H.O.P.E. equals...

Happy Obama (is) President Elect! ...just had to say that before he becomes the President.

After 1/20/09 it will be just Happy Obama is President - HOP!

That is as political as this blog will get - promise.

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas!

I must say I am glad the holidays are done and over with for another year. Saw a sign in Bend for "Festivous" - it's sounding better and better... not really. It is fun to decorate and shop with friends and bake cookies and wrap presents and lunch with friends and go to church and have parties and send out cards and buy gifts and grocery shop and grocery shop and grocery shop (I have a reserved parking space at Fred Meyers now) - but not necessarily in a three week time span. I swear it's like managing the most important project of the year - with the biggest drop dead timeline - all tasks must be complete by 12/25! Of course, I still have cards sitting on my kitchen counter waiting for addresses to be mailed. Maybe next year all tasks will be completed!

The most special thing about this Christmas was the weather - it was beautiful. We drove to Terry Lee's house the Saturday night before Christmas for our ravioli party. Some roads were closed so we found other roads to get over the Oregon City hills. Every one's Christmas lights were lite and the drive was just magical.

This is the Clackamas County Courthouse 12/20/08

Max said "God must have wanted to make sure this bad year was ending really pretty". Max was referring to the economy, but I thought about the friends we've lost.

Good things happened last year too, right? Hope won - I hope. What can we do to help that hope? I wonder...

Glad tidings to you and yours...

Molalla ave, closed.

Cabana Joy...

Our cabana at the beach club. We stayed at a great condo that provided access to this beach club. It was beautiful. A perfect crescent beach cove, full of fish for the boys, lovely free cabanas, beach toys rental shack, restaurant, and clean bathrooms. Did I mention it was perfect? It was. Active happy boys, sun, warm water, a good book... and a cabana :) that's alls I need!

Volcano Stuff...

Kilauea volcano is the only volcano to have two eruptions at the same time. We were close to the summit caldera eruption and could see the lava flow eruption in the distance. It's another hour drive to the lava flow and a mile hike on the lava bed itself. Max wasn't feeling well and it was a 3 hour drive back to the Kona side, so we headed back around sunset. Ken's Pancake House in Hilo has the best Hawaiian bread french toast - I know!






This is the view of the fuming vent in Halema uma u crater from the Jaggar Museum overlook. We heard a rumble and saw a bit of ash. Nothing like St. Helens but it was fun being so close. The visitors road use to go around this crater "caldera" and there was an observation deck right where the vent opened up. Luckily this vent opened at night and no one was hurt :)

The Sulfur Vents!!... Dad was still blamed for the smell... no respect!!

If it's Fall, It's Football...

Is it fall? It was 90 degrees today! The nights are cool though and by Friday our normal 65 degree rain will be here. Clark and Max are playing on the same Eagles football team this year. Above is a picture of Clark #40, taking on the whole team! Go Eagles!!

Birds of Hawaii

These bird pictures are for Margaret. Max even grabbed the camera at one point and said "I have to get this shot for Margaret"! Many of these were "hotel" residents, but this first one lived in the "wild" near a beach.

The triplets were watching our dinner plates... smallest vultures ever!

Several pairs of pink flamingos live near the beautiful wedding chapel at the hotel.

This red headed guy was my favorite. He stayed and posed for quite a while.

The next two shots are not very focused, but we were on a mission to capture all birds for Margaret.

This guy looks like a penguin... ?

Better picture, but no idea what type of bird this is.

Okay, maybe this is my favorite. Beautiful colors on this bird, and I think he knows it...

This is Butterscotch. He visits the hotel lobby everyday. He likes to be scratched under his wing - so says Max.

Chelsea hung out on the other side of the lobby and we were warned not to wear shinny jewelry near her - she is somewhat of a jewel thief.

busboy or bird? These guys couldn't wait to clean up after our meals.

Here's the one bird we know is from Hawaii. The State bird, the Hawaiian Goose (NeNe). Max won a glass bottom boat tour with that information. It pays to study while traveling!

This looks like some type of dove - we saw lots of these.

Like the yellow beak on this one..

Those are the birds we saw. My guys love to snorkel and hang with the fish, but since fish creep me out - it was fun to focus on the birds. They are just as colorful and the creep factor is low.

Farmers Market Kona

A few flower photos from the Farmers Market in Kona. This was our second trip to the market - and this time the camera was with us...

My gecko fear was on high alert walking amoung these buckets of flowers. Luckily I didn't spot any.

The reason for our second trip to the market?... Max loves him some lychee nuts.