12 degrees

It's 10:20 pm and the thermometer outside our window is reading 12 degrees.


I think I vacuumed up the last remaining Hawaiian sand from our carpets today. What a trip! In honor of those 12 degrees, here are 12 highlights:


1) Family...not only did go to a warm and beautiful island but, we were able to spend time with Jeff, Ann and the rest of the Hawaiian Jex crew.




2) Friends... Jim and Annie Davis. We found out in the fall that we were all heading to Hawaii at the same time, a beautiful coincidence. Thankfully, Jim survived the sea urchin attack.

Sue, Lucy, Trevor and Jamon on Kailua Beach

3)The sunshine... The colors of sunrise began
around 6:15am, by that time at the Jex home, not only had she already played with Sue and Lu but, Aedan's delicious breakfasts were almost ready pancakes, crepes, and French Toast. These were all on school days! We are still riding that wave as we can still remember the way the sun feels on our skin...the sun was up by 7am!

4) The surf... from the first day at the beach, Lucy was wanting to go deeper. She tried her hand at everything even snorkeling for a second. She was up on a surfboard, boogie boarding, turtle floaty surfing (Kailua Trevor style) and body surfing. My niece, Aedan, gave Rob surfing lessons. Jamon gave Susanna a ride on the boogie board.

5) The sand...Susanna was more cautious about the open water but, she made plenty of sand creations and then a few days in, thanks to her cousins, she discovered body surfing! She loved it for the rest of the trip.

6) The snorkeling: Lanikai and Haunauma Bay

7) The surfing and boarding: Kalama, Kailua, Waikiki and Bellows
Everything Rob knows about surfing, he learned from his 11 year old niece.

8) The Huge wave and sun bathing sea turtle watching: Laniakea on the North Shore

9) Polynesian Cultural Center. We loved the roasted pig, New Zealand was a highlight with a visiting middle school dance group. Susanna was very entertained when the men with extra thick grass skirts danced over a big fire at the Evening Show. It was great.

10) The Food: Teddy's Burgers, Hawaiian chili, pineapple, papaya, Thai food the roadside restaurant owner, sensing our confusion, took care of us by making us a plate. Best of all...overheard by her parents in car, Lucy said to Susanna, "I'm serious Susanna, that restaurant last night had food called Poo poo [Pupu]!"

11) Portuguese Man-of-War and other WILD life..Lucy personally met one, we snorkeled with sea turtles and beautiful tropical fish including the Humuhumukununukuapua'a! We also saw a 5 inch long centipede. We are not used to such bug life in cold Alaska!

12) Barbecues on the turf 10 yards from the surf at Bellows. What a great place to stay.

Bottom photos: (Left: LDS Temple in Laie; Right: At the PCC Luau)

Rob's Deployment to Texas

Rob was deployed to Texas on Monday September 22, to help staff make shift pharmacies there offering disaster relief. He had been preparing for the possibility for a few weeks as we'd all been watching the weather in the Gulf states. He was excited and it was impressive to see how hard he worked to be prepared. Here is his email from today.

Hello, I made it down to College Station, Texas. Things are for the most part wrapped up down here, and the residents are heading home. I am at the Reed Arena on Campus here and there are folks from Point Arthur, Beaumont and Galveston that were evacuated to this arena. They are the special needs folks who were either in assisted living centers or recieving home health visits. At one point they had over 300 patients here, but now they are down to less than 100 and more are going home today. They are real relieved to get going. Most of their homes are fine, but a few of the folks are still here because they don't have homes anymore. They do have medication needs and I think we are providing them good care. The folks here at Texas A&M have been so great and this is a real organized and secure facility. Food's good. The cot up in the hallway on the second floor of the arena is not real comfortable, gonna try sleeping on the ground tonight. I have meet some real nice folks amongst the evacuees and also the other disaster relief folks from the Public Health Service and the other agencies. Can't believe what these patients are going through as they have evacuated a couple of times this year and have had their lives' disrupted. I am sure greatful to live in the circumstances that I do. Take Care, Rob

Here is a link to a news report about the arena and Rob's mission: http://www.myfoxaustin.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=7472832&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Farewell to Summer!

Despite reports that this was the 3rd coldest Alaskan summer on record, we had some good times.

Some even asked us if we'd "been outside" (meaning out of Alaska) recently, looking at the girls' color on their cheeks. No, I'd reply, we've just jumped at the chance of being outside whenever the sun was out. It wasn't often but, Alaskan winters are good motivators to make Vitamin D while, and when, the sun shines!

As we head closer and closer to 32, we look back at the days of 60s and those 3 days of 70s and say, "See you next year!!!!"

Grand Canyon