A Day At Turtle Bay

Mostly for Travis and Cali and their family...

If you watch "Lost" (which I've never seen), you might recognize this banyan tree. It's also in Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Alvin and the Chipmunks 3, and Journey to the Center of the Earth 2.

Beautiful hiking trails through the woods...

Kawela Bay. Usually very secluded, like this.

A potential blow hole although the water is never high enough to spout out of it.

Kawela Bay from the other side.

View of Turtle Bay Resort from the WWII bunker.

Bull Hawaiian monk seal.

There's a picnic area under the tree at this little catch and release pond. They stock it with small tilapia and koi. It's next to the Fazio golf course and the stables.

Can you believe Ryan and I get to come out here every day for work?

Baby Shower

Friday night my "aunties" had a baby shower for me at the church (FYI: in Hawaii all people older than you are referred to as auntie or uncle regardless of relationship). But before I go into that I have some nice pictures I'd like to show to you...

Some of you may remember the pictures of my first attempt curl my own hair from last year. It was messy, sloppy, took an hour and a half, and still held no curl. I am proud to announce that I have been working at it for a year now and I believe I have made significant improvement. My curlers stay in better, my hair holds curl, and it only takes 20-40 minutes to put all the rollers in my hair. Personal victory!
PS - all the highlights are natural from the Hawaiian sunshine.

35 weeks!

My belly quite literally EXPLODED just in the last 5 DAYS. It's incredible how fast I've outgrown clothes, even some maternity clothes.

These pictures were taken at the beginning of the shower before everyone had arrived. Some ladies dropped off gifts, but were unable to stay. I also got a couple of gifts from the library staff which was very nice of them.

From left to right: Liz Logan, Colleen Logan, Fran Corcoran, me, Paulette Taylor, Shauna Thee, Maren Hancock, Carrie Hancock (who is expecting in February).

The lady sitting next to me in this picture is Sarah Soakai, she is also expecting and is due in December.

This picture makes me laugh because I look like I have a double chin. Hehehehehehe!

Others whose love and support I appreciate (but who managed to stay out of the pictures) are Pii Cocco (the awesome hostess), Paige Nemrow, Hani Niania, Margaret Erdenebat, Jayne Gubler, Lotta Sua, and Kristin Kirk. Mahalo to all of you!

34 Weeks

34 weeks and a couple days. I like to take pictures on Sunday since it's the only day I fix my hair and wear make up.

When I Was 8 1/2 Months....

I hear that a lot now. Mostly because most strangers don't believe I'm really almost 9 months pregnant. I don't blame them since I have a work uniform that swallows me. The conversation usually starts when tourists try to do some small talk and ask if I have kids. "Not for another six weeks" is my reply. The different reactions are great. For some people it goes right over their head, a few look confused but don't ask, some try to then look at the belly without making it look like they're looking, but most people respond with, "OMG! Are you pregnant? I couldn't even tell! Girl you're tiny! You look great!" Then comes the stories about how absolutely HUGE they were at 8 months and how lucky I am. Don't get me wrong, I do feel fortunate not to look like a Thanksgiving parade balloon, but it does annoy me when people try to write off any back pain or swelling I have as nothing simply because I'm not the female equivalent of the Stay Puffed Marshmellow Man. A lady at church actually told me I was being a wimp when I had the audacity to sit down in a grocery aisle and rest because my contractions were so intense (whoever said Braxton Hicks don't hurt should change places with me for a day). I'm still carrying around extra weight that my body isn't used to. I'm 33 pounds over my normal weight. Quite a feat considering I initially lost somewhere between 12 - 15 pounds the first 3 1/2 months. Oh well, people are always going to be judgmental and always base their evaluation of others on what they think other people should feel according to their own experience.

My less-than-flattering work uniform.

For those of you that weren't aware, I stopped working at the ranch at the end of July. The second week of August I got a job out at Turtle Bay at the Hele Huli Adventure Center. Here I make reservations for guests for recreational activities like helicopter rides, kayak tours, surf lessons, tennis lessons and court times, horseback riding, Segway tours, etc. We also rent out snorkel equipment, beach floats, backpacks, mopeds, bicycles, tennis gear, underwater cameras, boogie boards, skimboards and the like. To top it all off I also get to make shave ice for customers (hint, you know someone is not local if they request "shaved" ice).

Also, when I am wearing a shirt that shows the belly I get asked this depressing question a lot, "Did you just have a baby?"
That would actually discourage me if I didn't belong in this gene pool:

I think I'll be okay.

Four Years!

As you well know, Tuesday was our four year anniversary! Well, both of us had to work so we didn't do much celebrating that day, but we did later in the week. There were two things I really wanted to do this year: I wanted to do sealings at the temple and go out for breakfast.
On Wednesday we went to the temple with a handful of family names for the sealing session. The sealer, Brother Mahelona, recognized us from previous sealing sessions and told us he was happy to see us again. It was then I noticed the witness to his left - an elderly gentlemen with a cane wearing the name tag "Roy K. Machado". I gasped silently. I hadn't recognized him but I recognized the name from my marriage certificate. Brother Machado was the man who sealed Ryan and I four years ago. How fortunate that we met up with him that day! I went up to him afterward, introduced myself, shook his hand, and thanked him for his service in the temple. It was a wonderful experience that I will always cherish!
On Thursday we had to go to town for a doctor's appointment so we decided to go to a restaurant recommended to us called Boots & Kimo.

They are said to have the best pancakes on the island. So we bit the bullet and entered the tourist trap (if anyone tells you it's a local hangout they're lying, other than the servers it was all tourists). But I have to admit, the pancakes were pretty gosh darn delicious!

This is the stack of onolicious pancakes with the special macadamia nut sauce. It was sooooooo rich and creamy! It was delicious! The sauce was light and frothy and sweet, but not overpowering. It was good! A sweet ending to our anniversary celebration!