Hawaii: Maui

The last half of the week was spent on Maui with 1/2 of the partners. We had a fun group. On Thursday all eight couples took a ferry over to Lanaii. There was a beautiful beach- perfect for snorkeling and swimming. We had such a fun time.

The partners ready to snorkel:

We had a sweet miracle happen here. At the end of the afternoon, Ken and I got in the surf to just play and have fun. We noticed the waves were getting bigger and the ocean getting rougher, so we decided it was time to get out. On the way out, a huge wave hit us, knocking me down. I held onto my glasses, but I was down. Just then an even huger wave hit, tumbling me and stripping me of my glasses with sunglasses attached. Ken helped me out of the ocean, and went back to look for my glasses, but to no avail. He then came in and got his snorkel, said a prayer, and headed out to look for them. I honestly thought it was hopeless. But within minutes, he came out, holding up my glasses! They were under about six feet, starting to get buried by sand, but he saw them and dove for them. The sunglasses were still attached, too!

Bye, Lanaii!

(Ken took this picture, and I think it's one of the prettiest we got on the whole trip.)

The gorgeous sunset behind our hotel.

We loved the shaved ice.

On Friday, Ken and Dean golfed and Marsha and I rode along. It was a beautiful course!

Dinner that evening at Cheeseburgers in Paradise.

On Saturday, Ken rented a bike and rode clear up the coast. I swam in the hotel pool and read by the pool. In the afternoon, we drove up to Pai'a and did some shopping. The prices up there were much better than down in Lahaina. We had a fun afternoon. A lady working in one of the shops had rescued a little bird. Ken told her how to care for it. She was so appreciative she gave us a free Hawaiian Christmas ornament.

After shopping, we met several of the partners for dinner. The sunset that night:

Sunday:

We love to attend church in Hawaii. It is always a sweet experience. All of the partners attended Sacrament meeting, then they all left for home or other islands. We opted to stay on Maui for a couple more days. We had a wonderful leisurely Sabbath day. After church, we had lunch, talked with all three daughters, studied, and took a nap. This is Ken on our lanai working on his stake conference talk for next week:

In our "backyard":

That evening we barbecued and watched the beautiful sunset.

Have you tried barbecued pineapple? It is so yummy. Marinate it in some sugar or honey and then barbecue the spears.

Just chillin, watching the sunset:

This was a "where were you when this happened?" moment. We were out barbecuing when a lady announced the news that Osama bin Ladin was dead. We went in and watched the story unfold on the news:

Click "Older Posts" to see the last day of our Hawaii trip.

Hawaii-Our last day on Maui- Snorkel Day!!

Monday was our last day. We designated it our snorkel day and set out after breakfast to Honolua Bay. You get there by a beautiful walk through the jungle.

Honolua Bay is all volcanic rock. There is no sandy beach, so it's extremely difficult to get in. Ken was very patient and helped me down into the water. It took forever. I won't ever go again, but I was sure glad I went this time. It was SO, SO fun. This is how the whole shore is: Rocky!!! We rented an underwater camera and I had a BLAST taking pictures as we snorkeled. I loved it. You think this is a lot of pictures. I had to be very selective, as we took over 200. My self portrait:

See the eel! They are so fast, I felt so excited that I got a picture:

Hi Guy! He swam right for me:

Big blue fish:

Here's that big blue fish again. He's my favorite species:

Turtle:

These little Puffer fish are very shy.

In the afternoon, we headed to Black Rock to snorkel. I love Black Rock because you always see turtles there. But, alas, we never made it. It was thundering and lightening and the rain cut loose and it just poured. We got soaked literally to the skin. It actually was kind of fun!

We ended the day with one more of those delicious Shaved Ice. We decided this Hula Cookies Shop made the best ones. Goodbye, Hawaii!

Mom' Favorites

My sister, Pam was recently looking through old stuff and found my Beehive Girls Handbook. She gave it to me. Most of what is in there is embarrassing as it reveals my immaturity as a 12/13 year old, but there was one page I found very interesting. As a Beehive girl, I was to interview my mother and record some of her favorites at the time. So here are my mother's favorite things back in about 1968. I figure this picture of us was taken about then.

My Mother's favorite:

Color is . . . pink.

Song or composer . . . Pacinni (Puccini)

Food is . . . whole wheat toast, pineapple

Flavoring is . . . vanilla

Sport is . . . tennis

Performer is . . . Katherine Hepburn

Kind of entertainment . . .an opera

Book or author . . . Henry Longfellow

Flower is . . . the rose (pink)

Hobby is . . . Playing the piano

Style of furniture . . .French Provincial

Outfit in her wardrobe . . Moo Moo

What is something she wants? . . . a mink stole

What is the household chore she dislikes most? . . . washing

What is something I do which irritates her? . . . stall while practicing the piano.

It's so fun to find a glimpse into my mother from so many years ago. Happy Mother's Day!

La's Orchestra Saves the World

La's Orchestra Saves the World by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It's no secret that I love Mma Ramotswe and the Detective Agency Series. So, I was excited to read this non-series book by the same author, Alexander McCall Smith, set in WW2 England. I wanted to love it. I loved it's theme: music saves the world. But it just wasn't as well written as his other books. It starts well, giving details of La's life and troubles, as well as other characters, but then the plot gets thready, covering many years in just a few chapters. The reader views the story through the eyes of La, the main character. But I didn't like her much. And though it's theme was that music and normalcy during wartime is what saves the world (great theme!), I just didn't see that developed well in the book. It's a clean, easy read, and certainly not objectional, but I just didn't enjoy it much. Maybe my expectations were too high.

View all my reviews

"Mom Moment" in Hawaii

We just returned from Hawaii. We had a marvelous trip (post soon to come.) But with Mother's Day this week, I just have to share a sweet "Mom Moment" I had while there. One afternoon, I was shopping in a little gift shop and found "Wicked Wahini" perfume. My mom LOVED Wicked Wahini perfume. She always bought a bottle when she went to the islands and wore it frequently. They had a sample bottle, so I sprayed some on my wrist and breathed in my mother. Just then, the Hawaiian background music playing in the store switched to the song, "Lovely Hula Hands." My mother could do the hula beautifully. She had learned when they lived in Hawaii before I was born. Her teacher was some famous choreographer, but I don't remember her name. Anyway, Mom loved Hawaii and Hawaiian things and doing the hula. She was so graceful. When I was growing up, my mom taught us hula lessons, and then she would take us to perform for luaus all over the valley. Loris Stewart and his little combo would play, we would dance "Hukilau" and "Little Brown Gal" and, I think it was called "Hawaiian Warrior Song" and mom would always do a solo of "Lovely Hula Hands." She was always the star of the show.

So, there in that little shop, I closed my eyes and pictured her swaying hips, her beautiful smile, and her graceful "fingertips that say Aloha!" I smelled her smell and remembered her grace and whispered, "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!" It was a sweet "Mom Moment" in Hawaii.