Saturday, December 31, 2011
Christmas Cookies
My boys and I made sugar cookies this year for the holidays. It has been years since we've actually used the cookie cutters and frosted and decorated the cut-outs (usually I try and make candy but it's just too humid where we live), so we really had fun fancying up our creations. The best part: they tasted soooo good!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Friday, December 2, 2011
Blast from my Past
I just hate when I finish a book and have to wait to get another book because the library is closed, etc., so usually, I will pick up a book I have around the house that I've already read. This time, I picked up the book, Tree By Leaf, by Cynthia Voigt. She is an excellent author geared toward a young adult audience. She's also a Newberry Award winner (Dicey's Song). In my teen years she was my favorite author. I read nearly all of her books and, using my babysitting money, bought up all the paperbacks that came through the scholastic book sales in school. One of my absolute favorites was Jackaroo (I was reminded of it while reading Tree By Leaf). After finishing the first Voigt novel, I went through my stash and found my old copy of Jackaroo. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed reading it! I love it!
It's set in a fictional kindgdom during the medieval period of time. The story has a "Robin Hood" feel to it: hunger, poor people, rich people, thieves, heroes, etc. The heroine is a young 16yrold innkeeper's daughter, Gwyn. She's a practical no-nonsense kind of girl. She lives within the boundaries defined by society, but pushes for independence. She's compassionate, hardworking and thirst for knowledge; that's my kind of heroine!
I'm so glad I came across these two books. Now I want to go and find the other Voigt books I have. Here is Cynthia Voigt's website in case I have sparked your interest enough to check out what books she has written.
Boy there's nothing like a good book!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 28, 2011
Brandi's Visit
My cute sister, Brandi, came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. I was so happy to have her here. In fact, shortly after we moved here I found myself at the "From Here to Eternity" beach, swimming in the waves and weeping because I wanted to share it with my sisters so bad. I know how much my sisters would love it here. We, as a family, have always been water people, loving to boat, ski, tube (down a river or behind a boat), scuba dive, snorkel, jump off things like bridges and rocks into water, and just plain swim; in Hawaii you can do pretty much all of these things. It breaks my heart that I can't share this beautiful place with my sisters more often. So, as you can imagine, Brandi's visit was a dream come true!
While she was here we went to a lot of beaches (she wore me out). We even visited one beach that was new for me and Zac. One of the beaches is close to the Halona Blowhole. Below the parking lot is a little cove that stays protected most of the time, making it a great place to swim. The bonus: rocks to jump off! The beach is famous for a romantic kiss scene in the movie, "From Here to Eternity," starring Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr. I've heard the beach called many names including the "From Here to Eternity" beach, cockroach beach and Halona Blowhole Park beach. We, as a family, call it Cove Beach. It's one of our favorites!
I also took Brandi on the (paved) hike up to Makapu'u Lighthouse. On Wednesday mornings a few ladies in my church ward meet to walk together to get some good exercise and to chat. For the hike down, I took her down the side of the mountain to see the tide pools and the dragon nostrils (blowhole) me and the boys had found earlier. Brandi was a little overwhelmed by the steepness of the climb, but she was a good sport anyway.
Dragon's Nostrils:
The waves were huge that day! They crashed beautifully over the rocks created quite the show. We (or should I say I) sat in one of the tide pools and watched the power of the ocean crash nearby. Stunning!
The last picture shows the terrain (behind Brandi) we had to climb back up to get to the path. Once we reached the pavement, Brandi shouted out, "I did it! Aaron won't believe it!" I'll bet he would, he knows how awesome you are, but props to you Brandi! I love you. Thanks for a wonderful visit!
While she was here we went to a lot of beaches (she wore me out). We even visited one beach that was new for me and Zac. One of the beaches is close to the Halona Blowhole. Below the parking lot is a little cove that stays protected most of the time, making it a great place to swim. The bonus: rocks to jump off! The beach is famous for a romantic kiss scene in the movie, "From Here to Eternity," starring Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr. I've heard the beach called many names including the "From Here to Eternity" beach, cockroach beach and Halona Blowhole Park beach. We, as a family, call it Cove Beach. It's one of our favorites!
I also took Brandi on the (paved) hike up to Makapu'u Lighthouse. On Wednesday mornings a few ladies in my church ward meet to walk together to get some good exercise and to chat. For the hike down, I took her down the side of the mountain to see the tide pools and the dragon nostrils (blowhole) me and the boys had found earlier. Brandi was a little overwhelmed by the steepness of the climb, but she was a good sport anyway.
Dragon's Nostrils:
The waves were huge that day! They crashed beautifully over the rocks created quite the show. We (or should I say I) sat in one of the tide pools and watched the power of the ocean crash nearby. Stunning!
The last picture shows the terrain (behind Brandi) we had to climb back up to get to the path. Once we reached the pavement, Brandi shouted out, "I did it! Aaron won't believe it!" I'll bet he would, he knows how awesome you are, but props to you Brandi! I love you. Thanks for a wonderful visit!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Beach Day
Back in October, I took the boys to Makapu'u Beach to soak up some sun, feel the breeze, and cool off in the ocean. It turned out to be a wonderful day!
Hiking in Hawaii--Part IV
I'm sorry for all of the hiking posts. I'm just trying to play catch up. We do things other than hike, but I don't often take the camera with me, thus I don't have pictures of too many other activities. I'll try and do better. In the meantime, let me share two other hikes with you.
The first picture comes from our most recent hike, two days ago. Zac, Tyson and I hiked up Mariner's Ridge. This hike is probably the closest to our home. The views were, once again, stunning and the breezes blowing around felt wonderful. On the way back, I found my second wind and raced Tyson down to the bottom. He won.
Here's Tyson courageously posing atop a ledge:
The other hike I wanted to blog about was actually taken the beginning of October. The trail is Makapu'u Point. Two trails diverge near the beginning, one trail paved and leading to the top of the point close to the lighthouse, and the other down toward a neat rock formation called Pelee's Chair. This Sunday afternoon we chose the lower trail down to the chair.
Pelee's Chair:
From there we began to climb along the rocks and wind our way around the base of Makapu'u Point. I'm pretty sure it's not part of any trail, in particular, but that didn't stop us. I was fondly reminded of how my sisters and I used to love to climb over boulders and rocks as children--so much fun!
The waves were crashing close nearby. We were careful to keep a safe distance to avoid being washed over the edge, but one wave caught Tyson and I off guard. We weren't washed away, but, well, just look what happened:
A little while later we came across another interesting rock formation; we're guessing it is the remains of a lava flow. We have to check with our favorite geologist to know if we're correct, but we assume that the circular rings in the rocks were made from lava flowing through a tube of some sort, and instead of an empty tube remaining the actual hardened lava flow from inside the tube can be seen. Realize this is all amateur conjecture, but it's interesting all the same. One of the pictures includes people (me and Zac) to help grasp the scale and size of this amazing geological feature.
The end of our hike we found a great view of the lighthouse on Makapu'u Point. Also, a few intriguing blow holes caught our attention; the rumble and mist seriously looked and sounded like a dragon, and come to find out the area is actually nicknamed, "dragon's nostrils."
But, have faith in me, we did not hike all the way back around to reach our car (would've taken hours); we hiked straight up the side of the hill to the paved lighthouse path and luxuriously walked down to the parking lot. Once home, we were greeted with a gorgeous sunset. Lucky for me, Zac snapped a picture.
What a way to end our day!
The first picture comes from our most recent hike, two days ago. Zac, Tyson and I hiked up Mariner's Ridge. This hike is probably the closest to our home. The views were, once again, stunning and the breezes blowing around felt wonderful. On the way back, I found my second wind and raced Tyson down to the bottom. He won.
Here's Tyson courageously posing atop a ledge:
The other hike I wanted to blog about was actually taken the beginning of October. The trail is Makapu'u Point. Two trails diverge near the beginning, one trail paved and leading to the top of the point close to the lighthouse, and the other down toward a neat rock formation called Pelee's Chair. This Sunday afternoon we chose the lower trail down to the chair.
Pelee's Chair:
From there we began to climb along the rocks and wind our way around the base of Makapu'u Point. I'm pretty sure it's not part of any trail, in particular, but that didn't stop us. I was fondly reminded of how my sisters and I used to love to climb over boulders and rocks as children--so much fun!
The waves were crashing close nearby. We were careful to keep a safe distance to avoid being washed over the edge, but one wave caught Tyson and I off guard. We weren't washed away, but, well, just look what happened:
A little while later we came across another interesting rock formation; we're guessing it is the remains of a lava flow. We have to check with our favorite geologist to know if we're correct, but we assume that the circular rings in the rocks were made from lava flowing through a tube of some sort, and instead of an empty tube remaining the actual hardened lava flow from inside the tube can be seen. Realize this is all amateur conjecture, but it's interesting all the same. One of the pictures includes people (me and Zac) to help grasp the scale and size of this amazing geological feature.
The end of our hike we found a great view of the lighthouse on Makapu'u Point. Also, a few intriguing blow holes caught our attention; the rumble and mist seriously looked and sounded like a dragon, and come to find out the area is actually nicknamed, "dragon's nostrils."
But, have faith in me, we did not hike all the way back around to reach our car (would've taken hours); we hiked straight up the side of the hill to the paved lighthouse path and luxuriously walked down to the parking lot. Once home, we were greeted with a gorgeous sunset. Lucky for me, Zac snapped a picture.
What a way to end our day!
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