Paradise

I love the surf motif that adorns the front yards of the houses in Laie. Surf boards on gates, mailboxes that look like pelicans or dolphins, ocean scenes painted on homes walls, and schools all invite you to relax and enjoy the care free life style of the island. One of our tourist stops was the end of Naupaka St. a.k.a Laie Point. It used to be the street on which I lived. Remember the picture of the shack a few posts ago? I always enjoyed the view and often walked to this place to sort through thoughts. Standing on the cliffs literally feels like standing on the edge of the world.

Legend tells of a giant lizard that used to stand guard in this spot ready to kill any who dare intrude. The Lizard killed many people until a brave warrior named Kana killed it and chopped it's head into 5 pieces which now can be seen as the five pieces of rock jutting out from the ocean jus toff of this little peninsula. Pictured above. I hate jumping from heights, but some off my friends would jump from this cliff. The beach shore you can see is Bikini Beach.

The girls had fun looking for animals in the cracks of the reef.

We found a crab . . . It's dead so it didn't run from us.

This is also on the same street. It is a private entrance to Bikini Beach. My brother, Chris, didn't know it existed. He had always wanted to take Sarah to this beach but thought it might be too hard. He thought you had to scale the mountian to get to this beach. I was happy to know that I could teach my little brother something about my island home. This little adventure took place on a Sunday afternoon. We had come home from church and the kids needed to get out and I was anxious for adventure as well. Kai and Raia needed to stay home and nap though and that is the reason for them not being photographed.

The kids thought this stairway was so cool and I have to agree. It is carved right out of the rock. I don't know if it is coral or lava.

Cambria and Kiera collected tiny piece of coral to bring back to each kid in their class.

Can you see the coconuts in the back ground of this picture? Bubba was afraid of the water because he thought you had to swim in the deep part.

Since it was Sunday I told them they couldn't swim. You can see how well they obeyed. It started out really slow. First they just soaked their feet and inch by inch they got wetter and wetter. Are you forming analogies in your head?

This was Bubba's sand castle. He picked up fist fulls of sand and then threw them in a pile and was so proud of himself. I just loved to see his excitement.

Hawaii was such a big part of my life. It had a lot to do with shaping me into the woman I am today and sharing these beaches and stories and places with my children feels so meaningful.

This is Kiera fulling succumbing to temptation. It was a beautiful day, one of the very few days of bright sunshine. I miss this day and the sound of the waves lapping on the shore and the squeals of delight peppered with splashes and dives and my toes in the sand. I would go back to this day in a heart beat if I could.

Papayas and Coconuts

Click here to see this post- I got a little out of order:

ella

I took pictures of Richa's precious little bundle this week. To see more click here. (It works now- Thanks Kim!!)

Food Storage- Be Prepared:)

I took this from the car as we were driving along the North Shore.

As we evacuated out side of the island of Oahu in preparation for the Tsunami caused by Japan's earthquake, our friend's that we were staying with gave us two boxes of their food storage from Daily Bread. We had already emptied the contents of our fridge and cupboards into trash bags to take with us to Kai's aunt and Uncle's house and wondered how long it would all last if we were stranded for some length of time, so we were happy to receive the hand out . As we took the boxes we said, "hopefully we will be returning this to you tomorrow." Luck y for us that was the case.

Last year when Kai started having his seizures and strokes we used a great deal of our food storage because money was tight- due to him being home instead of at work. We were so thankful to have supplies on hand that could keep our tummy's full. We were already in crisis mode and didn't need a lack of food and water to be added to or list of things to worry about.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's has long encouraged it's members to have a year supply of food on hand in case of emergency, saying the day will come when it will be necessary. It is excellent advice for natural disasters as well as job loss or illness, but gathering a year supply of food seems quite a daunting task.

Kai and I started small. Every shopping trip to the grocery store or Costco we would buy one or two extra items that would be specifically for our food storage. This worked well for us. (I think we settled for a 72 hour supply when we were in college. We had little money and even less space.)

I was struck by two sentences in the last two General Conferences by two different speakers. I can't remember who they were now, I probably made a notation in my journal. I'll have to go back and look. The sentence began with the usual encouragement for food storage and ended with, "Soon, the time will come when it will be too late."

That really affected me.That was true in Japan's case. It was too late to gather foos and clean water by the tiem the Tsunami hit.

Kai and I decided we were going to use some of our tax return money to buy a big chunk of food storage this year.

When we came back from Hawaii a friend of mine came over and invited me to a "food storage party." It was the first time I had ever heard of such a thing. It was great timing however, because Kai and I were in the market.

Well, their food was just as good as Daily Bread's, though I can't tell you a price comparison because I don't know Daily Bread's prices. I hate how all these companies are so cryptic of their prices. Just tell me like it is! Feel Free to tell me if you know.

It was called Shelf Reliance, they are based in Lehi, Ut and you can also find them in Walmart and Costco (A brand called Thrive), though you can get cheaper prices through home shows.

I bought a #10 Can of 6 Grain Pancake Mix for $10.99. It has a 10 year shelf life and serves 46. I also bought a #10 can of dehydrated blueberries for 33.00- a little pricier, but I wanted to be able to throw them in the pancakes. It has a shelf life of 25 years. I also bought whole eggs- powdered. I tasted these and they were really good. I can't remember the price but nothing else I bought was as expensive as the blueberries, including the consolidator shelf- (the small cupboard shelf), which my friend Lori, later told me was too bulky to make it worth the space it takes up in comparison to what it holds. Oh, well, live and learn.

For products and prices you Can Check out Shelf Reliance Here. I think you can order directly from the site if you wanted to.

If you want to come to my home show and have samples and look through a brochure you can come to my house on: Thursday, March 31ST . . . . 4:30PM . . . .bring your kids, they can play in the back.

Buy a little or a lot, from them or somewhere else, but it is a good time to prepare against the bad times. I wonder how many people in Japan had food storage that is keeping them from starving or how many Japanese people are wishing they had food to eat and clean water to drink. It would be a terrible thing to face a crisis unprepared.

Until the next time . . .

Things you might see . . .

Hawaii is part of America, as we all know, but it feels like it is part of another country. It has a rhythm and flow all it's own. The sights, the smells, the food, the vegetation; it is still a world untamed and far removed from what we consider modern day America. Not because it doesn't have modern conveniences and technologies; it is because those modern conveniences and technologies don't own them or control them. Does that make sense to anyone??? It is a land where people still work so they can live, they don't live to work. They take time to enjoy life and the land that they are luck enough to live on. The Saturday that we were there, the beaches that were usually uninhabited were full of families and people enjoying each other. They weren't glued to video games or cell phones, they weren't having conversations via text messages . . . they were face to face laughing, running, surfing, building sand castles, BBQing, paragliding, kite surfing, paddle boarding, etc. Life is good and we waste so much of it looking at screens. Anyways, I love how papayas grow . . .

These are the boys who didn't really appreciate our presence. They only time they acknowledged my girls in a kind way was when they were showing them spiders.

Big spiders.

This is what we referred to as "The Holy Land." My first experience with Walmart was in Hawaii. It was half way around the island from us and had every thing we needed.

I told Kai this little hut may be the only thing that we could afford to live in. It sits on this patch of farm land, maybe two or three acres, and it is surrounded by business buildings. I can just picture a little rice and poi farmer who works this land saying "no" to the land developers offering him obscene amounts of money to sell them his land.

Coconuts:)

More to come!

Red Eye

Have you ever had hundreds of people hate you all at once? If you answered yes then chances are you are either a politician or you have taken your kids on a very long airplane ride.
How could those sweet little faces be the subject of any one's hate you ask? Well, not all of them were. The two oldest children really were wonderful. They slept all over each other like little puppies. You see our plane took off at 2:30 AM. I really think there couldn't be a worse time. My two youngest children wanted to be asleep , in their own beds so that they could stretch their legs and rest their weary heads without any interruption from seat belt lights that ding when illuminated and announcements from flight attendants that really didn't need to be announced. They screamed a lot. You should have seen the faces of the passengers around us. It was a nightmare. They won't be going back for many years.

But thankfully all, that hatred and lost sleep led us to this.
(Deep, peaceful sigh)
The first day of our adventure was spent at Hukilau beach. If you lived in Laie or attended BYUH then you not only know how to pronounce the name of the beach, but you have many a memory involved with this beach.
(These pictures are a little out of order because for some reason my Hawaii pictures are finding themselves to be incompatible with blogger.)

But here is little Bubba, he frolicked in the waves until he could frolic no more and the lack of sleep from the red eye finally caught up with him. He fell asleep just seconds after this picture nestled in the sand with towels for blankets.

This little beauty didn't last long at all. Two down, two to go.

But go they wouldn't. They were having way too much fun in the water and the sand. They body surfed, made sand castles, attempted to dig to China and caught crabs.

Raia just blossomed in Hawaii. She learned to pull herself to standing position So we had to drop the bassinet in the travel bed, she learned to crawl on all fours and to push herself to a sitting position by herself. She also learned to eat fist fulls of sand at lightening speed so that her mother didn't have time to stop her from doing so. Fiber ain't got nothing on sand. Oh yeah, and she cut her first tooth.

It was so much fun to visit these two wonderful kiddos that we have missed so much. and for those of you who thought Bubba was their child, this baby is also not their child. This is Raia, a Davis child. You can't expect to look just look at pictures and get the whole story people!:)

We dearly love Chris and Sarah and had so much fun spending every second with them. They may not want children after being with us so much, but we sure appreciate how much they do for our kids. ( Notice they were wearing light jackets in this picture- funny isn't how you can become acclimatized- we thought it was so muggy and hot.)

Chris and Sarah have a very sweet and fun relationship. They don't just love each other, they really like each other. They are best friends, confidants and allies. I was so pleased to see how they interact with each other. Life is good in the Hendrickson home in Laie. By the way, their house is shoe box size and If I was their land lord I would feel ashamed of myself for the conditions I make them livein, in correspondence to the rent I make them pay. First of all, the land lords advertised A/C- not! They also make them turn off the gas to the stove when they are not using it- so they have to light it with a match every time, they have blocked the Internet site Lime Ricki AND the shower is the smallest I have ever seen. Chris says he never washes below his knees because he can't bend over to reach them! I asked him is he has to wash one half of his body at a time while the other half sticks out of the shower. I wish I had a picture of Chris standing in the shower, clothed of course- Geeka, can you do anything about that for me ?

Oh the other thing, they call each other Geeka and Caca. Sarah says she only call her husband Chris when she is mad. I hope he never hears his real name again:)

Raia wasn't too sure of the waves. Every time the water would touch her feet she would lift them into the air as seen in the photo above. It was slightly cool, but warmer than the California ocean in the summer. Don't worry she'll become a beach bum yet.

More of our trip is yet to come!

Best Half Pipe Ever!

The Ocean was in our front yard (albeit across the street) and this bad boy was in our back yard.
I can't tell you how many hours the kids spent on this thing. They slid down it like a slide, occasionally used it for its intended purpose but mostly just ran back and forth on it. Drew built it for his kids. It also doubles as a club house and a picnic area ( see the area by the monkey bars). As soon as we got there, I think the boys of the family we stayed with felt threatened because they quickly put up a sign that said "no girls allowed." Some day our kids may all like each other (since I have three girls and one boy and they have three boys and one girl ) but this was not that time.

I really want to post more pictures but for some reason I am having trouble doing so.
So for now, please enjoy the Hawaiian half pipe.

Hele on to Hawaii

You know when you drive down a street and it just feels like home; when the sights and smells and sounds around you are so familiar and comfortable that your heart is happy without even realizing it?

I get that feeling when my airplane descends into the Honolulu airport. I feel like the land calls to me in a tune so familiar and sweet as it welcomes me home. I feel that way again when I drive on Kam Highway as I enter the boundaries of Laie. On Oahu, the sacred Cherubs strum ukuleles and chant in an ancient Hawaiian language.

I used to live here:

The walls of this Laie home on Naupaka Street were not much stronger than a card board box. When the wind would really blow, the walls would shake. The rain would find its way through the spaces in between my louver windows and wet me while I slept. My curtains became thick towels to protect me. One time, a small gecko was climbing the rafters on the ceiling and fell into my cereal bowl at breakfast.

No, this house wasn't much. But it was my home and I loved it. It is on the famous Laie point. I could see the ocean out of every window, though sometimes I really had to work to do it. The sound of the surf lulled me to sleep at night. My husband proposed to me in the back yard on the cliff that over looks Bikini ( Clissold's) Beach.

I lived with wonderful girls and they felt like family. I could tell a hundred stories about this house and the people who lived in it. Maybe someday I will.

back tracking . . .

I took pictures of these lovely sisters weeks ago. They are so fun to be with! I used to be their Yong Women's teacher and I sure do miss them! For more pictures, click here.

The Sound of the Sirens

At 11Pm were received a phone call telling us that a 8.9 earthquake hit Japan and a Tsunami was expected to hit Hawaii at 3AM. Kai was instructed to fill his car up with gas immediately. It took him 40 minutes to do so and he was one of the firsts cars in line. While he was gone I packed up all of our belongings as our children lay sleeping unaware of the impending threat. We were in a house just feet away from the ocean's edge.

Our car was packed to the brim with baggage, food and toilet paper. The family we stayed with was even kind enough to give us to two boxes of their food storage, just in case. We called my brother Chris and his wife, Sarah, who had heard nothing about the danger we were in, and told them to be ready. They brought a few supplies with them and we set a course for Halawa Heights. Kai's Aunt and Uncle reside in what was once Grandpa Davis' home. The house sits high on a mountain top that over looks Pearl Harbor.

The tension that filled the car was thick and mounting. We listened to the radio to try to understand what was happening as we drove parallel along the ocean's edge. The night was black and we hoped the vast darkness wasn't masking an enormous wave heading our way.

For a short while a line of cars was passing us headed the opposite direct while the lane in front of us was wide open. I worried that the the cars on the left side of our two lane road new something we didn't. Earlier in the week we had to turn from this road due to flooding. We had 2 hours until the Tsunami hit and we could afford to take the two and a half hour ride around the island to arrive at our destination. Kai called his policeman friend who assured us that the road was unobstructed.

At long last we arrived at Grandpa's house where Auntie and Uncle accepted us eight refugees with open arms. Kai and Chris carried the sleeping children into a bedroom and then we watched the news until we could no longer keep our eyelids open.

I felt safe on the top of Halawa Hts road. I slept well waking only momentarily to hear the last tsunami warning . . . and then I died. Just kidding, I am totally alive.

The big Island and Maui took the tsunami the hardest. From what I hear the wave reached its way one third of a mile inland and the harbors around the state got boats jostled around like a bull in a china shop.

We feel so fortunate and blessed that we were kept safe from this potential disaster and our hearts go out as well as our prayers to those who were not as lucky. Now lets hope that Japan's nuclear reactor doesn't blow.

Magic In The Air

But first, Kiera lost her third tooth!

If you are turning five in the Covey family then bring on the magic! As tradition would dictate, a fifth birthday party necessitated the hiring of an awesome magician. His last name- Davis. No, it wasn't Kai. This guy was a professional! He stole Kai's watch and some how put it in a sealed can of corn with out us knowing how, or when for that matter. But I am getting ahead of myself.

The birthday party included Face painting, snow cones,

balloon animals and a magician

He called Kai out f the audience to help him mount a unicycle and hand him three sharp knives, really they looked like large daggers. He handed Kai the knives and the unicycle, then ran to where Kai had been seated. He picked up Kiera and put her on his lap and then put his arm around me and encouraged Kai to continue the show. It was so funny. I told Kiera that he wanted to be her new daddy.

The picture below is where the magician left Kai to sit with Kiera and I. Kiera was so nervous. She didn't really know what was going on but she was darn sure she didn't want a new dad.

This is the time when we assume that Kai's watch was removed. Kai didn't even notice until 20 minutes after he had volunteered. He asked me if I had seen his watch because he couldn't remember if he had even put it on.

We may when Kai's watch was removed but we have no idea how it ended up in a plastic bag inside a can of corn. The magician instructed Kai to choose one can of corn out of three to search for the missing dollar, that was part of another trick he had just done with a man named Dan. Dan Had written his name on a dollar bill and the magician had made it disappear.

Kai chose a can and proceeded to open it with a can opener only to find out that it was filled with corn. He was instructed to dump the corn into a bowl and at the bottom of the can was Kai's watch inside of a plastic bag. Under the plastic bag containing the watch was a dollar that Dan had written his name on. It was a very good trick.

He also chose a friend of ours named, Lori, to do a sword trick. The trick was to stab the sword through her neck without killing her. Kiera was ready to run out the side door because she did not want to be a witness to Lori's murder or any blood that might spill out of her throat. After completing the trick Lori was advised not to eat or drink anything for 30minutes.

At the end of the night I said the most amazing trick was how daddy's watch got inside the can of corn, my kids quickly corrected me and said that the most amazing trick was that Lori didn't die.
They wondered if it had been 30 minutes yet and if she had tried to drink anything. They made me call her the next day to check on her.

We went to dinner at their house the next night and when we showed up Lori had a scarf wrapped around her neck to hide her cut from the sword. She asked Kiera if she wanted to see the wound saying there was only a little blood and Kiera ran out of the room.

If your sister told you to jump off a bridge would you? Well, if your ame is Kiera D. than yes, you probably would. When I asked Kiera what prompted her her to get a unibrow and curly mustache, Cambria said "I told her too, and she did!" Ah, the powers of an older sister are breathtaking.

We were so happy to be invited to Essey's birthday party. What a fun and magical night it turned out to be!

So Happy!

Not too long ago I did a post about my new Relief Society Calling as Chorister. I was so nervous and inexperienced at first that after I lead the first song I sat down and cried. I dreaded every song we sung until one day I happened to pass by the primary room where I saw my 7 year old daughter fearlessly leading the children in song. She had hoped I'd somehow see her and she gave me the faith and courage to be the best inexperienced conductor that I could be.

Eventually I lost my nerves and became somewhat comfortable in front of the sisters. My technique never really improved even though a sweet sister would track me down every Sunday (she'd even follow me into the bathroom) to give me a conducting lesson.

I planned out the songs we would sing until April and I tried to match them up as best I could with the lessons that would be taught. I also had to give a little background on our practice hymn each Sunday. I loved doing this because it was fun to see how the music we sing came to be.

Today I was released from the calling as chorister. Can you see the big smile on my face? I was called to be the Second Sunday Relief Society Teacher instead and I can't tell you how overjoyed I am. I love to teach. I have been teaching in some capacity or other since I was 17 years old and I feel I owe my testimony and knowledge of the gospel to the countless hours of preparation for church lessons.

Do you want to know what else makes me super happy? It was the way I left my calling as chorister. I can say that I did my best. Even though I hadn't the first idea how to lead music, I did it every Sunday. I even learned to (almost) enjoy it. I could have complained every Sunday or found excuses to have someone else lead. But I didn't. I squared my shoulders, planted my feet and fulfilled the calling that Heavenly Father asked me to do even though, at first I felt like I would rather die. I feel like I can be proud of myself because I did what the Lord asked of me.

Isn't it funny that I should like teaching better than leading the music? I think in all callings the following statement is true " The Lord doesn't need our ability, he needs our availability and if we then prove our dependability, he will then increase our capability."

To My Friends Through The Years . . .

I am horrible at keeping in touch. I always have been. I don't know why I haven't worked harder to rectify that horrible trait. Even now with so much technology at my finger tips I find myself with little time to check blogs or compose emails. But I wanted to make this known to anyone who still checks my blog:

From my good friends in La Habra from church and school, to roommates who became more like sisters in Laie both in the dorms and on The Point, to classmates and carpool buddies that I survived my education with, to families and couples we shared our lives with in TVA and our married ward, to friends from Logandale and Mesquite with who I have parted ways . . . perhaps I am horrible at keeping in touch and our lives have twisted and tuned down different paths but your memories live on strongly in my mind. I have the gift of imagination and though it may be a poor excuse, perhaps that is why I am so bad at keeping in touch. When I think about someone, memories so vivid and bright rush to the forefront of my mind and I get the gift of living fond memories and events over and over. I know I need to improve. I have been blessed to have known so many wonderfully gifted people in my life. So many of you have touched me and forever left your mark.

I want to apologize for not keeping in touch. I also want you to know that I have never forgotten you and that it might surprise you to know how many times you are on my mind.
I am feeling nostalgic lately and I wanted to share my feelings in hopes that it might do you good to know that you are remembered, but more than that, you are loved.