Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

My baby is getting married! It is SO exciting! I'm so very happy for her, and excited to welcome Zane into the family. They will be getting married this summer and then live in Cedar City while he finishes school. Stay tuned for details!

There is nothing better than helping to rake the leaves - unless it is jumping in them!

What could be more fun that camping in the backyard with Grandpa?

Tasha and I took Bubba to a pirate's festival out at Willard. There we were privileged to meet Cap'n Jack Sparrow! I absolutely LOVE Cap'n Jack! Ok, it wasn't the actual Cap'n Jack, but he was the best impersonator! He had his speech and all of his mannerisms down perfectly! He had a wonderful ship that the kids love to play on. Since Tasha and Bubba have spent many days playing pirates, this ship was like a dream come true! They spent a long time scanning the horizon for pirate enemies and firing the "cannons" on the other ships! They also searched for islands which were home to buried booty, especially gold dubloons. They spent the entire day saying, "Aaargh, Matey!" and " Yo-ho-ho". It was a very fun day! The festival itself wasn't as great as we had hoped. It was the first year it was held, and it certainly needed had room to grow. However, we had a fantastic time, and I will never forget my day with Cap'n Jack!

The first part of August we had the opportunity to move Tasha to Cedar City. This was a BIG step for Tasha. She has hesitated to move far away from home, but yet she has always wanted to have a "college" experience where she could live with roommates away from home and have the opportunity to attend college games, parties, and dances. Unexpectedly the opportunity presented itself. She found a job working at a massage school/salon in Cedar City where she gets to do 4-5 massages daily - a dream come true for her. She found a cute little house with 3 fun roommates. And, the best part is that she gets to see Zane daily while he attends Southern Utah University. Last year, she remained local while he was at school. With him, she gets to experience the college life. Although I didn't like the long 5-hour drive (I really don't like driving!) we had a great trip. Shandra and Tasha got to spend the entire drive down bonding as sisters, while Kim and I followed behind. Bubba to...

Day 6: We started our sixth day with an early visit to Pearl Harbor. I had heard from other people how emotional you get when visiting Pearl Harbor, and I should have paid more attention. It was a very awe inspiring, perhaps even reverent place. We wandered around the grounds and visited the museum where we learned much about the bombing there. We then attended a movie that included actual video footage of the attack. We were instructed not to talk or laugh during the movie or on the boat ride out to the memorial of the USS Arizona. It was not difficult to keep that silence. The knowledge that several thousand men were killed and many of them buried on the ship there on one day was overwhelming and very emotional. When I saw the wall of the names, I could not hold back the tears. Kim’s uncle was there at Pearl Harbor on that fateful day, and that knowledge made the whole thing more real to me. After visiting the memorial we returned to the grounds where were honored to have the o...

Day 5: Rondi and I attended the McCully ward in Honolulu. The building is amazing. The chapel is shaped kind of like a big T, which seats facing from the sides on the front. There are about 10 sets of doors that can be opened to let air in. They have Sunday School Classes taught in each of the following languages: English, Spanish, Chuukese, Marshallese, Pohnpeian, and Japanese! There is a beautiful reflecting pool in the courtyard. It is a beautiful building, and the people were very, very friendly. About ½ of the people there were visitors! But, it is so nice, that no matter where you go, church is conducted exactly the same, lessons are taught the same, and the sacrament is the same. The only difference in Hawaii is that each speaker begins by saying, “Aloha!” at which point the congregation responds with, “Aloha!” I like it. Later we decided to take a hike up to Muanawili Falls. At the beginning of our hike we met a man and his daughter coming down. He said to us, “you are e...

Day 4: The most wonderful day of all! We spent the morning at the Aloha Swap Meet. There were literally thousands of venders selling just about everything imaginable. I bought several gifts there for really great prices. We then headed to Sea Life Park. There we were able to watch Kate narrate the big dolphin show. I just love watching dolphins perform! They are so smart and talented! As they performed, Brooke filled us in on lots of training information as well as the names and characteristics of each of the dolphins. We watched Kamana, Ahi, Kaleo, Mikioi, Naia, and Kekaimalu (Kermie). Kermie is actually a wholphin – half dolphin and half false killer whale. This was a surprise mating between a 14-foot, 2,000-pound false killer whale and a 6- foot, 400-pound dolphin (who were featured in the Adam Sandler movie "50 First Dates.") After the show we met Azu who was working with the Sea Lions. She is the sweetest lady! She is married to Drew, who is t...

Day 3: Corby, Rondi, and I spent the entire day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Brooke had been there several times, so she decided to spend the day with her friend Jess. It is impossible to describe the PCC – seven Polynesian islands are represented and shows are presented to help keep the traditions of each island alive. We learned songs, dances, cooking, drums, and games from Samoa, Fiji, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Tonga, Hawai’i, and Tahiti. We watched an incredible parade of dancers on canoes. We had a huge luau, and I discovered that other than the pulled pork, I really don’t like luau food! After the Luau we watched a big show encompassing all of the dancing and singing of all of the islands called The Breath of Ha. It was amazing! Rondi and I got air-brush tattoos as souvenirs.

Day Two: Rondi and I got up early to go to the Laie Temple while Brooke and Corby went to the beach. Rondi isn’t endowed yet, so we did baptisms. It was wonderful. Of course the grounds are absolutely beautiful. We met a family there from Centerville, and we all took pictures of each other. After the temple we drove to a beach on the North Shore called Kawela Bay. While walking to the beach we passed through a grove of banyan trees. Instead of the roots growing from the ground up, these trees drop tendrils down to the ground that eventually grow into a trunk of the tree. They are stunning! Brooke saw some Dragon Fruit at a road-side stand and decided that we should try some. It looked very interesting - almost like a slimy, speckled rock. It wasn't very good! We had Kawela Bay entirely to ourselves most of the time we were there. The sand wasn’t as fine as Lani Kai, but we had some shade on the beach so I didn’t worry so much about sunburn. I laid on my towel, listened to ...

I never want to forget the details of my most wonderful trip to Hawai'i, so my post will be REALLY long. To help in posting I am going to post it in several segments. What a fantastic week! Hawai’i is everything that I hoped it would be! It is so lush and green, so warm, not too humid, and so incredibly beautiful! I loved every single minute that I was there, and seriously felt like crying when it was time to leave. I was so very fortunate to be with three really fun ladies from my school, Brooke, Corby, and Rondi. Brooke lived here in Oahu for three years working as a dolphin trainer at Sea Life Park. Consequently we were able to have our own personal tour guide as we visited not only all of the tourist sites, but also we got to see the beauty of Oahu from a resident’s point of view. In addition, we had the opportunity to spend time with her friends, Jess, Kate, Kyleen, and Kristy who are also dolphin trainers. Our condo was in Waikiki, less than three blocks fro...