Oahu Day 3- Sea life park and pineapple plantation

Our trip to the Sea Life park was great. I wasn't sure if a general admission ticket would be that exciting because on the website they really pushed buying an "adventure" of some sort. "Adventure's" included swimming with the dolphins, sea lions, stingrey's, etc. All of it sounded fun but you had to be older than 8. The entry to the park is a huge aquarium where we stayed for some time. Every time something came close Katelyn pointed and AHH AHHed. We fed the sea turtles. Katelyn really got into that too. She watched her pieces of lettuce closely and AHH AHHed some more when they ate her piece.

Sea turtle.
We watched the monk seals get fed and listened to a presentation from one of their handlers. We watched a Miss Sea lion pageant where Miss Baja and Miss California were competing for the title. One did a ballet dance for the talent and another did a mission impossible routine. We got to vote on the winner. The mission impossible routine won but we voted for the ballet dancer because KyKy wanted the dancer to win.

We went to the penguin habitat and heard another presentation from the penguin handler. One of the Penguins must have been hoping for snacks instead of a presentation because it kept nipping at the feet of the handler. The highlight of the sea life center was the dolphin show. It was very exciting when one of the dolphins took it's trainer on a surfing ride and later threw her in the air. We even saw a wholfin. It's mother was a dophin, it's father a whale. It is the only known wholfin and it's birth was not "planned." It did tricks with the other dolphins. It was larger and darker in color.

After the seal life park we took a detour and headed for the dole pineapple plantation. We decided to go there spur of the moment, but unknowingly took the long way and spent 1 1/2 hours in the car. When we got there we had the most delicious ice cream known to man, fresh pineapple soft serve ice cream. Too bad we only know of one place to go for such a delicasy. We went on the train and saw the pineapple fields and on a garden tour where mom took lots of pictures of flowers.
An actual pinapple plant.
I can't believe this, but I was actually able to get a video on my blog so here's a small excerpt from the dolphin show that mom recorded on her camera. Another full, fun day on Oahu.

Oahu days 1 and 2

On March 20th, 2008 we flew to Oahu to meet my parents for the start of their two week vacation and a four day vacation for us. We had the best flight of our lives. No delays, layovers or anything. It took longer to get to the airport from our house than it did to fly from Kauai to Oahu. We arrived at about 8:00 a.m. We picked up our rental car, got some breakfast, etc. and picked up my parents around noon. First things first....my parents got lei'd in Hawaii. Notice the pretty purple leis in the picture. We went straight to the zoo. To be honest Honolulu's zoo wasn't that fabulous, there were a lot of birds. We did enjoy watching the chimpanzee's eat and their handler came and talked to us about the group of chimpanzees. My parents really liked the banyon trees. A banyon tree is a tree that has a virus and it ends up looking like this.

After the zoo we went to Duke's for dinner. It was right on the Waikiki beach and we were able to walk from our hotel. I was excited that they had monchong available, my favorite fish. We played in the water of Waikiki for awhile after dinner. KyKy cannot get near the water without getting soaked so she walked back to the hotel dripping wet.

Waikiki beach

The next morning we were up bright and early to hike to the top of diamond head. It is a .7 mile hike with 271 stairs, tunnels and a bunker thing at the top that makes a good lookout spot. My mom was so proud of herself for making it to the top that she bought a certificate that proved she had been there. She really wanted a T-shirt that said "I made it to the top of diamond head." Halfway down the hill a guy was selling just that T-shirt so she got her wish. The view was spectacular. Kyleigh made it all the way up and most of the way down all by herself. She had blisters on the back of her feet when we were done but she was such a trooper. When she starts to get tired we tell her she is training for Alaska (so next time we go to Alaska she can come with us) and she will keep going.

view from the top of diamond head.

That afternoon we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was so fun. First we watched a movie about the coral reefs in the IMAX theatre. Then we watched the canoe pageant with a different canoe representing a different island of the Pacific. We walked around to the different "islands" and participated in cultural activities. We went to Tahiti and got a tattoo. In Samoa we watched a cooking demonstration. In Tonga we listened to a drum show and somewhere else we weaved small fish from native plants. In the evening we went to a luau with lots of food, hula and Hawaiian music. Our favorite was the lei greeting and the purple taro rolls.

These girls in the canoe pageant could really shake!

After the luau we went to the Horizons night show. It was 110%. The costumes, backdrop, music, dancing, and especially the fire dancer. When we saw the star of the show, the fire dancer, we realized he was the same person who weaved the girls hats at the coconut festival in Kapaa (a town of Kauai) last fall. He told us then that he worked at the PCC, but we didn't realize he was the star of the show. How fun.

All of us at the luau.

Random catch up

Hello Everyone. Sorry I haven't posted anything for so long. We have been having trouble transferring pictures from the camera card to the computer. All is well in Hawaii. Kyleigh is having a great time at preschool and can't wait until Tuesday and Thursday come around. She loves ballet, and just yesterday Daddy came home early from work so he could go watch her at ballet class. She also loves the beach and would be there every day if she could. Katelyn loves the beach too, but it wears her out.



Katelyn is growing bigger and bigger. Just the other day we found her fifth tooth. Her personality is busting out. She is a girly girl like her sister. She loves shoes, bracelets, and purses. The other night she got ahold of some glittery lip gloss and had it smeared ALL over her face. She was pretty proud of herself. She thinks it is fun that she is getting big enough to do some of the things her big sister does, like play on the swingset.

Rusty and I just took another golf lesson. It was our third of four lessons. We learned how to drive the ball. Our teacher has all kinds of fun ways to learn, including the luau swing where we carry the tray, slap the pig, spear the fish and pull the net in, then stop for our kodak moment. If anyone needs golf lessons on Kauai we can recommend a great instructor.

Random picture of Katelyn who we frequently call Queen Kong!

We continue to volunteer at the humane society. The last time we went we made quite the scene. We took a dog out on a leash to the courtyard. I let Kyleigh hold the leash and the dog pulled it out of her hands. The courtyard is supposed to be enclosed but a delivery person had the door propped open and the dog escaped. Luckily the kennel staff was right there and they were right on it. They had the dog back very soon and I got a lecture on how to hold a leash. I don't think we will venture out to the courtyard again for a while.


Do you know what the picture below says? Ten points if you can figure it out.




This is the sign we made for Kyleigh's half birthday party. It says Happy Birthday Kyleigh, with only half the letters. We celebrated her half birthday on April 26th. We had been stuck inside for the week before because we were sick. We needed something fun to do, so we planned a half birthday party. We had half moon shaped cookies for desert and half sopapillas to make navajo tacos. Mike and Holly joined us. We couldn't sing happy birthday on a half birthday so we said "Hap, Hap, happy half birthday," and of course no presents at a half birthday (although KyKy tried to weasel some presents out of it). We are looking forward to my mom and dad visiting us next week. We are going to meet them in Oahu for 4 days so we are very excited for that, too. In May some friends of ours from Silver City, James and Vicki Hill, will visit. The invitation is open to anyone. We would love to have you!

Christmas 2007

Hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas, 07. We did. We celebrated on Kauai with three fun parties before we left for Idaho. One with Mike and Holly to open the gifts to one another. One for Rusty's work. Kids were invited and Santa made a special trip to deliver treats to the kids. Then the next night Santa came back to our church party where we were treated to imu pork and turkey, among other delicous foods. We left for Idaho on Dec. 20th at 9:00 P.M. We made the trip to Idaho with only two major complications. We had an extra 3 hour layover in L.A. for a grand total of 6 hours. The girls were real troopers. The worst part about it was that it was soooo cold, even in L.A. (atleast for us). When we got to Salt Lake City we were one bag short. We figure someone must have taken our bag by mistake because there was one very similar to ours left from our flight. Eventually they returned it and the airline flew it to Pocatello. We got it December 23rd. In the meantime we made due by buying some clearance items at Shopko.


Our christmas gingerbread train.

We had the special treat of meeting our new nephew/cousin, Payton Aaron Olsen once we got to Pocatello. He is the most handsome little honey you ever did see. Tucker, our other nephew was alot more respectful of Katelyn now that she can walk. Atleast he didn't try to hit her every time he saw her-until the last couple of days we were there.

Kyleigh with new baby cousin, Payton.

We did all sorts of fun things in Idaho. Kyleigh helped GG with everything, including making sugar cookies, watching the cranberries pop, and re-decorating the tree after the babies (Tucker and Katelyn) removed ornaments. We had a party with the Graves family on the 23rd and one with the Larsen family on the 24th.

KyKy watching the cranberries pop with GG.

Rusty and I got to go sledding one night. Tyler, our brother in law works at Les Scwab tires so he got some really good tubes and we went to a hill near ISU at night. We went with my sister Darci and her fiance Dan, my brother Nate, and my sister Rissie and her husband Tyler. Of course "normal" tubing was quickly taken over by jumps, shovel sledding, group tube chains, spinning wildly, and human michelin man sledding.

Katelyn, KyKy, Payton and Tucker. Smile (yea right)

Rusty had to come back to Kauai for work a week earlier than I came back. We left the girls with my mom and I took him back to the airport. We stayed overnight in Salt Lake. We got to go to Olive Garden for dinner, the Salt Lake Temple, and around Temple square in a carriage. I've always wanted to do that.

Kyleigh and daddy building a fabulous snowman.

I can't name all of the fabulous gifts we received because I know I would leave something out. I will say the most treasured gift I got was a picture of my mom and dad that they secretly had taken. I have it proudly displayed on my counter. Of course, the best part of the whole season was catching up with friends and family through Christmas cards, and visits. I am already looking forward to the next holiday season.

OUR SPECIAL PLEA

Thank you for coming to read our special plea.
Rusty and I have been blessed to live parallel lives with our best friends, Mike and Holly. We are also very blessed in that Mike and Holly are not just friends but family. Rusty and Mike went to college together, wrestled together at Boise State and graduated with the same degree during the same ceremony. All four of us moved to Utah after graduation and one at a time we made our way back to Idaho. We bought our first houses within a few months of each other. We got our first family dogs within a few months of each other. We all ended up moving from Idaho to New Mexico within a few months of each other. We built houses and became next door neighbors. Now both houses are for sale and we have made our way to Hawaii together. Holly's family didn't just welcome Mike into their family when they were married, but Rusty and I became part of the family also. We've been on vacations, big and small, together. Countless road trips from Idaho and Utah to New Mexico and back, with new adventures each time. Yes, we've been blessed with parallel lives, except for one thing.



Mike and Holly in Waimea Canyon, HI 2007

During the last nine years Mike and Holly have been privy to countless pregnancy announcements, baby births, baby blessings and lots of growing up. Two of those babies are ours. Despite an incredible desire for children and countless medical options available today, Mike and Holly can not have children of their own.

Holly with baby Kyleigh. Aug 2003.

They were the first people to the hospital when both of our daughters were born. Their house was the first place Kyleigh slept away from home. She was four months old. Katelyn's second word after Mama was Mike. They have a room in their house called the care bear room. It was designed as a special place for Kyleigh and later Katelyn to play at Uncle Mikey and Aunt Holly's house. Just this week Rusty had a large mirror at work that had been removed and they were going to throw it away. I said I didn't have a use for it, but Holly's first thought was "Yes I want it, I'll find somewhere to put it so Kyleigh can have a little dance studio at my house".

Uncle Mikey and Katelyn. Nov. 2007

I think it's safe to say that we have firsthand knowledge of the amazing parental qualities of our best friends. Through lots of prayer and study they have made a committment to adopt. We have been on a lot of journey's with Mike and Holly and this is no exception.

Mike, Holly and Kyleigh. Dec. 2004

I am not one to "solicit." However, they say that the majority of adoptions happen because somebody knows somebody who is trying to adopt a baby. So our special plea is that you will spread the word- you know somebody who knows somebody who is trying to adopt a baby. We don't care how you pass the word. Copy this and e-mail it to friends. Remember Mike and Holly when adoption comes up in a conversation. When your families are gathered around you during the holidays read our message. This is of eternal significance.

Reading bedtime stories to Kyleigh. Nov 2007

Mike and Holly are adopting through LDS family services. The web site is http://www.itsaboutlove.com/. It's not just about Mike and Holly being blessed with a child, it's also about a child being blessed with Mike and Holly.

Katelyn's 1st Birthday

Happy Birthday to Katelyn. November 18th was the big 1! We celebrated on November 24th with a raging duck party. Those here for the celebration were us, Nama, Papa, Mike, and Holly. Katelyn fell asleep just before party time so we had to postpone the party for a little while. Here she is giving the "I'm one" sign.


I ordered a 3-D duck pan off e-bay. It turned out O.K. but I wasn't thinking and put rainbow chip frosting on it so it kind of looks like a duck with colorful measles.

I also made a cheesecake with homemade caramel sauce died blue for water. I ordered some fairy tale rubber ducks to decorate. My favorite part of this recipe is the carmalized walnuts so I couldn't do without those. Just pretend they are the loyal subjects of the king and queen duck. This was for all of us who didn't get to play in the duck cake.

Katelyn was a little unsure at first. Why was there a cake in the middle of the table and why was everyone looking at her?

It didn't take long for her to warm up to the duck. She poked, smashed, smeared and ate the duck into oblivion.

We plopped her into the sink and hosed her down when it was all over. The cake smeared everywhere wasn't the hardest of the aftermath. It was the sugar high. Oh my Goodness! She was everywhere. It took several hours before she finally calmed down.

First birthdays are the best!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving this year turned out great. We had Mike and Holly (from here), Merrill and Nancy from New Mexico, Steve from Maui and of course, us. I spent most of the day drugged with a horrible flu like sickness. I can still say it was great because alka seltzer is a miracle drug. Thankfully everyone pitched in and we still had a delicious dinner. We had the traditional feast with a Hawaiian flare. Steve is shown here preparing some fresh coconut. I don't know what he did to it but when it was done it tasted like fish. He also prepared bread fruit which tasted like a "funky version of mashed potatoes." (Quote from Rusty)




Holly delighted our palates with her usual assortment of delicious pies. We had cherry, apple, razzleberry, and pumpkin. My personal favorite remains pumpkin. We had almost as many pies as people, which is less than last year when we had more pies than people (and there were 15 people).



Here is a picture of the spread. Sorry Mom, I know you will be disappointed in the method of serving thanksgiving dinner but you can blame Holly for the can shaped cranberry sauce. It was her masterpiece.

After dinner and digestion we drove up to Waimea Canyon, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. You can see the Na Pali coastline on the right and the ocean is not pictured but on the left. It was a beautiful day to go. The visibility was amazing.

Hope everybody's Thanksgiving was as fun as ours!!!