Return of Koko

Little Boy (aka Koko) has returned home after a week with his mama. Just in time for New Years.

Merry Christmas 2012!

Got up and opened presents then went to church for choir practice and then to give a talk (see attached).

Mele Kalikimaka.

Jamie & Roxie

Jamie, Roxie, Travis (yawning)

The Quilt Maker

Jacque has been busy lately making quilts for the grand kids. Wonderful work.

Mexican night

Jacque and I went to see the new Mission Impossible movie.

Then I went to hit some golf balls at Olomana with Willie Bejosa.

Then it was time for dinner. The menu: chicken enchiladas and Spanish rice from scratch.

Ono!

Monday @ home

Watching more Xmas movies.

Turkey a la king for dinner.

Dustin made 2 pumpkin pies.

On vacation.

Roxy making like a rabbit .

Relaxing Day at Home

Trick or Treat? No shows!!

Today is Halloween and, like what has happened the past few years, no kids showed up to receive any of the couple dozen bags of treats we had ready for them.

What gives?

It wasn't the weather (calm, clear evening with no rain).
It wasn't that we had the lights off in the house or out front.
It wasn't that we weren't home.

So what was it?

Wethinks it is that the street we live on is (or appears to be) Halloween-unfriendly.  Plus, our street is at the top of a long street (Apapane) that is a long hill that kids (and their parents who accompany them) are unwilling to tackle to get treats.  I also think the no-shows are also a result of not having (m)any young kids living on our street.  Maybe it's also because not many kids trick-or-treat nowadays. 

Whatever the case, now we have a bunch of candy to give away, consume, whatever.

We'll try again next year.

A tale of two hikes

A long day, but a wonderful day.

Our day began at 4:30 a.m. as we arose from a night of slumber to prepare for a hike to the lookout above the Makapuu Lighthouse. We joined members (Kanoa Kanahele and Gene Tamashiro) from church at the hike's start along Kalanianaole Highway at 5:20 a.m.  With the big dipper and Orion's belt clearly visible in the dark night sky, we said a prayer together and then set off up the unlit road, flashlights in hand.  It was 5:30 a.m.

Here we are with Gene Tamashiro

On the way up, Kanoa entertained us with a seemingly endless repertoire of jokes.  Meanwhile, Jacque took a near-tumble off the road since she was so engrossed in trying to figure out some do-hickey on her iPhone.  She was okay and we made it to the top before sunrise.

Gene, Kanoa, Jacque, Dayle @ the Makapu'u Lighthouse lookout.

There we met two other church members (from our stake) and then four more (from Laie) and the two more (current missionaries, one being Elder Delai who is serving in our ward).

Rosie, Cody, Gene, Kanoa, Jacque, Dayle, Elders

Here we are, with the Makapu'u lighthouse downridge below us.

Elder Delai (from Fiji)--Sunrise @ Makapu'u

After the Makapu'u hike, we headed to Iolani Palace to begin our second activity of the day: coordinating the 4-mile Ulupaina hike for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club.  We arrived at the Palace @ 8:15, met three hikers there, then drove to Temple Valley on the windward side where sixteen other hikers were waiting for us.

By 9am, we were on the trail, which begins on the mauka side of Kahekili Highway on the Kaneohe-side boundary of the Valley of the Temples cemetery.

Ulupaina lunchspot @ the powerline towers at the base of the Koolau cliffs

We did the hike as sweeps, and spent most of the day hiking with three young ladies from Roosevelt High School and Robert, a heart & lung surgeon from the Netherlands.

Arbitration!

Today, we had to attend and testify at an arbitration hearing as part of a settlement lawsuit resulting from a car accident, whereby Jacque was rear-ended by another driver on Kunia Road by Waipahu.  That acccident happened a few years ago (2007?) and here we are almost four years later awaiting a settlement.

Representing us is Attorney Joseph Ahuna with "the opposition" being AIG Insurance Company nka Farmer's Insurance.  The arbitrator was Michael Tanoue, who served as a judge of sorts, to determine if Jacque is owed compensation as a result of injuries suffered from and as a result of the accident.

Now we will wait and see.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Today was Mom Turner's 75th birthday and we celebrated it with a dinner at Paula's house.  Happy birthday, Mom!

Mom with her birthday dinner:  Hawaiian food!

Kale, Paula and Dayle with Mom

Mom and her great-granddaughter (Shanara's)

Pu'u Ma'eli'eli HTMC

Today, Jacque and I led a hike up and around Pu'u Ma'eli'eli today for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club.  The route begins along Kahekili Highway just Kaneohe-side of Temple Valley Shopping Center and follows an old jeep road that follows the ridgecrest to Ma'eli'eli.

Along the way to the top of the pu'u, there is a junction where we head right to descend into the foothills on the makai side of the ridge.  Part of this foothill ramble is along old jeep roads, probably created by the military vintage WWII.

Eventually, the foothill ramble leads up a ridge that ends at Ma'eli'eli that offered views like these:

Jacque the seamstress

A very blurry video of Jacque making a quilt blanket at home with her new Kenmore sewing machine. She loves her machine and can do wonders on it.  Can't the say the same for me and the video capabilities of my cell phone.

Dinner with the Steffens

We had a nice dinner tonight as guests of Joshua and Nola Steffen.  They're members of our church and good friends.  Dayle and Josh served together as counselors of the Elders Quorum for our ward.
 

The parmesan sauce we ate with pasta, streamed broccoli, and baked asparagus was the best and richest I've ever eaten.

For dessert, we had angel food cake a ala chocolate pudding made by Jacque.  Ono.

After dessert, we played parcheesi, a game I assented to because it did not require much thinking.  Nola wiped us all out, despite our efforts to foil her victory.

We love the Steffens.

A Full Saturday for J & D

Whoever said that Saturday was supposed to be a day of lounging around the house got it wrong, at least on this particular Saturday.  For us, we spent the six hours of the day with a gas-powered weed eater and a heavy duty loppers clearing what was a non-trail into a trail in the foothills on the makai side of Pu'u Maelieli, the hilltop that straddles Kahaluu/Temple Valley and Heeia Kea.  On 1 October Saturday, we will lead a hike up and around Ma'eli'eli for the Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club.

The ridge leading to Ma'eli'eli was well cleared by HTMC but the loop section (which begins at the smiley face on the map above) was not, which left the job of clearing it to us.  Well, we did not anticipate it being in an extreme jungle-like state but we were well armed and full of energy, at least for the first few hours.

But as legendary Green Bay Packer coach Vince Lombardi once said, "Fatigue makes cowards of us all," and that is what happened.   But we persevered and did a credible job of clearing, despite our fatigue.

So are day of laboring ended with a wonderfully cool and refreshing soft drink from Temple Valley McDonald's a warm shower and home and a short nap.

But we were not through.

At 6:30, we headed to the Kaneohe Stake Center for the baptism of Lona Albert, who is the niece of Caster Kunou, a former student of Dayle's at Leeward Community and a former classmate of Jacque's, also at Leeward.  That was a wonderful experience and a great part of this eventful Saturday.

Jacque's better

After being in the hospital last week for a bout with pancreatitis, Jacque is much better now.  She has not been cleared to return to work, but she is feeling better. 

As if Jacque's hospital stay wasn't enough, today we went to the Koolau Theaters at Temple Valley to watch the 3:50pm showing of the movie Contagion, which was about a whole lot of sick people. Interesting but kind of depressing.

Jacque's @ QMC

  

Jacque went to the ER at the very place she works at (QMC) for what may be pancreatitis.  At the moment, we are awaiting the results of a CT scan to determine if she will be admitted overnight.  I am praying that she will be okay. Right now, she is resting in the ER.

Fingernail art ala Jacque

Not the greatest picture but Jacque did her fingernails today.  They're red with light blue stripes.  Wonderful!

A new desk

We were the recipients of very nice gift from a friend and, thanks to Dustin, who assembled it, we now have a very nice desk.  To place the desk in its current spot, we had to clear and then move two desks that had occupied the space, no easy task.  But it was worth it.

Hauoli la hanau

Twenty-years, sweetheart!  One day at a time!

God has truly blessed you.

Labor Day football

Dayle was an all-star football player for Kamehameha (#77 below) back in the 1970s (for those who are counting, that was 35 years ago). 

Today, he played football for the first time in many, may years. It was flag football and was with some of the guys from church and though he had fun, he came home afterward tired and sore.

You're not a youngster, sweetheart!     Want some Ibuprofen?

Two years and an eternity to go...

Monday 8/22/11 was the 2nd anniversary of Jacque and I's sealing for time and eternity.

Actually, both of us forgot about this anniversary until tonight Jacque found a gift we had received from Joe and Janice Ahuna on our sealing day.

Pictured at left, it was the book Eternal Marriage and the Parable of the Silverware and a set of Cambridge silverware.

Happy Anniversary, sweetheart.

Michael is here

Jacque's oldest brother, Michael, arrived on Oahu today from Monterey, California.  He is here to take care of business regarding the estate of Jacque's mom and dad.

Michael just retired, so we spent some time talking about retirement, social security, and the like.  He's staying with Jacque's brother Freddy and family in Mililani tonight and will be staying with us tomorrow.

Meanwhile, we are still climbing Michi's Ladder and doing well with that diet.  Jacque has lost ten pounds and I have lost ?? (I dunno because I have not weighed myself).  But I'm sure I have dropped some pounds.

An Ode of a Dishwasher

Today is one of those days that I feel like I'm a janitor who cleans up the messes people leave behind.  I wake up, after saying my prayers, and find a sink full of dishes.  Lately, my morning ritual is to wash dishes before I drive Jacque to work.  Then I come home and eat breakfast.

So that day starts with a clean, empty sink and by day's end, the sink is full.  (Almost) invariably.

But there's a reason that I took a job as a janitor in a men's college dorm (@ NAU).  It was to humble myself and to always remember that clean-up work would never be beneath me.

And it certainly isn't.  :-)

I take from Moroni 7:5 which reads:

For I remember the word of God which saith by their works ye shall know them; for if their works be good, then they are good also.

Amen.

Farewell Elder Limb

Today, we bid farewell to Elder Justice Limb, who served honorably, humbly, and well in our ward for the past several months. He was called to serve in the Hilo area of Hawaii Island.

We had developed a special love for this young man, and we were sad to see him go.  But we wish him the best and God speed!

Grandpa Paul Turner

This morning, Jacque and I attended the temple yesterday and after the endowment session we did some sealings in a room that looked like this one.

During the sealing session, which we enjoyed,  the temple sealer, Brother Chong, asked me if I was related to Paul Turner.  "Is he your father?" asked Brother Chong.

"He's my grandfather," I replied.

Come to find out, Brother Chong, as a young man, worked for my grandfather ("a good man," said Brother Chong) as an apprentice electrician at Pearl Harbor during the Korean War years (i.e. the 1950s).  He mentioned how Grandpa helped him get on the fast track to journeyman at the shipyard.

I was thankful to hear this about my grandpa, who I know very little about because he died in 1965 when I was just seven years old.

After the temple, we went ate lunch at windblown Pounder's Beach and then drove down the coast for a swim at Kahana Bay, where my dad taught my home to swim (using the swim or sink method) and perhaps that is where his dad, Grandpa Paul, taught him how to swim.

Working on "the ladder"

A week ago, Jacque and I embarked on a diet based on Michi's Ladder. There are five tiers on the ladder, with food items on the top two touted as being the source of a "perfect diet."

For example, Tier One (dubbed the Pious Tier) foods include mostly fruits and vegetables with protein items such as steamed/broiled fish, fat free cottage cheese, and non-fat milk.

On Tier Two (the Happy Tier) there are, among others, white meat fowl (.e.g chicken and turkey), whole eggs (cooked anyway except fried), low-fat sugar-free yogurt, brown rice, etc.

Tier Five (The Newburg Tier; who Newburg is, I dunno) has stuff (I used to love) such as cakes, pies, cookies, fast food hamburgers, ice cream, creamy salad dressings, sugar, chocolate, etc.

So, for the past week, we've worked on sticking to Tiers 1 & 2.  For me, I've eaten a lot of brown rice, boiled eggs, tuna, and veggies. 

So far, so good.

No Work today so it's Harry Potter

Dropped Jacque at work this morning only to find out a half hour later that she was not scheduled to work today.  So we went to see the newest (and last?) Harry Potter movie at the Ward 14-plex.

I can say that this was the first Harry Potter movie that I didn't fall asleep at.

As it ended, I felt like how I did as a youngster at the end of reading a good book:  I had this sense that I wouldn't see the characters again.

Will there be another Harry Potter movie?  Methinks there will be.  We'll see.

Dentist Visit

Jacque went to see Dr. Howard Carrico on Oneawa Street in Kailua.  She had to get her teeth cleaned.

FHE

We had Family Home Evening tonight with David and Tiana Suficiencia.  After dinner (teriyaki pork and lasagna), we watched several clips from a Doctrines and Covenants DVD, including one about Christ visiting the New World.

The new EQ prez is...

I was set apart today as the Elder's Quorum President for our ward.  As such, I was given priesthood keys to serve, and in cooperation with the Bishop of our ward, organize the efforts of the quorum.

For the past three years, I have served as First Counselor to President Wilfredo Bejosa, who led the quorum ably and well.

Lots of work ahead.  I will do my best to serve the Lord.

Tour de Oahu continues

Today, we continued our quest to walk around Oahu with another leg, this one from Windward City Shopping Center in Kaneohe to Olomana Golf Course in Waimanalo.  According to google maps, the distance covered was 6.6 miles and should have taken us 2 hours and 16 minutes (though we needed more like three hours).

 

We had intended to walk a little further but opted to bail out at Olomana Golf Course when we did because if we had gone further we would have missed a soon to pass city bus and would have to wait for an hour for another bus to transport us back to Kaneohe.

As it was, we almost missed the bus (actually, the bus almost missed us).  It seems that the bus stop in front of the golf course is rarely used, so the driver wasn't prepared to stop there and zoomed past.  Luckily for us, the driver spotted us as he zoomed by and pulled the bus to a stop about 50 yards past the stop.    He apologized as we boarded the bus but we were grateful for the ride back to Kaneohe.

To complete our trek, we need to complete two more legs:  1) from Olomana Golf Course to Hawaii Kai (11.7 miles) and 2) from Wahiawa to Blaisdell Park in Pearl City (11.1 miles).

Other legs we have completed are Blaisdell Park in Pearl City to Kaneohe (20+ miles), Kaneohe to Swanzee Beach Park in Kaaawa (13.5 miles), Turtle Bay in Kahuku to Kaaawa 7-11 store (15.5 miles), Turtle Bay to Haleiwa (12.1 miles), Haleiwa to Wahiawa (8.6 miles), Nuuanu to Kahala Mall (6.3 miles), and Hawaii Kai to Kahala Mall (5 miles).  Total miles covered = 88.6 with 22.8 more to go!

All this walking has been good for us, but Jacque's knees bother her, a result of a traffic accident she was involved in a few years ago.

Hiking with Cub Scouts

 Jacque and I volunteered to lead two groups of Cub Scouts on short hikes today up Waimanalo Ridge as part of a Cub Scout camp today.  Upon completing the hike, each scout was eligible to receive a hiking belt loop (see above) if they could

1. explain the hiking safety rules to a den leader or adult partner and practice the safety rules while on the hike.
2. demonstrate proper hiking attire and equipment
3. hike for 30 minutes with an adult, den, or family.

Waimanalo Ridge, by the way, is located on the grounds of Town and Country Stables owned by Bud Gibson, a member of our church.

A good time was had by all on this sunny day in Waimanalo!

She can see clearly now...

This morning, Jacque had a cataract removed from her left eye today and a multifocal intraocular lens (pictured below) implanted by Dr. Alan Faulkner. 

The result:  20/20 vision from what was 20/250 (and worsening due to the cataract).  A couple weeks prior, Jacque had the same surgery done on her right eye, so her vision, both near and far, is perfect.

A nice drive nevertheless...

Jacque and I traveled to Laie today to attend the Temple, arriving at just past noon.  As we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed that there were less than ten cars there, prompting me to remark, "Wow, not a lot of people at the temple today."

Come to find out there were no people at the Temple today.

Was it a holiday? 

No.

Was there an emergency we were unaware of?

No.

While sitting in our car in the parking lot, I made a call to the Temple which yielded a contradictory voice message which on the one had said that the temple was closed but on the other said that it would be open on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 7am to 8pm.

And today was Tuesday after all. 

Confused, we drove home to Kaneohe, enjoying the ride all the while.  We later discovered (via this link) that the temple was closed for maintenance from Monday July 4 through Monday July 18.

Blood Drive Today

The Elder's Quorum of our church hosted the Blood Bank of Hawaii today for a blood donation drive. 

Forty-one (41) people signed up to donate with twenty-five (25) being able to donate. Since a pint of blood saves three lives, 75 lives were saved today. 

Jacque had surgery today to remove a rare kind of cataract from her right eye.  A couple weeks from now, she will have the same surgery to remove the cataract from her left eye.

Without the surgery, Jacque will lose her eyesight.  Not good.

In addition, an implant (intraocular lens, picutured at left) will be "installed" in her eyes, allowing her to see perfectly again.  Wonderful news.

Taming the Jungle

Dayle had taken a vacation from cleaning one part of our yard and, as a result, it had turned into a jungle of sorts, as seen in the pic below.

Well, the jungle was attacked today by Dayle and our two current missionaries from our ward, Elders Behymer (pictured above) and Limb, who divided and conquered, as seen below.

Great job,  guys!

Happy 7th!

Today is our 7th wedding anniversary!  According to tradition, an appropriate anniversary gift for the 7th is wool, which represents "the comfort, durability, security, and warmth that couples married this long give one another."

Jacque is working today (her 3rd 16-hour shift in the past three days).  Fortunately, tomorrow she's off so we'll celebrate then.

Meanwhile, I went to church today, starting with a 6 a.m. meeting and ending at 1 pm after choir practice.

Happy 7th to us!

A Thunderous Friday

We woke up this morning (or were woken up) by the continuous sound of thunder.  Would have been nice to sleep in given the thunderstormy atmosphere but Jacque had to work (her 2nd 16-hour shift in a row).

A Panda and a Court of Honor

Jacque had the day off.  I had a class to teach in the morning.

After lunch, we went to see the new Kung Fu Panda movie at Ward Theaters (the 1:35 matinee).  It was fun, especially trying to match the voices to the specific actor/actress.

 In the evening, we went to church to see the Bishop but ended up attending an Eagle Scout Court of Honor for one of the young men in our ward.   BTW, and ESCOH is a ceremony to recognize the earning of the highest rank in the Boy Scouts:  Eagle Scout.

In this case, the recipient was Cameron Tani-Kiyokane and he was honored for earning his Eagle and joined other Eagle Scouts from our ward in the "Eagles' Nest", with the eldest Eagle in attendance tonight being Joe Ahuna, who probably earned his Eagle forty-plus years ago. 

Joe Ahuna