This week the weather has been somewhat cooler. It is about 75 degrees and we actually only have one fan going at the moment. I have been wearing longer pants and even wore a light jacket to the movie last night. It is pleasant not to be so hot and sticky. They have something here called "vog" which is really fog but if the winds are blowing from the Big Island, then it brings volcanic ash in the air and becomes "vog."

This is a picture of Dennis with two of his Chinese students. They are from China. The boy is from Hong Kong and the girl is from Mainland China. Dad says the Asian students are good thinkers, but have such a difficult time with the language that their written exams and papers are hard to understand. These two students are members of the Church. It is amazing how many members of the Church we meet who are Chinese. The Church is growing in their country one baptism at a time, many occurring
here in Laie.  One of our student helpers at the School of Education is from Hong Kong. Victoria is the only member in her family but says her parents are supportive. She has a Chinese boyfriend who lives in Hong Kong who is also a member and he was just hired to work for the Church to help the missionaries with the language.

This is a picture of Dennis out for his morning walk. He usually walks out to a place called the 'Point.' It is a narrow piece of land that juts out into the ocean. Sometimes when it is stormy the waves will crash over the rock formation in the background. There are some very nice homes up at the Point. This was the first time I had walked since we came. I like to blame it on my leg, but I think we can all agree that may not be entirely true. He leaves the apt. at 6:30 in the morning and it is still dark. We all know that is too early for his lazy wife.

Thursday night we went to the Women's volleyball game. It was their last game of the season and they were ranked #2 in their division. They played Pacific University, the only team to have beaten them. But fortunately, our lady Seasiders won. We were there with a group of other senior missionaries and it was fun to be there.This is their 'Marriott center.' These girls are not built like typical volleyball players but they are quite good.

Dennis has been enjoying golfing each week and has been to Turtle Bay, but this is not their clubhouse, but the one at the course in Kahuku. It is only $16.00 and no carts which lets me out, but I think he is enjoying going with different people and has even gone by himself.

OK - This is disgusting but I thought I should give a bug update. This is our first cockroach. The picture does not do it justice but it was as big as my thumb. While Dennis was out walking I went into the bathroom and there this creature was, crawling around the bathtub. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed our can of Roach and Ant spray and raced back into the bathroom where I let him have it. It sent chills up my body. We have been here 3 months and this is our first one, so that is pretty good. I think it crawled up the drain in the tub.
We also have a small gecko who lives with us. I don't mind him though because he eats sugar ants. I have only seen him once, but the other night when Dennis opened the cupboard door, he found him lounging on a can of soup. He tried to sell Dennis some car insurance.

We worked at the PCC the other night at the Prime Dining buffet. While we were waiting for the doors to open we took this picture of a couple of the girls who were working with us. They greet the guests and have their pictures taken with them. The girl on the far left is MaKayla and she is in our branch. The girl with the headress on, pretending to be  from Fiji or Tahiti is actually from Florida and is part Phillipino. I thought that was funny.
We are getting tired of the food at the luaus. It is basically cafeteria food, call it what you may. It is fun to meet people from all over but it has been very slow lately. Good thing we get all the Japanese tourists! Things are supposed to pick up at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Another week gone by; another link on our homemade chain taken off. It will be Thanksgiving this Thursday but hard to feel the holiday without family or snow but we are well taken care of and count many blessings as we ponder the holiday - family, friends, and the gospel.