Hawaiian Pueo

A month or so ago, there appeared around the Iolani Palace Grounds a rare Hawaiian Owl. In Hawaiian it's called Pueo. It is supposed that the owl flew here as it was not introduced to the islands by man. This species of owl is not found anywhere else in the world. I've posted some photos of it and a video. On one of the days that we saw it, it was on the grass eating a rat. Enjoy this rare experience! (Thanks to Whitney Ross for having a camera handy at work and taking the time to send me copies!)

Grandpa Kau's 90th Birthday

This last week has been one eventful week. Tuesday was Grandpa's 90th birthday and Romney's parents came from California and her Aunty Debbie and Uncle Alan came from Wisconsin for a total of 10 days. Romney's parents stayed with us since there was little extra room at the grandparent's house.



Each weekend the family got together for dinner and entertainment. Here are a few photos:







The last one is at Willow's Restaurant on Tuesday afternoon.





It was a fun week and a long celebration for Grandpa. We hope he has a great 90th year!

Hawaiian Adventures Water Park

As an employee of the State, I become a member of the Hawaii Government Employees' Association (HGEA). They automatically take dues out of my paycheck so I figured I might as well sign up to be a member. It's actually been a good thing because they occasionally do something fun and I get in for free or cheap. The latest event was going to the Hawaiian Adventures Water Park on Statehood Day, Friday, August 15, 2008. Not only could I get myself and Romney in but up to 10 friends, all at a discounted rate. So we got some of our single friends from the University Branch to come with us.



One of the newest rides was called the Tornado. It looked kind of scary and we did get a thrill, but it wasn't too bad. Here's Romney and me coming out of it with Caleb (You Shik) Hwang and his girlfriend, Jen Crowther.



For lunch, HGEA provided a nice plate lunch at no extra charge.



Here were a few other rides we really liked.






For more photos, check out our Picasa site.

Makapu'u Lighthouse

Romney's mom was on island for the past month. While here, we were able to run around and do some site-seeing. One of the places we visited was Makapu'u Lighthouse. There's a nice (i.e. paved roadway with little slant) trail that is reported as 2 miles long that take you to the edge of the ocean. The lighthouse is very small but well-maintained. There are some nice views from the top.


Romney and Laurie on the trail.


Makapu'u Beach.


Rabbit Island.


Makapu'u Lighthouse.


Laurie, Romney, and Dainan at the top.

Anniversary

Well, we've made it one full year! It seems crazy that we've been married that long. It doesn't feel like it. For all you thinking the question: We are still madly in love with each other and wouldn't have it any other way.

For our anniversary, we drove up to Laie, stopping along the way to take pictures at some of the picturesque beaches. Once in Laie, we went to Laie Point and then to the temple for more pictures. We borrowed a tripod from one of our married couple friends in our ward so that both Romney and I could be in the photos. It worked a lot better than when we went on our honeymoon on the Big Island. Either she was in the picture or I was, but never both.







Also, for Christmas, my parents gave us each an apron for cooking in the kitchen. So, here's us posing.



To see more of the photos, go to my Picasa site at my Picasa account.

New Life

Well, it's been a long while. I guess the biggest change in my life has been meeting and marrying my wife, Romney Maw (now Skeem!!!). Here she is:



I met Romney at the University Branch here in Honolulu, Hawaii. She had moved in two summers ago. We did a few things occasionally and then I asked her out in the fall of 2006. We became serious in January 2007 and by March 29th, I had proposed. She graciously accepted and we were married on July 20th, 2007. We wanted to get married in Hawaii (like everyone else in the world) but it would have been very expensive to get all of the family here. So we picked the Jordan River Temple since it was close to Romney's brother and sister-in-law, Taylor and Natasha, who live in West Jordan. Romney's originally from California so her family drove up, and my family drove down from Idaho.

I've finally graduated from UH with my Masters and am working as an archivist at the Hawaii State Archives. It's fun work (for the most part) and I love my co-workers, so I'm happy to be working a "real" job.

Romney is working a part-time social worker job while attending UH's Master Program in Social Work. Her focus is Gerontology so she'll be able to take good care of me as I get old! She should hopefully graduate in May 2009. Then we'll both be successfully employed shortly thereafter.

Earthquake!!!

Okay, now that I have a few minutes to breath, before I plunge in again for next week, I thought I would tell an interesting story about the Sunday that an earthquake hit Hawaii. It's the only earthquake I've ever felt...

My roommate, Caleb, was house-sitting for a couple that went to the mainland for three weeks. Saturday, October 14th, I spent the night at the house with him and James Lui (an ex-roommate, current friend). We'd all stayed up pretty late and when we finally went to bed, I crashed on the master bed, which lucky for me had a memory foam mattress.

I woke up at 7:05 am Sunday morning to rain pounding on the roof. I got up, looked out at the solid gray world, and then went back to bed. After laying there for only a short time (later I found out it was at 7:07 am) there was a slight shaking of the bed. Thinking the family's dog had gotten into the room and was jumping on the bed, I stirred slightly. When I realized there was no dog a sudden thought went crashing through my mind...EARTHQUAKE!!! Then, my mind crashed again back to sleep. You know what they say about memory foam: you can jump on one end and not spill a drop of wine from a glass on the other. It wasn't until later that I realized that if it had been more serious (it was a 6.5 on the richter scale) I would have been buried while still sleeping.

The day proceeded on a normal basis...as normal as you can get with no electricity. The entire city was out all day. In fact, most of the state was out all day. While it was still light out (if you call iron gray light) it wasn't too bad. However, once night fell, things became a little different. I became bored out of my mind. I tried to read but the light from the flash light was annoyingly bright. My friend, James, was over at my apartment with me and we sat on the couch in the dark, wondering what we were going to do. Since it was only 8:00 pm, we didn't want to go to bed. I kept thinking about my movies and wanting to watch one. When I finally voiced this, James jumped up and told me to grab my laptop. Of course, my battery was dead by now. But we took it out to his car, plugged an ac adaptor into his cigarette lighter and then plugged my laptop in. The best part about it was the fact that the lighter didn't work unless the car was on. So, we sat in his car with it running for 2 1/2 hours watching "The Chronicles of Narnia," him in the driver's seat, me in the passanger's. It was pretty funny. Half an hour after it finished, the lights came on. Another great adventure in Hawaii.