Sat. Dec.17, 2022- Mele Kalikimaka

 Sunrise on our beach:

Brooke and Ashlyn take an early morning swing on another swing just down the beach and Austin finds coconuts

Chad and Kaden did an early morning run out to Laie Point and saw the waves crash….

It is amazing that when the Mahaffeys were here in July, this WWII Pillbox had sand all around it and we could climb into it. Now, the waves are almost engulfing it. 

We had to work at the VC, so the Monroe’s went to Bonzai Beach to watch the surf competition.

They even got to see Bethany Hamilton, the girl who once had her arm bitten off by a shark.

Later that evening they came over to see Elder Mahaffey and I become Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Each night a new senior couple would be Mr & Mrs. Santa.

It was a lot of fun. Of course, since we are missionaries, we couldn’t have the kids sit on Santa’s lap…so we would just have them sit beside us on the bench and take their picture and give them a candy cane.

We had a great time!!!

Friday, Dec. 16- Later that day

 After breakfast and some house re-arranging, we took off for Pounders beach. It is a great place to Boogie Board, but the waves really do POUND you !!!

It all looked so peaceful and calm to start with…

But when you get out in the water…..

We started with more exercises for Devon and Kaden

Then some beach shots of those of us not heading into the water

Tanner

Nana and Brooke - thanks for the Umbrella Mahaffeys!!!

We even found another swing for Ashlyn

In the winter when it is high tide, it brings up a lot of sand…and it can get pretty deep to walk through!

Alas, one wave hit Kaden particularly hard, slammed the boogie board out from under him, scrapping up his abs and face!!!

But, no time to rest as they had an appointment at PeRl Harbor next:

It was Devon’s 17th birthday, so on the way home they stopped at Seven Brothers to get him a hamburger!

They even stopped by the Visitor’s Center where we were working and said hello!

Friday, Dec. 16, 2022 - early morning

 As usual, when people come, their internal time clocks are off and they wake up very early - also because it gets light earlier here, and because the road traffic is VERY noisy! So, most people head straight out to the beach behind our house!

Kaden began the adventure with his early morning exercises!

But soon Brooke and Austin joined in the walk/runs on the beach! It was a beautiful morning after all….

Kaden, Brooke and Austin

Pretty soon, we were ALL out there….

Tanner and Nana

Kaden and Papa

Kaden, Chad, and Papa

Then we got our the Boogie boards to do some body surfing….

Austin in background, Kaden in foreground

Ashlyn 

Kaden

Devon and Papa

We played for awhile, then the Youngs came over to see M1 and M2 - as they affectionately called Tanner and Kaden who were their MTC teachers.

Of course, after EVERY time  you go on the beach. Especially if you are in the water, you must hose off every part of your anatomy to get as much sand off as you can. The drains and water pipes in our bathroom don’t handle the sand too well.