Thanksgiving weekend. While being away from home and family during a holiday is not ideal, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Since we've always been with family, I've never had the opportunity to cook the entire meal in my kitchen (and a tiny one here too!) With Christina's help (and a bit from the girls too!), we accomplished a great meal and have been enjoying lots of leftovers ever since! Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving either without the Macy's day parade and I was so happy to see that it was on here at the right time too! After our big meal, we took our pies down to the pool deck and were able to share them with some neighbors and some of our security guards too. Black Friday shopping is tradition to me too and this year I had no babysitter, so the kids joined in with me at the mall... that made for an exciting day- nope probably won't try that again either! :) We picked out a tiny 3-4 foot tree for our apartment and are working on decorating it island theme too! After taking our kids out to see the movie "Tangled", we explored Moanalua Gardens and came across some of the most amazing trees we've ever seen. The trees here have been some of the most surprising and amazing things we've experienced. We love them! Our last bit of exploring for this weekend came in going to the far reaches of the Leeward (West) side of the island. There used to be a road that wound up and around the top tip of the island to the North Shore but the waves every year are so big that they destroy the road and in the end they never rebuilt it. So, we drove till the road ended and set ourselves up at a quieter beach park at Kaena Point State Park. Once again, the mountain backdrop was amazing. I just never get sick of being with my family and looking at these amazing island mountains!
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November 21st. A few fun things before I talk about the pictures. 1- The girls were eating apples at the table and I had cut up both Granny & Red Delicious apples for them. They remarked how the green ones were sour and when I told them they were called "Granny" they both immediately decided that the red ones must be called "Poppop" apples. I love how a Granny doesn't work without a Poppop and how when they are so far away they can find ways to remember and miss their Great Grandparents.
2- The sunsets recently have been amazing! The whole time we've been here, the sun would set directly behind the buildings across the street. This week we noticed that the sun has started setting in between the buildings so now we get to enjoy the sunset from our apartment! We are pretty dumb when it comes to things like this apparently cause we were dumbfounded that that was able to change! :) We count it as another of God's blessings though.
3- Another evidence of God's grace. Across the street from us every Friday is a music and hula show and fireworks. We've seen it lots of times and the kids know that at the end of every show they give away a dozen or so flower leis to people in the audience. Ella got one on her birthday cause I told them it was her day, but Mia had desperately wanted one for weeks. She kept hoping that she would get one and we tried to help her guard her emotions so as to not dissolve into hysterics if she didn't get one. They passed them out and she was looked over again. She was quietly crying and Derek was talking to her and started praying with her that God would provide her with a lei one day and that she would trust that He was good and loved her. Just as he finished, a lady walked over to Mia and asked her if she wanted her lei that she had been given. She had been on the other side of the courtyard and we were sure couldn't have heard our conversation and we were able to thank her kindly and rejoice with our little surprised Mia at God's grace in providing this for her.
Now on to the pictures! These are some random pictures of our times around from the past few days. We've had a chance to explore a few cool places near by. First, we took the kids out to a nearby resort. They have sting rays and turtles and dolphins in pools on the property and we enjoyed exploring the beautiful grounds and watching the animals. Second, we went to Punchbowl Volcanic Crater where the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific is. Being at the top of a volcano has its benefits when it comes to views, but the grounds were beautiful too, not to mention the somberness that comes in viewing the graves of all those who served to keep our country free.
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November 13th. Our dear Christina was so joyfully willing to serve and watch the kids for us so we could have a night away. What a wonderful and relaxing time. Derek & I drove out along one of the most beautiful drives in O'ahu to the Windward (East) side of the island. We stayed in a cute little inn on a peninsula. How relaxing to be away from the kids for just a few hours! We woke up early and went to the park down the road to watch an amazing sunrise then went back to have breakfast and take a 3 hour nap. Now that is starting a get away right! We checked out and took a quick kayak trip into the sea to see the beautiful coast from the ocean. Afterwards, we drove along to Kualoa Park. An island called "Chinaman's Hat" lies just off the beach there and since it was low tide, we walked across the coral in waist/ chest deep water to explore the island. It was phenomenal... one of the coolest experiences we've done while here! After getting back to the beach we had an enjoyable time just sitting in our beach chairs and napping (Derek) and pulling out my paints (Dena) to try to catch a picture of the majestic mountains behind us. Just a few hours with my love and him alone is so refreshing. We had such a wonderful time talking about ways we can grow in our marriage and training our kids and just enjoying being with each other- our best friends. He is probably the only person I know who I can spend endless amounts of time with without needing a break from him eventually. I wish I could just be with him forever!
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November 3rd. We've got a half day free, so we try for the top of Diamond Head crater. We enjoy the beautiful view of diamond head from our beach all the time, but we enjoyed parking inside the crater where lava once flowed and then climbed up the inside of the crater along a path then up about 225 of so steps, going through a tunnel and ending up with a breathtaking view of southern O'ahu. We were able to remind Ella of an evidence of God's grace too. Just 60 seconds up the hike Ella (my hiking partner) started whining and complaining and crying constantly. We reminded her about how in the past hikes she'd have a good attitude when we got to the top and she saw that her hard work was worth it. After a few more minutes we had to forbid her to talk or whimper unless she had something joyful to say. I was discouraged since we hadn't even gotten to the hard part of the stairs yet. Within a few minutes, just as we were starting to climb the stairs, God gave Ella a change of heart. She was joyful, excited and practically running ahead of us. What a fun opportunity to point out to her the evidence of God's grace in Him helping her to turn her attitude around!
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October 31st. Derek's Mom, Sister & Nephew were in town for 1 last day, so we took off to the North Shore to see waterfalls, eat shaved ice & watch an amazing sunset while enjoying our last few hours with them before they head home.
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