in the back yard.

These are the mountains with the waterfalls.

Annette's family at the beach

The Girls having so much fun at the beach that they decided to take a nap.

VARIOUS PICS

Pictures of our wonderful meal, including ham fried rice, spring rolls, yakisoba and some good ol' POG.

We have a wild peacock that come by and visits every once in a while.

Some things never change, Austin sitting on couch with neighborhood buddies playing the Wii. Could be out surfing, snorkeling, swimming with dolphins or sea turtles, but instead inside. (Kind of had to be, it was reminants of the tropical storm)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAWAIIAN STYLE!!

The Kaneohe 3rd ward threw a big bash for Alyssa. (At least we told her that was the purpose) They were kind enough to sing Happy Birthday to her in Hawaiian.

BEACH FOR ALYSSA BIRTHDAY

To the beach for Alyssa's B-Day. We swam and hung out. We were a little more prepared for the sun this go around. We returned home to have cake and ice cream with our friends, the Cieslewicz family. Alyssa is quite content with her simple party. She was a little bummed as we did not have any "fire" to lite her candles. We tried out scout intelligence, but mine did not get us anywhere. We made do!!!

HAPPY BDAY ALYSSA!!!

Alyssa had a very special birthday today. We invited both grandma's from the mainland. They were able to attend her party through the laptops. It was a lot of fun. You can tell that she is very excited to have her birthday.

Pearl Harbor with Family

Family at Pearl Harbor after their short school day. Learned alot about that happenings during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The video was really descriptive of the happenings there and made us appreciate our servicemen and women much more.

It was a pretty humbling experience to visit the area. We had a great time.