Merry Christmas Eve!

Its Christmas Eve so Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!!!

Creepy Crawlers...

Anyone who's been to hawaii knows that there are lots creatures that can be inside your house at any time! There are the ants that you get rid of but are back the next day, and of course the cockroaches that tend to freak many people out just because they bigger than most people have seen and they fly! I always think its funny that they scare people so bad... sure they're nasty little things but they dont bite, sting, or cause any sort of harm to you, plus we are a million times bigger than they are and can crush them with a single swat of a shoe.... and most times do. But thats not the point of this story, the other day before we left, this is who we found!



Can you spot him? He blends in quite well...

Here he is ready for his close up!


We love geckos! They're awesome little pets to have! They dont need too much from you.... they find food on their own and we love it when they eat! They like to eat other bugs... the kind of bugs you dont want around your house. They aren't yappy little obnoxious pets... they even have a cute little sound they make... We dont have to clean up after him at all or leave anything out for him... no cost to us at all, we didnt have to go buy him at a pet store, didn't need to find him a sitter while we are gone on vacation, we just let him come and go as he pleases and he helps us out by feeding on any other bugs we have in the house!

Surprise!!!!

Surprise we've arrived! We were planning on staying home in hawaii this Christmas due to the fact that we are living on a college student budget and trying to save money... however, we were blessed with an opportunity to make a little extra money than planned and found cheap tickets last minute that worked perfectly for us! We are so excited about being able to spend the holidays with family this year! Its been great to spend the little amount of time that we have already with family and those who are still making their way down to southern california.... we can't wait to see you!!!

To All of our friends and Family.... Mele Kalikimaka!

This one's for Mahina

A while back Mahina had asked me to post a picture of the camera we were using to get all of our water shots. I know its taken me forever Mahina, so sorry about that... but here it is! Looks just like a normal digital camera, nothing special to look at but we think it takes some awesome shots!

You dont have to tell me.... I already know

Confused? So was I when I saw Maila swimming up to the line up!! If youve seen any of our previous blogs then you know we take a lot of water shots, mostly at north shore beaches where the waves break very close to shore. This day however I was out surfing on the east side of oahu at a spot called PCC's (directly in front of the Polynesian culture center) which is known for its fickle conditons and super long paddle out. well on this day all the elements combined to make an absolutely perfect evening for surfing. Perfect glass. shoulder to head high surf and long extending swells reflecting the sun sprayed clouds and lush green forests of the ko'olau mountains. Surfing on this side of the island is also known for the high probability of running into wildlife. Mostly a jumping fish or a passing turtle but there is always the lurking possibility of you know who popping up in the line up. so about 1000 or so yards out at sea i look back into the sun and see a swimmers silhouette. no board. It didn't take long for my eyes to adjust and realize that it was Malia coming out to capture some shots. The three other surfers who were there couldn't believe it. Needless to say I was super proud of my fearless, ocean loving wife although I did fear for her safety when someone thought they spotted something swimming by quickly underneath them. lucky for Malia there was no dramatic shark theme music playing ( which is what provokes sharks to attack anyway) so she was perfectly safe. I know, shes crazy...but that's what makes her so dang cool!!!!
Check out these pictures...shes getting really good...








thats the view from the line up looking down toward Kualoa ranch...Gorgeous





Small but beautiful...

Local knowledge...Malia getting a great shot of Uncle...(ps, Uncle is something said in respect in the islands to anyone you don't know and of coarse they are old enough to be called "uncle"...


I let this guy catch what ever he wanted...in fact I wouldn't even catch a wave before him unless he told me to go for one...he did that a couple of times...you can can bet I did what he said


This is a shot from behind a wave...
The sun just squeaking over the mountains...So pretty...
you dont have to tell me...I already Know...My Wife is the coolest!!!!
Great job Honey...

Free Day!!!

The day before yesterday we had an experience that started out a little like Mahina's "Lighbulbs" post... sorry I dont know how to link to someone else's post yet so I'm just gonna copy and paste it here:

lightbulbs
yesterday was a yucky, stormy, rainy, and windy day! actually, i should say the last two days were! i can't remember it ever raining for this long without stopping since we moved here 7 years ago!

while i was fixing breakfast for the girls yesterday morning, there was a slight power "wobble" where the power was trying to decide if it wanted to fight the storm or just give in. you know what it's like; the lights dim, then they flicker, then they dim again, then the power goes full force and the lights, thankfully, are shining brightly!

well, that is what happened while i was scrambling up some eggs. then suddenly, the girls ran into the kitchen with great urgency and purpose screaming, "mommie, mommie, we need to buy new lightbulbs because all of the lights are dying!"

i love when my day starts out with a giggle! i knew it was going to be a good day, despite the gloom and lack of sunshine!

Nani, lala.... I think we need to get all new lightbulbs too! So now that you've read that story... i can tell you mine! Stuart was working on a presentation with his friend Tommy on the computer, we had a friend staying with us from Albuquerque who was working away on his computer while I was in the kitchen doing dishes and making lemonade. Every few minutes the lights would flicker but would come back to full force. as the night wore on this continued, since all computer work was being done on laptops, the work wasn't effected. I would notice when the power would go off when the hum of the fans would stall for just a moment then continue on or when my phone that was plugged in would chirp like it does when it gets plugged in or unplugged from its charger...

This is nothing out of the ordinary when the winds are like they were that night sometimes the power will go out for a minute and then come right back on. At about 3:22 am I was awaked by water spraying on my face.... were we camping? did it start to rain on us while we were camping under the stars? no no... I'm still in bed but i'm still getting rained on....



As you can see from this picture... the bed is about 4 1/2 feet away from the window. That night the wind was howling and the rain was pouring down. It was Kona winds so the wind was coming straight into this window. Stuart got up, closed the windows completely and with the gusts of wind the rain was still coming in! Poor Charlie out in the living room was sleeping by another window which happend to be missing a couple of louvers and was getting soaked!

This picture i know its hard to see... but for those of you who dont know... A LOT of windows here in hawaii are like this, and you can see theres a "louver" missing there in the middle.

So we made our rounds making sure all windows were closed and anything within reach of the curtains was not going to be knocked of the counter and broken.... then went back to bed... quite the adventurous night.

We woke up in the morning to find that the power had not come back on... (not a big surprise) and that this power outtage was island wide. The last time we had experienced this was sometime during last semester when there was a small earthquake early early on a sunday morning, and power didnt come back on until late sunday night. In this case, it was not a sunday, school was cancelled and we had a free day!!! And what do you do when there's no power, no school and you can't work on homework because we are so dependent on electricity? You grab some friends, load up the back of tank with your boards and head out to surf!



Upon coming home from our day of surfing, we had heard rumors of not getting power back until friday.... that would make things pretty interesting considering this is the last week of classes before finals... some classes even had a final scheduled for yesterday.... who knows what happens with that.

One of many great things about living in hawaii is that in December, you can still BBQ outside! Thats what happens when there's no electricy! And living here in TVA (housing apartments for married students at BYU-Hawaii) when the power goes out and theres rumors that you wont get it back for 2-3 days you gotta use up all your food before it goes bad. Tables were set up outside where people brought their food, and a BBQ was going. A spur of the moment potluck and it was awesome!

As im sure you have all noticed.... the power is no longer out (seeing that I am blogging) while we were sitting around eating singing playing guitar and ukulele we saw some christmas lights go on! And the power was back! well it was fun while it lasted! Now its back to school and work.... and hopefully blogging.... sorry about the delay!