Rob's First Battle Wound

During my last year at BYU Hawaii, I am taking a beginning surfing class. I didn't want to leave Hawaii without knowing how to surf. The first day the class went surfing at Chunns Reef that is located on Oahu's North Shore. The surf instructor said that, "Chunns has the best long board surfing waves in the world." There are many different kinds of surf boards, and a long board is exactly what it says. My surf board was 10ft 2in, it was kind of like being on a barge in comparison to the more agile "short" boards that the pro surfers use. I paddled out to my first set of waves. I was determined to get up on my first day. As I was waiting there in anticipation, I looked down and all I could see was coral. It was really pretty, but the water was only waist deep. My surf instructor then stressed the point that when you fall, fall flat, or in other words belly-flop or back-flop. Then I hear him say, here they come, paddle Rob, paddle, so I began to paddle in front of the wave, then the wave grabbed me, I stood up, and I was surfing. It was an awesome experience because I was able to get up my first time. This lasted about 15 seconds and I threw my arms up in celebration, lost my balance, and fell flat on my back. I was so excited that I got up on my first try. I then, forgetting about how shallow the water was, kicked my feet to swim back to my board, and kicked the reef. This is not for the weak stomach:

This is what it looked right after my neighbor Scott graciously dug out all of the sand and reef with a q-tip, and then I poured rubbing alcohol into it to clean it. The cut was 1in long, 1/2 in wide, and 1/4in deep. It is definitely something that I will never forget. I incurred this wound on Saturday9-6, and waited till Monday to go to the Doctor, and that was when he lectured me for not going to the hospital and getting stitches. But he was impressed at how clean the wound was. I only missed one day of classes, and that was because walking hurt a lot, and the doctor didn't give me crutches, or pain pills. I had the opportunity to "tough it out". Jana has been more than helpful in the healing process. As much as she hates the sight of my foot, she was willing to clean the wound and dress it. I took an entire week off from the beach and the ocean, waiting for my foot to heal. The surf instructor allowed me to hang out on the beach so that I didn't miss a day of class. I went back to Chunns Reef with the class on Saturday 9-20, I wore reef walkers this time and was able to stand up on a wave for about 15 seconds, and then I fell flat. Wearing shoes, you look silly, but I came home without any re-injury, or new injury. Here is what my foot looked like one week later, and what it looks like now. Can you see the difference? By the way, I want to give a shout out to the Verizon LG EnV phone because that is what Jana and I used to take all of these pictures. It worked better than our digital camera.

Happy Birthday(s)!

Or as they say in France: Joyeux Anniversaire. Or in Hawaiian: Hau`oli Lā Hānau.



So these 2 lovebirds get to celebrate their birthdays in September. Kim's is today and Jacob's the 24th. We are proud of all their accomplishments. Kim is amazing on the piano, at cross stitching, and at cooking. She's also read every book you can think of. Jacob became a dentist when he was 26! He also knows how to make smart financial investments. I am amazed at how dedicated they can be to eating healthy and exercising. They are both very smart and spiritually mature. I love talking to Kim all the time and we love having Jacob in the family. Happy birthday you two! By the way, you have a belated surprise coming in the mail! I'm so excited for you to get it! This is how I expect you'll look when you get it.

Avon

For your info: A woman I met through work sells Avon and she is giving me a 15% discount on whatever I buy! Let me know if you want to look through the magazines. They have a lot of nice stuff and it's already fairly cheap. They have everything beauty related: makeup, jewelry, perfume, bath products, skin care, and hair care. Even a few clothes. The order date is Monday Sept. 22 so let me know if you are interested. There are several things that would be nice gifts...

Remember the Avon lady in Edward Scissorhands? She was so nice.

Reflections of Christ

Rob's brother Tony sent us a link to a video of photographs taken to depict Christ's life. I really felt the Spirit as I watched it and thought about Christ.

It made me think about what He did for me, and made me wonder what I am doing to show my gratitude. I feel like there is so much I can improve in my life. It is so easy to become comfortable with your level of spirituality. Sometimes I wonder, am I really worthy to be in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? With the time of my death being indefinite, it's easy to forget about the big picture and just focus on what is happening now. I'm grateful for little spiritual reminders, like this, to make myself a better person, now.

For She Loved Much by Simon Dewey

Click here to watch the video.

Labor Day

For Labor Day, Ashlyn organized a beach day at Kahana Bay. It is a beautiful bay surrounded by mountains and trees. There were about 10 couples there. The guys played football in the shallow water while the girls relaxed.

We all brought our own meat to grill and something to share. There were lots of yummy things to eat. I'm craving more peach cobbler and cowboy caviar.
Nate and Kim brought their kayak and we took turns going out in that. The 2nd time Rob and I went out there was a boat making waves which made it a little more exciting than I wanted.

Baby Nate on the rope swing

The guys were adventurous and climbed way up in the trees to go off the rope swing. The original rope swing branch had broken so they improvised. The water was shallow and calm and nice to just relax in. We spent about 5 1/2 hrs there. It was a fun Labor Day. Thanks Ashlyn for organizing it!

Game Night

Sunday, our friends the Howards had the Crosbys, Jones, and us over to play games. We played Cranium family fun edition (which is easier and faster), girls against guys. It ended up being a forfeit because they had to put kids to bed. I introduced most of them to rotel which they liked. I also took over homeade cinnamon-raisin bread from our bread machine. It was so good and disappeard fast! Rob and I stayed and played Swap and Munchkin with Kim and Nate until 1 am. Nate won Munchkin both times. We need to have a rematch!

Kim & Nate and Shanae's baby Krew

Me (see my new glasses), Shanae, Melissa, Kim

Little Nate

Home-Stay Student

Two weekends ago we had a girl named Kana come stay with us for a few days. She is 13, from Japan, and she came with her class to be immersed in the English language. Several of our friends had students stay with them too, so we did things with them so the girls would have each other to talk to.

We were just supposed to carry on with our normal lives so they can see our culture. What better way to do this than to eat and spend money? We picked her up on Saturday and went to Ala Moana mall and Wal Mart. Then we ate at Kua Aina and stopped at turtle beach for pictures on our way home.
That night we went to the night show at the PCC and got ice cream at Angel's. Sunday we took her to church. We had some of our Japanese friends tell her a little about what was going on. She went to primary during sunday school which was probably more entertaining for her.

Kap-the Samoan fire dancer

After church we went to the temple visitor's center and a missionary was able to teach them in Japanese and translate our testimonies for them.
That night we had a bbq with several friends. Then we played games at our apt. Monday morning we dropped her off with her group.
Kana's English was limited so our apt was pretty quiet. It was a lot more difficult to communicate than we imagined but we kept trying. Kana showed us a photo album of her family and also brought us several nice gifts which were unexpected.
We enjoyed having her here and we hope that her few days with us helped her learn English.