Today is my 68th birthday.  It has been a great day.  Actually it started last night with all the missionaries going out for dinner at Grinds and Rides, a local surf fast food.  We had the best shrimp and chips ever.  They get their shrimp from the Kahuku ponds and they are fresh and very good. I am getting ahead of myself.  Because I did not write last week, I have to catch up.

Last week we had a terrific storm that was frightening.  It was a HUGE thunderstorm, the worst ever!  The lightening made it brighter than daylight and the thunder shook our bed and rattled the windows. We had to cover our ears it was So Loud.  Never in my life had I ever been afraid of thunder and lightening.  It seemed like 3 Nephi....and so much rain. Floods everywhere.  I am glad we live on the second floor. It lasted about 90 minutes and we were wide awake at 2:30 am.  This morning everything was ok except for all the water.  The ocean was brown yuck for days because of all the stuff washed into the ocean.
This photo shows the black barrier they put to keep the water from running down the sidewalks.  In the back you may also see sandbags in front of the main office door.  It was a serious storm, unlike anything we had ever experienced before. 

Mom started her storytelling class.  The students from elementary education are now her class.  She teaches them about storytelling and has them tell stories to the kids. 

These college students had to distribute 500 flyers.  They did this by posting multiple copies on the bulletin boards.  Ummm.  But it was effective and they had more children come than ever before.  Mom enjoys this part of her service.  She is a natural with the kids. 

Today was the Laie Days parade.  It is the local version of a pioneer day activity.  They had a carnival last night that had one ride and a bouncing castle.  The best part of the evening was the "open mike" hula show.  Rather funny. 
The parade was 30 minutes which is enough in the hot July sun.  Here are a couple of photos.

The first is of mom and other missionaries sitting beside the parade route.  The other is of the Kahuku (local high school) football team.  They call this area "red raider country" and they are serious about their football team.  They regularly win state championships and send players to BYU, UTAH and other mainland teams. They have a long list of fellows who have made it to the pros.  The boys in the photo stopped and did the Hauka for the crowd that loved it.  They fired the

Polynesian coach because of dismal academic standards and hired a new one from the mainland.  It has been the stuff of talk and everyone knows he better win or he will be out also.  Of course it is all a game, right?

Mom had a great time with her paddle board lesson.  With the branch president's wife, Lezlie and a YSA, Mariah who teaches this sport, they had a three hour lesson in the river by Haleiwa.  Mom was nervous but really wanted to learn how to do this.  I was not interested so I stayed home and did spiritual stuff.

 Here is the paddle board truck where Mariah works in Haleiwa.  Here is a photo of mom on her paddleboard.  They had to go not only on the river but also out of the boat harbor and into the ocean and then up the river.  Quite an adventure for sure.  But mom was a natural and had a lot of exhausting fun. She loved seeing all the turtles poking up from the water.

Today was also our Sunset Beach Branch Surfing BBQ.  All the kids brought their boards and had a huge lunch and then played all afternoon.  We were in charge of the watermelons. Watermelons here in our local store are $20.00 so these kids ate over $100 worth of watermelons. We miss the home grown melons that are 10 cents a pound. 

But the kids love to cook and to eat.  The Hawaiian way is not to eat until you are full but to eat until you hurt.  And do they eat!  No wonder they have all those big football players. 

This photo is of Tony our Sunday School president and Beau a member of the branch presidency cooking up a storm.  

Below that is a photo of mom and two of the YSA who came to the social.  The branch socials are always fun because kids from all over come and join us.  We feed so many...I wish we could bill other YSA wards for the budget we need to carry the branch.  But it all seems to work.  This Sunday the Stake President is bringing all his family reunion to our branch meetings.  We will go from 15 to 60 in our primary classes.  Mom will be helping the primary through this challenge.  We don't have enough chairs so some will have to sit on the floor.  Our meeting is a pioneer theme so I guess that will work right in.  The stake president is so proud of our branch and wants to show it off for his family.  Did you read about us in the Church News?  see this link
http://m.deseretnews.com/article/865606748/Building-the-kingdom-in-Hawaii.html

The last photo I have for any who read this blog, who does really?   Is a photo of my little garden of sanity that I keep by our front door.  At first I struggled to get things to grow, but I worked it out and so I have a garden that the housing people ignore because they are really not allowed.

We are famous! (maybe just "unique")

Today was an exciting day for our branch because the article about our branch was in the Church News. We thought it was a good article with only one big mistake. Unfortunately, Kirk's body was never recovered but his accident was a defining moment in our branch. They are going to be sending us copies of this edition, so that will be a fun keepsake to have. If anyone would like to read the article, it can be found at:  http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865606748/Building-the-kingdom-in-Hawaii.html

This past week was week 5 of the five week campus break. Finally, things can begin getting back to normal. Dennis begins his classes tomorrow morning. It sounds great to have a big break, but after awhile it gets old and we just want to work. After all, that is what we were called to do. Our call didn't say anything about cruising for a week and spending a week on Maui. Not that I'm complaining mind you, but it will be good to get back to our routine.

We did have a couple of fun outings this week however. First, we went with two other missionary couples to tour Queen Emma's Summer Home. It was a 'pre-fab' home built in Boston and shipped over here. The house has many of the original furnishings that belonged to her. Out back, in a separate building, there was a quilt group! I wandered in and visited with them for a few minutes. They were all working on beautiful appliqued Hawaiian quilts. After touring the gardens, we headed to Chinatown for some dim sum. It was a fun to see something new. Here are a couple of pictures.

(L to R) Craig and Janet Frogley, Dennis and Kaye, Lynn and Peggy Rowell

Dennis and Kaye at Queen Emma's summer home

Then on Friday we went snorkeling over at Shark's Cove. The Rowells had never been before and after living here for a year, they decided they should try it. They had never even been in the water so it was quite an experience for both of them. They were nervous, but after the whole getting into the water with flippers on, they did great. The fish were amazing and well worth the effort. There was standing room only on the rocky beach. All those tourists! We tried to take them to Haumauma Bay for their first time, but even leaving at 7:30 am wasn't early enough - It was closed by the time we got there at 8:45. But  we still had a great day.

Afterwards we went to Romys for garlic shrimp since they hadn't had any of those either. I personally think the whole garlic shrimp thing is over-rated, especially when you can get the same thing at nearly all the other places in the area. We had to wait 40 minutes for our order even without any line ahead of us. Driving home from church today, I noticed the line was huge. Some of those people are probably still waiting there. How long would you wait for garlic shrimp?

Famous Kahuku shrimp trucks

We had a nice day at church. We missed last week because we were on our way home from Maui and I missed the kids. We have another baptism scheduled for next Sunday evening and had a ton of visitors today, as well as several less-actives we have been trying to get out. Dennis taught a temple prep lesson to a girl from American Samoa who is going home in two weeks so she can go through the Samoan temple with her family. She already has her mission call: to SWEDEN!! That is crazy, but she is excited. She is very sharp and will do a good job.

As you notice we have not written for two weeks.  Last Sunday we left for our week in Maui after Church so today we will catch up. 
Remember it is a school break and the campus is very empty.  But the good news is that we then have some free time to have some adventures.
1.  The Doris Duke Home

Doris Duke Home Garden

Doris Duke (1900-1980) was the heiress of a tobacco king who endowed Duke University.  As an only child and having no heirs she created a huge trust that endows a variety of causes.  One is her Honolulu home that is a museum of Islamic art.  I thought this would be a silly thing to visit but it was very interesting.  I studied about Islamic art so I could better appreciate her home.  You can see below that the decor of her home is based on what she found in the Islamic world prior to and just after  WWII. 

We met Julie (Penn) and her husband on this tour.  Small world.

She would locate rooms, walls, etc in the near east and have them transported to her Honolulu home.  She captured part of the world of Islamic art and has preserved it.

Huula ward camp

2.  Ward Camp. 

Kaye and Anna at the Ward Camp Luau

Ward camp is an annual event for each ward in this part of the world.  For one week the whole ward moves to the beach, sets up tarps, tents, etc. and camps out.  They cook there, sleep there and have a real camp out.  I have never seen anything like this.  I suppose this is an effort to get back to their ancestral roots.  The RelEd secretary, Anna, invited us to her ward camp out luau.  That is the big meal at the end of the camp.  It was an authentic luau and some of the food was so good and other dishes a bit of a mystery.  One that even I did not like was made from squid and taro leaves processed in a blender.  Comes out like green paste.  Not even all the Polynesians like it.  But for some, it was ONO.  Anna invited us because she wanted to thank us for speaking last Sunday in her ward on the Prophet Joseph Smith.  We enjoyed both speaking and attending the ward camp. 

3.  Almost 4th Branch Pool Party
The branch had a huge pool party to celebrate the Fourth a week early.  Lots of branch members and their friends.  It was a lot of fun at this huge house of a wealthy member on Sunset Beach. 

Sunset Beach Branch Pool Party. 

4.  MAUI Trip
We had decided months ago that we would spend a week of the break on Maui. We stayed at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel.  It was an older property, but on the best part of the beach.  We did not do a lot but just relax.  Snorkeling was fun as was checking out the surrounding towns.  It was nice to have a quiet week.  At the end of the week two of Kaye's missionary friends came to Maui and wanted to see the pioneer sites, so we took them around.  Here are some photos.

We rode a small computer plane to Maui.

Kaye at the Beach Looking Good

The commuter plane was fun.  Just nine passengers and flew under 5000 feet.  So it was almost like a tour.  We flew over Molokai and Lanai, two smaller islands near Maui. 

Kaanapali  beach is our favorite.  It has gentle waves and good snorkeling.  And it was only a few steps from our hotel.  The weather was good and so I took a shot of grandma in one of her new bathing suits. 

 While there we saw a 4th July parade in a small town "up country" (away from the coast) This shot is of an Hawaiian cowgirl.  The folks in this area have a hundred year tradition of ranching and raising livestock (now mostly goats) It was fun to see their parade. 

A Hawaiian Cowgirl

Below is a photo of Grandma with her sister missionary friends who wanted to see the pioneer chapel on Maui.  (original 1853, current one 1900...well maintained, but not in use. 

Kaye with Sister Linton and Sister Johnson

The week was soon over and we are now back to our TVA apartment.  The weather will turn hot, but we have adjusted and will do much better than last summer.  School starts on the 14th so we have one week to get ready.  Kaye has a big project in the Library. They are disposing of all their old videos.  It is a ten minute procedure for eliminating one from the collection and there are 8000 videos.  Guess Elder Wright will get a call to help with that one between getting his lessons together and a round of golf.