You start by hanging jingle bells on your door. My visiting teaching companion gave them to me.
You hang up the wreath that some friends gave you. It's real pine and smells so good! You also hang up the Christmas cards you got in the mail.
And you trim the two foot tree with whatever you have. In our case... earrings.
And some candy canes from church.
First we met them in Haleiwa where we had them try one of our favorite treats, rambuton. It's a fruit with a red spiky/hairy shell. It's similar to lychee (although Ryan and I think it's much sweeter).
Then we stopped by the ranch to show them where I work. This horse is Tommy Girl. She's in her own little pen while she recuperates. She was on a cattle drive Friday and was gored by a bull in the chest. We are very fortunate that the vet was able to come and stitch the severed vein before she bled to death. The wound is five inches deep!
She's a sweetheart!
Standing next to the office. Steve Lowry is Doug's older brother.
After going to the temple and BYU-H, we finished off the day with dinner at Lei Lei's over at Turtle Bay. We were joined by Janell's niece, McKae Joyner (Aunt Janell is a cousin to Wally Joyner for any baseball fans reading this). McKae is going to BYU-H.
Eden was "Where's Waldo?", Hannah just dressed up nice, and I was Princess Jasmine... again (I love my snake bracelet!). They had music, food, facepainting, cotton candy, coloring and stickers for the kids, giant inflatable jumping things, and the stables were converted into "The Haunted Barn".
I love this picture! I like the way the wind made my outfit "poofy". This was right after we went through the Haunted Barn. Ryan wore his Moroccan shirt and my scarf. I would point out his sandals but he wears them every day.
Jarett looked pretty dapper.
Hannah really liked my shoes.
And then we went home. When we left for Turtle Bay at 5:45 PM, the streets were already pretty full. When we arrived home at 7:30, they were packed! You know it's crowded when you have trouble getting through on a motorcycle! Some streets were even coned off so no vehicles would try to drive through. We didn't realize that many people bring their kids to trick-or-treat in Laie because it's a pretty safe neighborhood. There were people from Kaaawa, Hauula, Kahuku, and Sunset. We were ill prepared for the onslaught of traffic. Our first bag of candy ran out within twenty minutes. Ryan went to the store and purchased two more bags, they also didn't last long. So we decided to trick-or-treat people in the ward (most of whom were also out of candy). We were informed later that Iosepa and Moana streets receive around 1,000 trick-or-treaters every Halloween! There's a family that orders 950 light sticks to give out every year and every year they run out. People also count candy (it's nice that they print it on the bags). Halloween wasn't a "big deal" in Idaho, but it's HUGE here! All ages dress up and trick-or-treat. Adults in costume have babes in arms in costume. They're so festive, I love it!
Here's the gang coming down from the lookout.
Up at the lookout. Baagie & Scarlett, Margaret & Baron (yes thank heavens they've renamed him), and Ryan & Flaming Arrow.
I think Jarett has one of the best smiles ever.
I love the mountains here! The way Redman's mane is blowing in the wind reminds me of The Man From Snowy River.
See proof! I was there! My horse is Buttons, she can be a punk but she's a great little horse. And I have a soft spot for buckskins.
Hannah and Tommy Girl
Eden carved a pineapple with a tiki face. Then she started on a small pumpkin.
Margaret and Baagie hard at work.
Hannah unleashing her creativity. 
And the cake! I forgot to buy candles so we just sang. He doesn't look 28 does he? I couldn't have made the cake without Eden's help! It's actually an ice cream cake. There's a layer of cookies 'n cream ice cream between two layers of yellow cake (with crushed oreos in the batter) and all topped with a very sweet homemade butter frosting. He got a lot of great presents including caramel corn and a book from me, kool-aid from both Eden and mom and dad, cocktail shrimp from Hannah and Jarett, a Vermont maple-apple curry we can't wait to try from Margaret and Baagie, and (the only gift not food oriented) an underwater digital camera from his parents.
On Saturday, Oct. 16th, we celebrated Ryan's birthday by going on a trail ride and following it up with a party. The ride takes you up to the top of the mountain where there is a WWII military bunker and a phenomenal view of the coast! This is Laie Point.
This is a view of some of the ranch (the rodeo arena is kind of visible on the right). It's owned by the Smith family and encompasses about 600 acres, many of which are rented out as pastures to horse owners. It is home to lots and lots of horses, about 250 head of cattle, 30-some goats, about a dozen mangy sheep, and wild pigs, chickens, rabbits, and peacocks. And we can't forget the wonderful ranch dogs and a couple of resident cats. At one point the whole thing was a sugar cane plantation.
This is the view of Kahuku (that's where Turtle Bay is).
That is "turtle island" in the distance. It is down towards Kaneohe.
The group: Jarett & Redman, Baagie & Scarlett, Margaret & Prince, and Hannah & Tommy Girl.
Hannah & Tommy Girl and Jarett & Redman. Redman is actually from Arizona. We have about half a dozen horses that were brought over from there.
Ryan & Flaming Arrow (from the Flaming Arrow Ranch in Arizona).
Margaret & Prince. Prince is one of two recently acquired horses (they were bought in September). 
Jarett & Redman and Hannah & Tommy Girl.
Margaret & Prince and Baagie & Scarlett.
Ryan!!!!!!!
This is the Koolau mountain range. I thought I got more pictures of it, obviously not.
The group arriving at the lookout.
On our way up to the lookout, a view of the pastures.
On our way up to the lookout. I was riding Buttons. I wish I had some pictures of her, she's a spunky little buckskin pony. To the left is the awesome ranch dog Cami.
The new babies (just born in June) with their mamas.
Ace. He's the resident miniature horse. There's another one named Candy but she wouldn't hold still for a picture. To the left you can barely see John's head. John is one of the ranches two stallions. He's gorgeous and muscular! The Smith kids use him for barrel racing. I was surprised at how big high school rodeo is out here. 
This is the other stud Mailelei.
He is also a beautiful horse, but unfortunately he can't be ridden. He has something wrong with his feet.
You don't see this part of Hawaii on post cards :-)
I know that's such an oxymoron, but these things were huge! Longer and bigger around than my finger! They make popcorn shrimp look microscopic! To give you better perspective, I put 10-12 regular shrimp on a skewer.
At a campaign event of course! It was great! Ryan was not at all upset since the food provided was amazingly good. Halfway through the evening they counted over 600 people from the Hauula, Laie, and Kahuku communities. Not bad for a blue state. We saw a lot of friends and heard a lot of great messages! Duke Aiona, candidate for Governor of Hawaii. 
Lynn Finnegan, candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii. She finished up the night with a beautiful rendition of "How Great Thou Art". I tell you, that wahine can sing!
Gil Riviere and Richard Fale, candidates for the Hawaii State House. 
Gil Riviere, John Willoughby, candidate for U.S. Representative, and Dawn O'Brien. Dawn is a local radio personality for 95.5 The Fish, a Christian rock station. She was born in Tonga and is half Irish. My favorite quote of the evening, "Being half Irish and half Tongan I have a fiery temper and the body to back it up! Lucky for you I'm a Christian.... that means you have five seconds to run!"
I got to get a picture with John Willoughby. There were other things that went on onstage like hula performances and the Mt. Zion choir (a local Baptist congregation). All-in-all it was a great evening!
