Washington D.C.

We were lucky this year to be able to go to Baltimore, MD for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Child Welfare Conference. Jeff wanted to go along, so we flew in a couple of days early to drive to Washington, D.C. to see some of the history there.

Everyone we talked to highly recommended going to the Holocaust Museum, but we showed up on a Jewish holiday when it was closed. We weren't short on places to visit, though. Since I'm taking an art class this semester, we visited a few of the Smithsonian art museums where I could really test the things that I was studying. We also went to the Air & Space museum and walked to our nation's Capitol (well, fairly close before the downpour).

There's so much to see, and not enough time in one day. Oh well, we'll just need to go back sometime.

The catfish that didn't get away...

It's open freshwater fishing season at the Nuuanu Reservoir. We applied for permits, and it came! On September 15th, we headed off with upgraded (more) fishing gear, spam musubis, drinks, our chairs, a bucket, and my school books (to multi task while waiting) to attempt to come home with dinner.

It was raining, not too crowded, and raining. Jeff said that someone told him that near the tower was a good place to catch, so we set up near the tower. Plus, it was close. No sooner than I settled in and started eating, the expert fisherman came to tell us that the water line was too low to catch anything. Well, we didn't go to leave empty handed, so we moved. The next place was a bit of a walk, but hey, everyone else looked like they were getting lucky. After three and a half hours and a lot of coaching by the expert, Jeff hooked one.

Here he is proudly holding up his catch for the day.

Long time no...

Okay, okay. I've had several inquiries on when we'd get our blog updated. So here goes, at least for now.

We've been busy! Over the summer I had the opportunity of working as a residential counselor for Na Pua Noeau at UH Manoa. I spent four out of five weeks in June and July living in one of "the towers". It's definately an experience worth repeating. The kids are high schoolers that are part of either Aha Opio Alakai (leadership program) , Pathways (science program), or the engineering program. They are all mentoring programs for Native Hawaiian students. Some great stories came out of those four weeks.

Mark was finally able to move to his relatives in August. The house was very quiet then. We got George. It's still quiet.

We went to the Big Island over Admissions Day weekend. Kavin & Zayne got to spend time together while Jeff & I drove to Waimea for a wedding. We also got to stay in our favorite B & B there...Jacaranda Inn. Off course, we came back with my stash of pickled onions, Jeff's stash of tamales, and a stop at Big Island Candies.

After being out of college for *** years, I started classes again this fall. The whole process was a new experience for me, but fortunately, I knew my counselor from a mission trip five years ago. Thanks to him, registration was a fairly painless process to get through. Now, it's keeping up with the three hours of studying a day (sometimes more).

We're looking forward to going to Baltimore & Tucson this month. Will try to keep up and post our adventures. Doesn't every hotel have internet by now? If all works out, we'll be able to take Christmas presents with us and not have to ship them! Ooh...it's the Chinese coming out.

The Little Guys

Zayne & Kavin hanging out together.

Hilo-August 2007

We spent the holiday (Admissions Day) weekend on the Big Island. One of my former co-workers, Amanda, was getting married at the Jacaranda Inn in Waimea. We decided to fly into Hilo and drive over to the Westside for the wedding. We took Kavin with us, so he could spent some time together with his cousin, Zayne, and aunties.

It was a relaxing weekend hanging out and eating. Yes, food was an important part of the day for both the kids and adults.

Came home on Saturday night and was putting away Kavin's bedding. I wondered where his pink "ditar" went that he had slept with the night before and started playing the moment he woke up. Jeff said that he (Kavin) put it away...next to Uncle Jeff's. Same way, minus the stand.

Na Pua Noeau

I had the privilege of working with 104 Native Hawaiian leadership students for 6 days. They came from various islands and ranged from freshmen to juniors in high school. All had a common purpose....to get away from their parents! Seriously, they came together to learn leadership & team building and attend the Native Hawaiian Education Association conference that was held on the campus of Chaminade University. We even had a bit of excitement with a fire alarm the first night at the Ala Moana Hotel.