Mele Kalikimaka!!

This is what Christmas looks like on campus. It seems funny to be walking around in short sleeves at night and enjoying the Christmas lights. It doesn't seem quite like Christmas, but we are trying.

They had a tree lighting ceremony on campus. We have been enjoying a series of concerts by the music department; Choirs, Bands, Ensambles, Chamber Orchestra, Marimba/Steel Drum band, and Salsa. It is an international celebration of the season.

This is a group of ladies that I work with. They are a wonderful group. We are not all there at the same time, but we do all do something somewhere at PCC. This is one of the quilt squares that we do here. Connie, the woman holding the square made this one for President Monson for when he was supposed to come here.She is from China. President Monson didn't make it because Sister Monson had fallen and broken her hip and shoulder. I made a nativity for him also. The gifts were sent to Salt Lake for Christmas. THis is inside of the Mission Home where I spend two afternoons a week working, and yes, this is our lovely uniform. We call it our clown muumuu.

Haunted Lagoon at PCC

This past month was a lot of fun working after hours at the Haunted Lagoon. Over 46,000 people visited the lagoon during the month of October. We were open on Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays until the last week when we were open every day until Halloween. There were lots of volunteers, including the ghoul with me.

The lady Alii was the main character of the ride. You got on a canoe with about 30 people and took a 30 min. trip through the lagoon. The Lady Alii has lost her son and is looking for him.

At one part you come to a graveyard that is full of scary kids. They had about 125 kids from the community that took part. Most everyone were volunteers.

This was one of Craig's students. I think he really got into his role.

When you first start the ride you go through a floating graveyard. Hidden behind the tombstones are ghouls that jump out at you. It's a good start to get the goosebumps up!

There are a variety of monsters including this one.

The best part is that the lagoon is full of monsters and they come popping out of the water when you least expect it. They get you looking one way and they attack from the other side of the boat. These guys all have wet suits on so they can stay in the water for several hours.

This is the Lady Alii and the area where we worked. She is hidden behind a curtain and at a certain moment the curtain is dropped and she reaches out to the boat. Craig worked at dropping the curtain. He got the timing down perfectly. There is actually a guy under this costume. It was heavy and hot. I rang the bell from the chapel to let them know when to send the next boat. You had to ring it slow and scary.

We weren't supposed to take pictures while the boats were going, but this was the last boat of the night and the strobe lights were going, so I didn't think it was a bad thing. You can see the size of her and the effect on the people.

All in all it was very fun. Some night were long and others were hot, but it was fun to be a part of it all. They made a lot of money which is great for the support of the students in this down time. We were happy to be a part of it all.

What's been happening here in Hawaii

One of the pleasures we have living here is to have the Laie Temple close by. Unfortunately it is being renovated. But we can still enjoy seeing it and all of it's historic charm. If you look closely you can see that the temple does not have any windows. I noticed this Sunday going to church that they are being installed now. The construction should be done right about the time that we will be coming home. We will miss the rededication. But we are grateful for it's presence.

This past month has been full of many activities and adventures. One day we decided to explore the windward side of the island. This is Makapu'u State Park at the Southeastern end of the island. It is gorgeous with incredibly blue clear water.

Along the way we made many stops to capture the beauties on film. This seems to be a typical pose of Craig's as he has enjoyed taking pictures everywhere we go.

Here is the quilt that I recently designed for the outgoing president of the Board of Directors of the Polynesian Cultural Center. It seems crazy that I would have gotten so involved so quickly after working here for only about a month. But the director of the PCC asked the Mission Settlement (where I work, we are standing in front of the Chapel at the Mission Settlement) to make a quilt for outgoing director in less than three weeks so that they could present it to him at General Conference time. The two ladies in charge, Mele, on the right front and Sister Pulley on the left front were lost as to what to do. They knew that I quilted and asked if I could help. I told them I would but that I was leaving the next day to visit Amanda in Seattle for the weekend. We got the creative juices flowing and designed and cut out all of the applique squares. We then gave them out to workers to applique in 5 days. When I returned I pieced it together and found a lady in Honolulu to machine quilt it. She put a rush job on it and had it done in a week.

Thank goodness she did a great job of quilting it. I got it back on a Friday and had it bound by Saturday. On Tuesday it found it's way on an airplane for Salt Lake City. It was presented to the outgoing president on the Monday evening after conference. Ironically, it was presented at Dick Marriot's home in Park City, about 1 mile from my home there. Isn't that how things usually go? Anyway, a friend of mine was there and said that they wept when they recieved the quilt. So our 2 1/2 week miracle was worth it.

Each square represents one of the villages here at the PCC. The boy getting the coconut from the tree is Samoa, the grass skirt and pearl is Tahiti, the temple is Fiji, the poi balls is New Zealand, the canoe is the Iosepa, the symbol of the PCC, the ukulele is Hawaii, the Hawaiian quilt square is the Mission Settlement and the drum is Tonga. Many hands went in to completing it. It was a challenge, a blessing, a miracle, and a lot of fun to do!






SEATTLE

We took the time off between semesters to visit Amanda and Seth in Seattle. We took a walk along their trail behind their house and enjoyed the good weather and grassy hill.

Kayla is such a cute little girl. She says "Poppy" and "Tootsie" really well. She loves to play with the boys next door and to ride a tricycle. It was a pleasure getting to know her better.

Back in Hawaii. This is what happens when you need to get rid of termites at the local Catholic Church.

And lastly, this is my most recent addition to my quilt that may or may not get finished in this lifetime. I loved it and wanted to share it.

If you lasted this long, thanks! We love you all!

Never Say Never

I know what you are thinking---how in the world did they get us into matching clothes like this? Especially ugly ones? When we went to our first family home evening we were behind a couple that were in mathcing clothes. I leaned over to Craig and whispered, "While we are here I will never wear matching clothes like that!" Little did I know that in order to work at the Polynesian Cultural Center taking tickets you have to wear matching muumuu and aloha shirt. These are loaners from the center. They are pretty ugly, but the two kids on the sides of us help to make the pictures much better. This is at the Aloha Luau Ambassador Entrance. We take their tickets, give them some hand sanatizer, and send them on to have their pictures taken with these two good looking kids. Then they enjoy a buffet dinner while watching a hula show.

Afterwards we finish taking ticket we get to go to the Ambassador or Gateway Restaurant and have a free dinner. They offer prime rib, crab legs, macademia nut crusted chicken, coconut mahi mahi, sushi and much more. It is pretty good, but those that have worked here for a while say they get sick of it!! I imagine we will too. P.S. I have bought a cheap sewing maching and am making a muumuu and shirt for Craig. I let him pick out the fabric. Watch for that posting!

Many mornings a week Craig likes to walk down to the bay that is on the right of the Turtle Bay Hotel. You can see the reef out there where the waves break so it is very protected and makes an ideal place to swim. It is shallow, only about 4 feet deep all of the way out depending on the tide, and has no waves. He does a couple of laps and dries off on the walk home; he doesn't like to take a towel with him. He says that is what the locals do and so when in Hawaii do as...

Much of the beaches around us are coral. In most areas the waves break out farther from the shore. There are tide pools and many crabs running around the beach. There are turtles in the waters just to the left of the hotel, but I have yet to see them. I can walk for a couple of miles along beaches like this.

Around the resort there is a trail system. Some of it runs right on the beach and other parts are set back just a bit in terrain like this. There are the pine trees and other vegetation. There are many flowers but I don't know if I can begin to learn all of their names too. I see many different birds including one that is gray with a red head. There are also mongoose that run around. But mostly in the morning it is quiet and very beautiful.

On the left of the hotel is where the surfers go. Craig caught this picture one evening when he went out to capture the sunset on film. He caught this guy on a wave instead. Right now the waves on this side of the island are small. It isn't until the winter that they change to be the huge ones that the North Shore is famous for.

On Wednesday we took a drive out to the Northwest point of the island where the road ends. It was very windy, and we found a bunch of guys windsurfing. We watched two leave the shore and go out. I have to admit it looked like a lot of fun but exhausting! This pictures gives you a view of all of the guys in the ocean,

but----

Craig got this picture with his good camera. He is being pulled by his sail that is about 20 feet in the air. He would hit the wave and fly in the air. Because of the wind they go very fast and it just looked fun!

In the evening we catch watch what the clouds are doing from our back door. If the sky looks as fine as this one was Craig will go down to the beach snap the sunset. This night that he was there he watched a couple as he proposed to her. He offered to take their picture and it turned out really great. If you want to see it you will need to ask him.

It is beautiful here and we are enjoying it but we miss you all very much. We love you and our thoughts and prayers are with you. Take care!!! Aloha.

Avoiding Disaster- A Matter of Opinion

Last week we heard that Hawaii was in the path of Hurricane Felicia. The weather turned muggy and everyone was buying up bottled water and flashlights. We evaluated our situation here, having no food supply except of what I had bought at Costco the week before. We thought if the lights went out we better cook up some of the things in the freezer. We filled two gallon pitchers of water and hoped for the best. But the hurricane broke up and we were left with very beautiful sunsets. This is taken at Turtle bay which is a 2 minute walk from our condo.

But this Saturday morning after Craig had taken his morning walk he had sat down to read and heard water dripping. He saw that the ceiling was about to come down right on top of the dining room table where my computer sits. He quickly got things out of the way, pushed back the furniture and carpet and watched as the ceiling full of water came tumbling down. I came home from my walk to see him mopping up water. Apparently there was a leak at the washing machine from the condo above us. I must have been dripping for a while because quite a bit of water had accumulated until if finally let go.

It was a blessing that we were home so that Craig could get everything out of the way. Otherwise the ceiling would have crashed right down on my computer and who knows what would have happened with that.

You can see the drywall separating from the ceiling. Thank goodness the ceiling fan still works.

The drywall was really heavy because of the water that had soaked into it. The supervisor of maintenance came over to help carry it out. He also got a guy to fix the leak upstairs. Now we just need to wait until they get someone to fix the hole over our heads. Considering what happened there was a minimal amount of damage- it could have been a lot worse!

Other than that we are enjoying getting used to living here, enduring the heat and humidity with no air conditioning, and waiting for the next disaster that awaits!

On an other note, I finished this square for my album quilt and wanted to share it with you. The basket was the hardest part, it is woven besides appliqued, and was a real pain to do. I am now working on one of the more simpler

Aloha from Hawaii!!

We arrived in Hawaii a week ago to set up our new home for the next year. We are living on the first fairway of Turtle Bay. This photo is taken from our living room looking out at the golf course. Our home is located where the golfers land their first drive (if they are lucky and accurate). We have learned that after 3pm golfing is just $15 if you walk. We bought ourselves a couple of pull carts and take them out the door when we want to go play. We then take our driver and go to the first tee to hit. Hopefully our ball has landed close to the carts and we go on from there. In the week we have been here we have been out four times already.

This is our very Hawaiian looking living room. When we arrived the condo had been closed up and it was so hot and humid!! Since then we have learned that opening the windows and doors allows a great breeze to blow across the house both upstairs and down. It is very comfortable and sleeping is great. I now have my computer set up on the back table and Craig works from the one in the foreground. It is also where we enjoy our meals and watch golfers as they make their second or third shot.

This is our kitchen. It will work nicely. On the table on the left you can see the Raid. We have been visited frequently by tiny ants. In this week I have learned that certain ant traps work very well while others don't and for the past few days I have been ant free. Hopefully we can continue to keep them at bay. In the background you can see the guest bedroom. You can also see a set of golf clubs waiting for the next round.

Upstairs is the master bedroom. The condo is a split level. We get a nice cross breeze through here. I like the quilt a lot but the carpet has something to be desired. We usually wake up to someone hitting off of the first tee around 6:45am. Across the hall is another bedroom.

This is the guest bedroom downstairs and also the storage for our clubs. It also has a nice Hawaiian quilt on the bed, making it very inviting for those guests that will be coming!

Craig has begun teaching. He has one class right now on Tuesdays and Thursdays that goes from 12:10-3:20! That is a long time to hold a class, but it is only for the term. In the fall term he will have a more reasonable length. He will also teach one more business class and a missionary prep class.

Colleen will begin teaching piano lessons to non-majors in the fall. In the mean time we will be trained to take tickets for the luaus at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I have also volunteered to work there two days a week. I think it will be in the mission area which has the old time mission home, the old church, and the school house. I got an email yesterday saying that they need help with teaching how to play the ukelele, so maybe I will do that. I will know more this week. I also volunteered a few hours a week at the language lab to help students with English. All of that should keep me busy.

We love you all and miss you very much! I hope you enjoy the blog, it is my first time at it and I think I need to get used to it!!! Colleen, Mom, Tootsie