Happy Birthday Jacob!

I can hardly believe my big boy is now 8!!! He was excited ALL week long. I'm NOT big on parties, but I agreed that he could invite maybe 4 neighborhood friends over to share some dirt pudding with him (he and Julia have an aversion to cake. They don't like frosting or regular cake--wackos, I know). ;)
Anyway, I had signed up to feed the missionaries that night and told Jacob that we'd do his dirt and presents after the missionaries left. Unbeknownst to me, he had gone around the culdesac and invited almost all the boys. Dude, so much for keeping it a small gathering! They came in droves that night. It was a night filled with pudding, friends, and lots of wii. :)
Here's Jacob and his friend, Thomas, as we were singing "Happy Birthday" and he was getting ready to blow out his candle (I asked him to be very careful--I REALLY didn't want oreos flying everywhere). :)

While everyone was enjoying the pudding, he began tearing into his presents. Of course, his first gift was his very own set of scriptures with a carrying case. Mom gave him his own hymn book to go along with it. He was so excited to receive these. She gave him a variety of other church related gifts having to do with his upcoming baptism.
After that, he dug into his other gifts. Here he has his new Star Wars gun. It comes with 3 plastic shots and I also bought him an extra pack of 16 shots. The new enforced rules are that he can't point it at anyone, the tv, or the ceiling fans. ;)


Mema and Papa gave him a card with tender messages in it. So did Granny Mac. He was able to take the money they enclosed in the cards and go to Walmart in search of a very specific toy he's been drooling over for the past couple of months. I took him this morning and when we found the coveted toy, he was smiling ear to ear. It's a double light saber--Anakin Skywalker's at that.

One huge light saber and one smaller one. The smaller one can attatch itself to the bigger one. It can also disappear completely inside the bottom of the bigger one. He and Marcus have been chasing each other ALL OVER the house all day long with these bad boys! Since Marcus was with us at the store this morning (it was just me and the boys), Jacob insisted that he get something for him. He didn't want Marcus to feel left out (what a sweetheart!). He picked out a big Cars bouncy ball that Marcus absolutely loves.

Koko Head

Ry and I hiked Koko Head Monday morning (my legs are STILL sore). I was thinking that it was going to be a bit harder than Diamond Head, but manageable. What I didn't know is that it's literally a railroad that the military used back in the good ole days. Seriously, who puts TRAIN TRACKS on a mountain?! So we were using the boards for steps--they were far enough apart(and high) that it felt like I was doing lunges. Or like I was on stairs and taking them 2-3 at a time.

Here we are at the beginning--bleary eyed and all. We were up late and then up by 6:30am to do this thing.



Like I said, we were using the boards of the tracks. They seem close together here, but it was like taking very large steps upward.

The trail is 1100 steps. There were little markers on the rails every 100. It was at each of those that we took some small breathers. I may not be in the best of shape, but this hike was killing EVERYONE on it.

Oh, and then we get to the part where there isn't any ground under the boards. Lovely. It was actually the easiest part for me (cause the boards were closer together in this section), but it freaked Ry out. There was also the problem of losing balance if we didn't place our feet just right. I had a couple instances where I didn't lean forward enough and almost stumbled backwards (which meant I would have fallen down/backwards down the mountain). I think I gave him a few heart attacks.

Can you see the trail? We were so winded at this point. I think it was about the time that we hit the 800 mark I truly wanted to sit down and cry because my legs hurt so bad and I didn't think I could climb another step.

Like I would actually give up! We made it to the top (and about passed out).

Even though it was overcast, it was still very beautiful up at the top.

One view--this is Hanauma Bay.

I was trying to catch the sun rays coming through. If you squint to the left, you can see the next island over--Molokai. It's about 40 someodd miles away.

Insult to injury--this was taken near the very top and the trail becomes very steep. Ugh. We saw this one couple who brought their small dog with them. The dog set a very fast pace up. The three of them were practically sprinting up. They made it up and back down in about 15 minutes. There were crazy. Absolutely nuts. It took us about an hour (maybe a little less) to go up and down.

Anyway, this pic was taken on our way down. We ended up jogging the entire way (and having to watch where we landed our feet) because it was easier on the knees than climbing down sideways. We couldn't just walk down because of how steep it was (again, it'd be like walking down the stairs but taking it 2-3 steps at a time...gotta be careful!). It was a surreal feeling because our legs were shaking soooooo bad the entire way down. I think my body was in shock (well, my lower half least). When we came to the bridge, Ry and I crawled--it was easier and safer. No chance of losing balance and pitching forward to a painful death.

Hooray, we made it! Really, I'm equating this to having a baby: labor is AWFUL and painful and women vow never to do it again cause it hurts so stinkin bad. And it takes time to recover. Yet, by the time we recover we're thinking "Hey, that wasn't so bad".

Yeah, I can finally walk now without feeling like I have to constantly stretch my calves. My hamstrings aren't hating me anymore. So here I am thinking "Hey, that wasn't so bad." We're planning on doing it again next month before he leaves. :) And I'm quite sure I'll be reminded then why I wanted to cry the first time around.

Pix mainly for Aunt Margo and Western Grandma

I found these posted on Meg's facebook and felt a strong feeling of homesickness. Man, I miss the rest of our family!!!!

A couple more from The Point

The Point

My brother, Jon, took us to "The Point" up in Laie (it's the northern most part of the island). There is a series of rocks which make up tiny islands there (there's this whole local history story that goes along with it...something about a monster lizard that was terrorizing the islanders and a warrior among them destroyed it to bits--making the these huge rocks out there. There was five of them I believe). Anyway, you can see in the pix that these are some seriously sharp rocks and the waves are absolutely INSANE. I've seen quite a few beaches and lots of ocean now...but I've never seen one that just was screaming STRONG. And dangerous! This place is definitely a "look but do not touch/swim" area.

Jon was making me nervous in this pic because this "rock" we were on is a cliff and Marcus was awwwwwfully close to the edge! And if anyone fell in, it'd be called a death sentence cause I have no idea how they'd get out (we could jump in after them, but then we'd all drown....seriously, I can't begin to describe how powerfully strong the waves were up against these cliffs).

I love, love, LOVE this pic! Uncle Jon, Marcus REALLLLLLLY misses you!

Somebody was really enjoying hanging out on the dangerous rock. :)

In the voice of Phineas from Phineas and Ferb: "Wait for it....wait for it.....". You'll understand by the end. Patience!

Dude, keep in mind, we were up on rocks...pretty much a cliff (with a good 20ft drop) and the waves were coming up high above us.

It won't let me upload the other video I had that gives a panoramic view, but oh well. Guess you people will have to come visit to see the rest of it!

Hiking at Dillingham Airfield

Over winter break, we went hiking with some friends up this mountain (behind the camera is the beach where they film LOST. :)

We were more than half way up here. And this was the best photo we were going to get (thanks to Ryan's long arm). After this photo, I believe we left the trail and kept going up steep hills. John was determined that we were going to make it to the very top. He kept saying "oh, it's just after this hill....or just after the next hill....". We went up sooooo many--I was so sore over the next few days!

It had some seriously beautiful views all along the way.