Our Ohana: March 2008

Hello! Almost two months has already passed since my last post, so I figured I better update. We've had some great times since the last post. In February we had an unexpected visitor! One of Jeremy's friends from Des Moines, Max, called on Monday and asked if it would be alright if he'd come to visit...on Wednesday! We were all more than happy to have a visitor! So, while Max was here Jer took a few days off work. They went to do some exploring. They visited Waipio Valley, which we have pics of on the website already. However, they did do some extreme hiking up the one side of the valley and found a beautiful little waterfall and pool...I put a pic of it on the website. The three of us (Jer, Max, & I) also got to do some snorkeling. It was great...while we were snorkeling we heard whales under water and saw them out in the distance above the water. After snorkeling we grabbed some lunch and headed up Mauna Kea. Jer and I hadn't even done this yet, and there was snow on the top while Max was here. Devin couldn't go because they recommend children not go up the mountain due to elevation sickness. It was awesome! We decided not to take the hike to the summit peak, however, Jer & Max did hike up one of the 'cones' and ran back down! I don't know if there are too many places you can go from sea level to 14,000 feet in a matter of about two hours! We had a wonderful time! We brought some snow back down in a cooler for Devin and she thought that was great...the first snow she'd seen in a year!
In March lava flow from Kiluea Volcano started entering the ocean. That was a big deal and something I'd wanted to see since we moved here. We thought it would be cool to see at night. They set up a viewing area, so we decided to go see it. Well, it was more of an adventure than we expected! I think it's a funny story so I'm going to tell it...First of all I forgot my tennis shoes, so wore slippers (flip flops). We had no idea how many people would be there. We had heard that it was only a half-mile hike to the viewing area. We saw cars parked, we parked. Well, we had a 3 mile walk ahead of us...one way...we didn't realize you could keep driving further! Jeremy carried Devin pretty much the entire way there and back on his shoulders. The walk there wasn't bad. It was dark, but we had flashlights and the trail was pretty smooth...until we got to where we had to cross the old lava flow...uneven and sharp! We made it to the viewing area, but earlier that day they had restricted passing past a certain point because the lava had changed directions. So, we didn't get to see it going into the ocean, and it was barely flowing when we got there. We did get to see a small tree start on fire! It was neat, but not at all what we expected. Devin wasn't impressed and thought it smelled like fireworks. I clicked some pics, sat and rested for a couple minutes. Jer was disappointed and ready to head back to the car...he was off like he was in a race. For some reason I had more difficulties on the way back. My slipper broke, I fell, ripped my jeans, and skinned my knee! Luckily I was able to fix my slipper and catch up with Jer and Devin! It seemed twice as long to get back to the car...I've never been so happy to see a car! The lava is again flowing into the ocean now. I don't think Jer's up for it again, but I think I may head out to go see it again tomorrow night. Hopefully this trip will be better! :) I posted a few pics of the lava.
I also posted some random past pics that I had taken with a disposable camera when our digital was broken, that I just got back.
In the near future we have a lot going on. We're starting to visit different preschools, so we can pick one for Devin to start at this fall! Jer has his computer test and interview for the fire department April 3 & 8. I go to a training for work in Dallas April 3-7. Jer's 30th birthday is April 15...yes 30! :) We're again looking into bringing Romeo out to live with us. And hopefully we'll be going back to Iowa for a visit somewhere around May 21-June 3...if we ever get tickets! I'll keep you posted! Take care!