2 Weeks - 1 Sunday
The countdown is on - 11 days to go! We are going to miss so many things here but are so happy that we will soon be home and reunited with our family and friends. We have truly appreciated all the love and support we have felt over the past sixteen months. We realized this week just how fortunate we are and how much we have to be thankful for.

Tuesday evening we were taking tickets at Prime Dining when all of a sudden I was in a big hug with McKenzie Nielsen, our next-door neighbor from home! What a happy surprise to see her. I can't believe she is a senior at BYU already. She was here with the BYU Girls basketball team. We went and watched them play. It was fun to see cute McKenzie!

McKenzie and Kaye at the PCC

Thanksgiving Day was quiet. I made a pumpkin dessert in the morning while Dennis cleaned the car. Then we washed all the curtains in our apartment. At 2:00 we went over to Tita's Grill for Thanksgiving dinner. Tita's is a local restaurant where you order food through a window and then eat it at picnic tables by the road. But every Thanksgiving, Jr. Aiyou and his wife invite all the missionaries to share Thanksgiving with their family. At least that is what we were told. Actually, they do invite all the missionaries as well as all their family, and also all the homeless people in the area. There were a lot of people there - so many that some had to eat standing up. Dad and I found a little space at a table and ate with three homeless people. There was a two-piece band playing and Jr. gave a talk about the history of Kahuku and specifically, the football team. I learned that Kahuku has a population of 7,000 with an average yearly income of $37,000. I think many of the 7000 came to dinner.  It is a very nice tradition they have and very generous of the Aiyou family. They provided everything except the desserts. After about an hour we came home and in the evening invited the Rowells and Frogleys over to play games. We had a nice Thanksgiving. Here are a few pictures of our day:

Rowell's and Wrights on Thanksgiving Day at Tita's Grill

Part of the crowd at Tita's

No explanation needed

Jr. Aiyou giving his remarks - Porta Potty behind bamboo screen

Saturday afternoon we went to Kulia's wedding reception. It was held at the Aloha Ballroom on campus. He married a lovely young woman named Andrea. Her father is a Dr. in the Bahamas. Her older sister and husband came over and introduced themselves and told Dennis that he had been their D&C instructor seventeen years ago at BYU! What a small world! They now live in Gilbert, Arizona and have six children but they were newlyweds when Dennis had them in his class. It was a very nice reception with a delicious mix of Hawaiian and Filipino food. Here are Kulia and Andrea.

Dennis and Kaye with the newlyweds

We just returned from a lovely dinner with the Sharps. Dan and Carrie and their boys have truly 'adopted' us and made us feel so welcome here. We will miss them, but look forward to their visiting us when they come to Springville to visit Carrie's parents, the Rentz'.