This and That and Christmas in Paradise

A visit with friends from Elk Ridge

Our friends from our ward in Elk Ridge had a cruise to the Hawaiian Islands planned before we left on our mission.  They told us that they would message us before they arrived in Kona Bay and that they wanted to go to church with us that Sunday.  The Hermansens are not only friends and neighbors, but Joy Hermansen was one of my visiting teachers and Hal served in the High Priest presidency with Alan before we left on this mission.  

Joy and Alan Hermansen

We met them at the ward building that is across the road from the temple and attended together.

 It was nice to see some friendly faces from home and have a chance to get caught up on what is happening in our ward.
 Alan and Joy were traveling with Alan's brother and his wife who also live near us but are in Evan and Kelly's ward!

Dinner and Making Gingerbread Houses

We gathered for dinner at Elder and Sister Walker's apartment and enjoyed soup, salad and dessert. 

Mike and Shannon Walker enjoying dinner

 Sister and Elder Cox

After dinner, each couple worked together to assemble and decorate a gingerbread house.  With the high humidity here, it was a challenge to keep the houses together the frosting/glue would NOT dry!  The roof would slide off or the walls would slip away and the structure would begin to fall apart!  The photo below is how they should have turned out!  We gave ours to the neighbor children that live across the hall from our apartment.

Christmas in Paradise

 This nativity was the only nativity that we saw as we drove around Hawaii and of course, it was on the temple grounds.  Listening to the radio, we heard very few Christmas songs and those we did hear were mostly about jingle bells, Santa, Christmas trees etc. etc.  It made us sad that the beautiful meaning and music about our Savior has been all but lost in commercialism.  Who knew that Christ could be taken out of Christmas?  We then began to look for the symbols of Christmas as represented by the evergreen tree (eternal life), Santa (giving, kindness and love of children), the colors of Christmas (red representing the blood our Lord shed thru the atonement for us and green representing everlasting life), the star (representing the new star that appeared at his birth), the candles and Christmas lights representing His light to all the world) etc. This new look at things and of course, the "Light the World" campaign helped us to feel the Christmas Spirit.  We both also felt this true "Christmas Spirit" as we served in the temple.  We are coming to better understand and feel our Savior's love for all souls on both sides of the veil - this has been a great blessing to us.

 Here are photos of our apartment decorations of  evergreen trees and Christmas colors.

We put together Christmas goodie plates with brownie snowmen, lemon bars and blonde brownies with macadamia nuts.  We gave them to neighbors, the other missionary couples and friends.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, we went to the Waikaloa Village area as guests of Elder and Sister Cox (one of the senior couples serving with us).  We joined them at a beautiful ocean side condo for dinner.  The Cox's family was visiting Hawaii and staying there and they graciously invited us, Elder and Sister Walker and other friends from the temple to come for a prime rib dinner and to spend the evening with them.  

 Views from the deck of the condo

 Kona has the most beautiful sunsets.  We learned that this is because of "vog" -volcano gasses plus fog  = "vog" which makes spectacular sunsets!

 The prime rib was delicious and we enjoyed getting to know the Cox's children and the other guests.

 Sister Cox is giving Angela some of the yummy chocolate torte that we had for dessert.  Angela Cox is a sister that works at the temple (same last name but from a different family) .  We picked Angela up and brought her with us to the party.  She is a lovely person and we were glad  for this opportunity to get to know her better.  Elder Cox and one of his daughter-in-laws are looking on.

Elder and Sister Walker

 Elder Walker shows Brother and Sister De Marcus (a couple that serve in the temple) a feature of Family Search that allows you to identify your relationship with anyone in a group that has an I phone and logs into family search under this feature.  It was fun to learn that we were all 9th, 10th, 13th or some kind of cousins!
It was a fun evening with good food and good friends!

 On the way back to our apartment, we stopped to photograph the pretty Christmas Lights in front of the Hilton.

Mele Kalikimaka!

Hal and I spent a quiet  and relaxing day together on Christmas.  In the late afternoon, we went our to dinner at the Fish Hopper and enjoyed crab cakes, clam chowder and Waldorf salad.

Everything was delicious!

Another beautiful Kona sunset!

ALOHA!

Hailey, Conrad and Dex visit us in Paradise!

We were so happy to have Hailey, Conrad and Dex come to visit us in Hawaii!  They arrived late Friday evening, December 1st,  we had a chance for a short visit before we all went to bed.  The next day,  they went to the beach and we worked at the temple until about 1:30 PM.  We then went to dinner at the Big Island Grill in Kona.  We enjoyed roast pork and the catch of the day and Dex loved his french fries!  Then we looked around downtown Kona  and made a stop at the ABC Store.  Dex is learning his abcs at preschool and sings the ABC Song so he was excited to see a store named after "his song".  He was so cute when grandpa showed him the sign.

We then made a stop at Walmart for some macadamia nut ice cream which we took home to enjoy!

On Sunday we attended our ward and then went home for Reuben sandwiches, orange cake and more macadamia nut ice cream  After lunch, we took a drive to see Captain Cook's Monument in Kealakekua Bay.

We viewed the monument from across the bay.

 We hiked around the area and took some photos.

 Conrad helped Dex build a stone pyramid on the rocky beach.

From there, we drove to the Place of Refuge. 

Dex and Conrad play Hawaiian checkers

 We walked around and explored until sunset and we were treated to some beautiful views.

  The next morning, we left at 6:30 AM for the east side of the island.  Monday is our "P" Day and the only full day we had to spend with our guests, so we made an early start and covered a lot of the highlights of the island!

 As we drove over "Saddle Road" (the highway that crosses the width of the island) we were amazed at the view as we began our descent into the Hilo area.  We were above the clouds which can be seen in the distance ahead.

Our first stop, just outside Hilo, was Rainbow Falls.

 Then we made the short hike up the path and the stairs for a closer look at the falls.

 After our 2 hour drive and stop to see the falls, we were hungry, so our next stop was Ken's House of Pancakes (dubbed KHOP).

The crab Eggs Benedict, hashbrowns and macadamia nut pancakes with tropical syrups were delicious!

After breakfast, we drove north to see Akaka Falls. 

 By the time we arrived at the falls, Dex had fallen asleep. So Grandma and Dex napped in the car while Hailey, Conrad and Grandpa took the hike to see the falls.  This beautiful waterfall on the Wailuku River plunges 442 feet over the cliffs to the river below.

Continuing north, we headed for the Waipio Valley Overlook.  Once know as the "Valley of the Kings", these beautiful views are some of my favorite sites on the island.

 "Valley of the Kings"

The coastline is gorgeous!

 

 Near where we had parked our car, Hal spotted this colorful Gecko.

Next, we headed we headed west to Waimea and drove through beautiful, scenic Parker Ranch country. Parker Ranch began with 5 cows - brought across the ocean by British Captain George Vancouver in 1788.  Vancouver presented the cows to King Kamehameha I. Over the next 20 years, the cows multiplied into thousands and eventually John Palmer Parker created a beef industry on the island. and the big ranch still carries his name.

Our next stop was in Waimea at a food truck for a  hot Malasada- a Portuguese donut.

The Malasadas were pretty good, but a little heavy and greasy - probably not worth the calories!

 Conrad teaching Dex to"Hang Loose"  

From Waimea we continued north to the Pololu Valley and the Northern Kohala Coast Overlook and more spectacular views.

 

We hiked down the trail for a closer look at the coastline and to take some pictures.

Continuing north, we made a quick stop in North Kohala (a small town just north of Hawi) with the original statue of King Kamehameha I.  He is famous for uniting the Hawaiian islands and as a great warrior, diplomat and leader.

 Conrad, Hailey and Dex with the King

Our next stop was in Kamuela, Hawaii to visit the Hamakua Nut Factory.

This nut factory has samples galore and is basically "all you dare eat buffet"!  This is one of Hal's favorite island stops!

We wandered around the store and enjoyed the samples and then made our purchases, took some pictures and were on our way.  

On our way back to our condo, we stopped to check out 3 beaches along the Kohala Coast, so that Hailey, Conrad and Dex would know which one was best!  Hapuna Beach won hands down.  We returned home after dark  and we were all worn out after our VERY long day, but we had seen many of the highlights of the island and had a great time!

Tuesday, they went to the beach while we served in the temple.
 Then Tuesday evening, Hal, Hailey and Conrad went to a temple session and Dex and I hung out together!

 
Wednesday was another beach day for Hailey, Conraad and Dex.  Of all the activities, Dex loved going to the beach the most!

Wednesday after Conrad, Hailey and Dex came home from the beach and after we served at the temple, we all went together for an early dinner at the Outback to celebrate my birthday and Conrad's birthday.  We began our feast with a complimentary(I had a coupon on my phone) appetizer of coconut shrimp followed by our dinner salads! 

Then, Conrad, Hal and I had the double lobster tail dinner and Hailey had a fillet and lobster dinner (she is allergic to seafood so Conrad graciously volunteered to eat her lobster - actually he told her to order that meal so he would have a third lobster tail).  The lobster was perfect and SO delicious and Hailey said her steak was awesome!!

 Hailey, Conrad and I had ordered mashed potatoes with our dinners, but they ran out of the ingredients to make them and so we had to substitute something else (I had a baked potato and Conrad and Hailey ordered the fresh vegetables) - poor us.  The manager was so apologetic that we didn't get what we ordered that he gave all four of us complimentary desserts!

 Hailey, Conrad and Hal had the carmel cookie skillet and I had the brownie sundae (which Dex happily helped me eat).  Both desserts were yummy.  It was a fun birthday celebration and evening together!

On Thursday while we worked at the temple, Hailey, Conrad and Dex went to see the volcano, the black sand beach and the southeast coastline of the island.

  On Friday while we were at the temple, they took Dex on a submarine ride on the Atlantis - he loved seeing the fish!  

That evening, Hailey and Conrad went to a Luau  at the Sheraton.

Grandpa and I hung out with Dex.  It was so fun to be with him , he is such a cute little boy!I do miss my grand kids!

Saturday is our busy and longer day at the temple, so while we served there, Hailey, Conrad and Dex packed up - getting ready to go home - and then spent some time at our condo pool swimming.  When we finished our temple day, we met them at the Fish Hopper for an early dinner.  Hailey, Conrad and Hal had the fresh catch of the day (black marlin - coated in sesame seeds and served with fresh veggies and rice) and I had fresh prawns stuffed with crab served with creamy risotto.  Our early bird dinners came with a salad or chowder and a slice of chocolate macadamia nut pie.  Everything was delicious!  

The pie was just as good as it looks!!

 This was our farewell dinner together and we were sad to see them go!  They left from downtown Kona to go to the airport to fly home!  It was wonderful to have them come and to see one of my precious grand kids but hard to say goodbye!

 Aloha!!!