Landscape Update

It's been a few months now since we finished our landscaping project.  I usually spend one to two hours a week on maintenance and Les does the mowing every other week.  Maintenance is so much easier than trying to get things under control!  (There's a real life lesson there.)

Our variety of cannas continue to be the heroes.  They have grown significantly.  These are the Intrigues in the back yard, planted on May 29th:

 

 

This picture was taken on July 1st:

These pictures were taken last Saturday, September 25th.  The wall is slightly over five feet high:

 

We had ordered boulders for the strip between the sidewalk and the street and they finally came.  We love the look!

We had one problem area.  Our succulents behind the pool were dying.  We think we might have been over-watering them but they were on the same zone as plants that need more water.  We pulled them out and re-planted them in the front planter with our Agave and other succulents.  You can't really see them, but they haven't died yet so we're hopeful!

 

Les dug up several cannas and transplanted them where the succulents had been.  They are already growing.

This one has a brand new shoot coming up:

A few more pictures in the back:

While doing maintenance this morning I noticed many of our geraniums are ready to explode:

There really is nothing like enjoying the fruit of your own labor!

Hawaii Business

Last September we took a very brief trip to Hawaii to clear out of the condo we had leased.  You can read the full recap here.  We were finally able to go back last week.  Since we are fully vaccinated, we were able to get a wrist band at LAX that enabled us to get through the Honolulu airport very quickly.  We were dropped off at the Ilikai Marina, then dropped off our bags in the room and immediately headed to Cinnamon's.  It was still morning in Hawaii so we split their Guava Chiffon pancakes and they were as fantastic as we remembered.

It was then time to head over the Les' office to get our car.  We knew this was going to be an ordeal since the car hadn't been driven in over a year.  Naturally the battery was dead.  One of Les' co-workers had left a battery jumper in the office but it could not get the car started.  Several hours later another co-worker met us and attempted to jump the car with his car.  45 minutes later the battery was still dead.  Les bought a replacement battery on Monday afternoon after work and was finally able to bring the car to the condo.

Our auto business continued on Tuesday.  While Les was at work I took the car.  First stop - a car wash!  There were layers upon layers of dirt on our car.  I then went to Jiffy Lube for a long overdue safety inspection.  The car passed inspection but I couldn't get my safety sticker until I paid our registration, so it was off to the DMV.  The satellite city hall at the Ala Moana Center was nearly empty and I was able to pay for our 2020 and 2021 registration fees (ouch!)  This was something that had been stressful to me all these months away from Hawaii.  I knew our car wasn't being driven, but the fact that the registration hadn't been paid really bothered me.  After paying the registration, it was back to Jiffy Lube for the safety sticker. 

Tuesday night we were able to attend Bible Study at First Church Hawaii.  It was so wonderful to see Pastor and Sister McGriffin and the church family.  We hadn't been to church there since February 2020. 

The rest of the week was full of running, cycling, Les going to work, and me trying to sort through all the things we have accumulated in recent years.  Les brought home two mangoes from the tree of one of his co-workers and they were amazing.  His boss suggested putting them in vanilla ice cream and that was one of the best desserts ever!

I was able to run around Diamond Head on two mornings.  On Sunday morning I finally made it to my favorite mountain on Oahu - Tantalus!  It's a tough ten mile loop, but I was curious to see how I would do now that I've lost nearly 30 pounds.  I had my fifth best time and was only six minutes off my best time ever on the entire loop.  

 

While I was running Tantalus, Les was off riding his bike.  We then made our way back to Cinnamon's.  They had a new pancake option on the menu, pistachio, and they were fantastic!

We were back at church Sunday afternoon and are rejoicing at the many new faces.  There are no restrictions on the move of God's Spirit in the land.

 

We were up early on Monday morning.  Throughout the week we had been trying to thin out our belongings.  We were able to donate a couple of bags to Goodwill.  We also purchased another suitcase to bring some things home.  It took several hours, but we finally loaded our car back up.  We can now open the back doors without starting an avalanche!  We knew we had left things a bit crazy, and now we feel much more in control of our life on the island.

 

It was after 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning when we finally crawled in to bed, but it was a very productive week.  We hope to get back one more time before the end of the year.

Grandparents Day

Happy Grandparents Day to any of my readers who have grandchildren.  I was blessed to know five of my grandparents.  Both of Mom's grandmothers were still living while I was growing up, along with Mom's mom and Dad's mom and dad!  I think the bond with grandparents is very special and I'm grateful for mine.

One of my earliest posts was called, "When Mom Became Grandma."  Mom wrote in her Grandmother's Memories book:  "When I first became a grandmother, I felt like a Queen. I couldn't stop grinning; I got 3 grandbabies in 10 weeks! Ryan, Krysten & Lauren."  Ryan was born on January 11th (his daddy's birthday) and Krysten and Lauren showed up 7 weeks before their due date on March 20th.

 

Grandparents Day has brought a new emotion this year.  It started with a text I received about a month ago from my niece, Lauren:

My heart is overflowing with excitement!  Lauren and Jordan got married in January of this year and now they are going to make my sister a grandmother and I get to be Great Aunt Kathy!  It seems like yesterday that they were this tiny:

Never Forget

 

Where Did August Go?

It's a good thing that blogging isn't my job, I'd be fired!  Let's play catch up, shall we?

 

We flew to Indianapolis on August 2nd for the wedding of Claire and Alex.  The days leading up to the wedding were filled with family and decorating.  Les and I did sneak off on Friday to spend the day at the Indy Zoo.

We were fascinated watching one of the orangutans.  He climbed up and was outside the enclosure - approximately 80 feet above ground.  This is a planned part of the exhibit called the Hutan Trail.

 

Saturday, August 7th was the big day!  Les' entire family was there.  Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of all of us.  The wedding photographer did, so hopefully someday we'll have them.  We had a perfect seat as Lance walked Claire down the aisle:

The ceremony was beautiful.  Mr. and Mrs. Alex Perry:

Claire's sister, Hannah, was maid of honor.  She gave a beautiful speech during the reception and I somehow managed to get Hannah, Claire, Lance and Dolly all in one shot:

After a bunch of hugs, the newlyweds were off:

Our night was far from over!  Clean up from a beautiful wedding is work and we were happy to help Lance and Monica get it done.  Sometime late into the night I enjoyed a chat with the wedding coordinator, Sis. Stephanie Gallion.  Sis. Gallion's parents (the Marshalls) were missionaries to the Philippines in the 1980s and they were there when a group of young people from California invaded!  It was such a neat connection to make.  Here we are after several hours of cleanup:

I did not dress like that for the wedding!  I brought work clothes for the after party!

Les and I were scheduled to fly home early afternoon on Sunday, so we didn't make it to church.  We were in the hotel lobby when Les' parents got back from church looking quite snazzy: 

We spent the rest of August here at home.  Les has been hard at work, both on the job and with a major sound equipment project for our church.  We celebrated his 58th birthday on August 19th with a wonderful date at Duke's in Malibu.  Free Hula Pie for the win!

We have been having incredible church this summer!  More than a dozen have been baptized in recent weeks.  Sunday morning a young couple was baptized and Sunday night an entire family (mom, dad, and two sons) were all baptized!  It's an exciting time in God's kingdom.  I finished the month off teaching in the Youth Sunday School class.  God is doing great things in our youth group and I'm so happy to be a part of their lives.

We've already zoomed through the first third of September.  Our annual Youth Alive conference is this week and it kicks off the time of year that just flies - the holidays!