Lots of Things and Day 5 of Hawaii Five-O!!

Another huge gap in time. I feel guilty, much like I feel about writing in my journal - so much happens in life that it seems like there isn't time to record what is happening. The last month has been busy, that's for sure! Since I last posted, Cathy and Rick were here for a visit, Amy and Brad were here, too. While I didn't get to see Amy and Brad as much, it was so nice to have them stay at our house for a few hours - overnight and breakfast. I really enjoyed the week with C&R, though. Each day I was able to take Cathy to lunch, then we had a few evenings together. Having lunch together was a nice break from the day and a good chance to visit about everything. Cathy is my friend and my big sister - I won't say "older" because at this point, age is irrelevant, right?

We had Ward Conference and Stake Conference. Sarah spoke at Stake Conference and she did a wonderful job in spite of the technical difficulties with the sound system. I saw the Stake president a few days after Conference and made the connection that Sarah was my niece. He just got the biggest smile and said she "made the conference" with her handling of that situation. More than likely everyone will remember her talk, at least.

There are new babies in our family! How fitting that Sarah and Kerri both delivered on the same day. I just imagine that those 2 little cousins were plotting and planning to arrive together. Chloe knew when she was coming, so she encouraged Luke to "jump off" on the same day. I know they are both excited about the Corbett Family Reunion in July. Sweet babies - glad they are here safely. I know Kerri and Sarah are happy, too!

Work is picking up - that's all I have to say about that!

Day 5 - Hawaii Five -O: Ok, maybe everyone isn't as excited about this as I am, but I still can't believe that our trip is over! Zack has been after me to blog the last few days. So here goes...Day 5 was Sunday. All along we had planned to attend Sacrament Meeting at least. I admit the main reason I wanted to go was to hear the "Aloha" greeting and response from the congregation. I grew to love that when I lived there. After a few weeks it sounds so natural. So some of us got dressed for church and headed out. We got there early, of course, and I found myself scanning the crowd, looking for familiar faces. After a few minutes, I came to the stark realization that I needed to look at the older faces, not the 20-something faces that I was studying. Duh. A member of the bishopric introduced himself, and we struck up a conversation about who he might know, told him we were related to Lisa Taylor Wagner, and Taylor Macdonald. Then we realized that he had been at BYU-Hawaii when I was there. I didn't know him, but I knew of his wife. She was in charge of the group "Showcase Hawaii" and was very visible on campus. She was good friends with Taylor, so he had introduced me to her when I first got there. He was sure to tell me that she was a returned missionary. This introduction took place about a week before I made the "decision" to go on a mission. So she was unknowingly one of the influences in helping me with my decision. It brought back to me some of the emotion that I felt back in 1977, and as I tried to explain to Mom who she was, I couldn't help but cry a little. Her name is Esther De La Rosa. The meeting itself was interesting - a Fijiian family spoke, so their greeting was "Bula Vinaka", not Aloha. But the feeling was the same. The closing song? "God Be With You Till We Meet Again". Need I say more? We didn't stay for the other meetings, but we tried to be reverent the rest of the day. Went home, changed clothes and headed up to the Waimea Falls area to hike the trail. On the way we stopped at a Shrimp Shack (say that 5 times, really fast!), and had some really good Garlic Shrimp that was amazingly expensive. I had always wanted to stop at one of those little places, so now I can say that I've done it! The hike at Waimea was incredibly beautiful. Those who participated? Everyone except Jeff, Jeanette, Caitlin and Ross. They went to Pearl Harbor that day. The area is actually an Audobon run "park" - very well-maintained. The trail is paved, with some ups and downs, but really so beautiful. Again, after spending so many years here in Arizona, it was amazing to see so much green, and so many beautiful plants in all their varieties. Zack took some pictures that you would not believe. I keep telling him that he should make a dvd of screen savers. Huge "Birds of Paradise" - like trees! Some flowers that don't really even look like flowers. The Falls themselves, were, well, anti-climactic? But still, I guess, it was nice to see. The hike took some energy, and time has taken it's toll, so I don't really remember the rest of that day - specifically. Oh my gosh! How could I forget? It was New Years Eve! When it got dark, we all went down to the beach with chairs and set up for the fireworks that Zack had purchased. It was all very primitive - the men were building the fire, with all the skills that Boy Scouts can muster, with the wind being a huge challenge. The fireworks were mostly sparkly kind of shooting things, not really explosive. We had so much fun watching the "boys" exhibit their manliness by jumping over and walking through the sparklies. The fact that we were right near the water minimized any fire worries. At 9:00 Hawaii time (which was 12:00 Arizona time) the group sang Happy Birthday - on the beach in Hawaii, at night, with a beautiful moon, the sound of the water, the smell of the ocean, and my family around me. This was an experience that will never be re-created, but will never be forgotten, even though I almost forgot it! We didn't stay up til midnight Hawaii time, but I think we all heard the fireworks from our beds. Ahhhhh, Hawaii.....