Camping!

Camping at Honeyman is a long held family tradition. It does seem a little odd to travel all the way to Oregon when there is plenty of camping near by, but a tradition is a tradition. I told everyone that I was not coming this year, but really I bought a ticket months ago. Cathy picked me up at the airport and I surprised the gang.

Anna was very excited to arrive and get settled in our Yurt. You might notice that this is not really camping, but as it usually rains the Yurt is just prudent.

We had lots of 'smores. Also, Anna kept trying to close her eyes in all of the pictures because she thought it was funny.

Mom and Cathy making us the traditional Hot Cha Cha's for dinner Friday night. Did I mention that there are a lot of traditions?

Here is my Anna girl with Aunt Cyndi. We took 5 pictures before we got one with her eyes open.

Saturday morning we all jumped out of bed and had a yummy breakfast. Anna was really excited when she got up and was allowed to keep her PJs on. This camping stuff it has some great perks. Cathy and Dave ended up being the 'host' campsite this year. We cooked everything here and ate together. At every meal Camille would ask, did my family bring any food at all?

We had the cocoa motion machines running all weekend. While we did not have rain, it was windy and cold so the hot yummy drinks were very very good. Also, Grandma Ann does not like to travel without her cocoa motion.

After breakfast we wondered over to see the cousins. Uncle Jerry has a tradition of making Frog Eye on Saturday morning. It is cornbread crumbled into bacon grease and cooked up, then served with butter and syrup. That's right - I said bacon grease, butter and syrup.

Here are Cathy and I having our traditional serving of Frog Eye. Yum!

Matt has been running triathlons, and he is showing off how buff he is. He also liked the built in under ware in his running shorts and wanted to show those off!

Here is Ty Ty - on his first camping trip.

After breakfast we headed over to Lake Cleawox for some fishing and playing on the dunes.

Carter decided to get buried in the sand, and Natalie was helping out.

Todd and his friend made this great slide in the sand for the teenagers.

Another tradition of camping is yummy treats, and Cathy had these peanut butter M&Ms in her car. Yeah!

David and Anna at our campsite.

After lunch we went over the Haceta to play at the beach and see the light house.

Grandma Ann wanted to fly a kite, and Saturday was the perfect weather. Todd got them all set up.

And Anna and Grandma had a fantastic kite in the air.

Then it was time to hike up to the lighthouse.

Half of the group went on the tour, and the rest of us waited outside entertaining the group.

Ben with the Rudolf nose. You can't tell, but it lights up.

I am not sure why David needs to make a silly face in every picture! We are trying to stay warm while we wait and watch the view.

When we got back, it was time to make the traditional foil back dinners. Camille is watching over the dinner.

Here are Laurie and Todd mixing up the meals.

Then Sunday morning we got ready for church. Here are all of the Sunday pics.

After church Anna wanted to finish watching her movie int he car. It was only about the 10th time she had seen Wall-E. David was a good sport and kept her company.



This is a video of me attempting to get up and down from the top bunk. It is a good laugh.

Sunday night is the traditional fireside. We get everyone together and do a few skits and sing some songs and basically have some good family fun. It is very cold, and we got bundled up.

It is a big crowd - with the kids up front.



Here is one of the songs - Baby Shark. Anna loved it! See Michelle on the far right - a pro!

Trying to keep warm!

Laurie at the front of the campfire. Aunt Marilyn had fallen and hurt her ankle, so she missed the campfire. Laurie helped out with the music.

Matt and Beth cooking Monday morning (while Aunt Marilyn rested).

Of course we had one more tradition on Monday afternoon. Mo's.

Anna got her lunch, but she wanted my clam chowder with shrimp and climbed up on my lap and dug in!
Here is David making another funny face!

All in all a great weekend. Why would anyone think of missing camping?

An Art Show and the Ward Farewell

Last weekend I went out with Hillary and Roger to see Brandon's art show. He and Mary are more neighbors (fantastic ones!), and Brandon just graduated from the Academy of Art with his Masters. It was a very interesting show and Brandon's exhibit was amazing.

Then on Saturday morning it was the ward breakfast. Every year we have several families move away and we have a traditional farewell. It was a beautiful warm and sunny Saturday. The party was great. Yummy breakfast, a bouncy house, games, and lots of nice friends. We have 20 families who are leaving this year!

Here are Roger and Sarah skateboarding down the hill.

I am glad that Hillary and Roger are not leaving this year! I am not sure what I would do without such good friends. And a great home teacher!

Napali Coast, More Shrimp, Snow Cones and Dukes!

For the last day on the island we decided to go to the Na Pali. Mom and I had taken this same trip with this company before, but this trip was very different. The boat leaves from Waimea and is with Na Pali Riders. This time that we went they had a guy on the boat that took pictures and sold a CD with pics from the day along with some of his best. They were great pictures to supplement our attempts.

Mom and I both love the water, and the boat ride out is great. Beautiful and peaceful so early in the morning. (We had to get up by 5am to make the trip!)

This time the trip was very slow and calm. Kind of a discovery channel trip. The time before it was more like a roller coaster ride! We were so lucky - they said it was the first time in months that the water had been calm enough to go into the sea caves.

We saw a pod of dolphins. They swam right up to the boat and jumped and spun. There were hundreds of them, and it was like nothing I had ever seen before.

These are a few pictures of the coast. It is the most beautiful place. Just breathtaking

More sea caves.

The group on our boat was really nice. There was a family of about 8 and they had a little boy with them that got sick. Poor guy. But he was a good sport and by the end of the trip he said it was more than fun! We got the stop and snorkel in some beautiful water. It was just perfect water - like Windex. Such great conditions and so beautiful.

On the way back into the harbor the wind came up and it made for a wild ride. Mom was near the back of the boat and she got W.E.T. You can't really tell from this picture, but she is soaked head to toe! She had salt water dripping down her face while we both laughed and laughed.

After we got back we at at the Shrimp Station again, and then I had to try the shaved ice with ice cream. My brother Craig said it was a must. I thought it sounded so odd, but I am up for just about anything. It was so yummy. We went to Jo Jo's - and I highly recommend it. It came with sweat cream on the top, berry flavor and then ice cream on the bottom. Good grief on the calories, but so so good!

We stopped at Poipou on the way home for the last chance to snorkel. I acutally took a nap in the shade. This fair skinned red head had already been in the sun for 5 horus on the boat, so I had a great nap. Mom had one last swim and saw lots of great fish.

We went to Dukes for dinner, a tradition. We dressed up and did the Aloha thing. We love downstairs at Dukes. Great food and fun atmosphere. It was a nice way to spend our last night.