It's time to go

It's hard to believe that it's time to go. Time has flown by and even though it seems like the end of summer, it's really much later in the year. I'll be getting out the Christmas tree when I get home! So this is good-bye to all our dear, dear friends and family here, and hello to our friends and family at home whom we are looking forward to seeing.

Halloween in Waikiki!!

Mike, long time business associate of Rays, and Mike's wife, JoAnn arrived the day before Halloween. This was their first taste of Waikiki. It was a crazy night. It was very loud all night with fireworks, etc. One loud boom sounded like the North Korean missle had arrived and we shot straight out of bed! It turned out to be some explosion at a substation near our place.

Can you see how extreme the crowds were in the streets! (Look in the distance) I told a policeman his costume looked authenic and he did laugh.....right before he snapped the cuffs on.

And Ray said he was just trying to get me in the picture!

Ray says this is all he is packing for next year.

Hey Friends! Have been trying to get some pics on the blog showing Mike and JoAnn's visit. They got in the day before Halloween! We went down to Waikiki for the Halloween festivities! OH MY GOSH! You've never experienced a Halloween like this! Guess who I found? Elvis! (PS, that is not my hair but someone standing behind me. ha) PSS all these pics are mixed up, so bear with me!

Scene from the new show at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was AWESOME!

We hiked Moana Falls! Love the arch in the trees!

Huge trees in the rain forest!

The reward at the top of this 1.5 mile hike!

Mike, JoAnn and Ray at the entrance. Notice, no slippery boulders yet!

No, I'm not as agile as I thought. I slipped on a boulder and twisted my knee. Ouch!

Here's a shot of some huge waves on the North Shore. They will get much bigger later in the year for the pipeline but this is big enough for Ray and Mike!

The catamaran was so much fun! On board with us were 3 cute Japanese girls.

We had a great time with Mike and JoAnn! Ray and Mike worked together for 30 years. JoAnn and I decided they might be a bad influence on each other! (Especially Ray on Mike!)

Rush and Sheenu's Visit

If we look happy, it's because we are! Rush and Sheenu visited us for a week. We hiked and toured the island and tried to show them as much of this beautiful place as possible in the limited time we had with them. I think they know why we love it so much here.

We had dinner at Kobe Steak restaurant near the Hawaiian Hilton Village which is very close to our condo. We had a good laugh that evening asking a photographer to take a picture with my camera. (He sold us one he took with his camera!)

Rush had almost had enough pictures at this point! I'm glad we got this shot though.

Another shot of us waiting for our table.

Waiting for a table at the Italian restaurant at the Marriott, which was our home away from home last summer.

Sheenu's on top of the world! She's a beautiful jewel in a beautiful place.

Hanging out at the Moana Surfrider Hotel under the banyon tree shortly after Rush and Sheenu arrive.

One of my favorite views on the island with two of my favorite people on earth in it!

We went to the North Shore to experience some of the big waves of Haliewa town and ate at one of the famous Shrimp Trucks!

Randy, a good friend and work associate of Ray's, visited last week. His wife's name is Connie too! (and she's a teacher) We hiked to the top of Diamond Head from inside the crater. The view is just awesome from the top!

Connie Thomas tried to clear these people out of our picture, but they didn't listen to the teacher!

Randy and Ray getting ready to snorkel! Randy's famous white shirt, I put this in for you Connie. (You accidently left it with us!)

These meals make our hikes harder!

Another picture of Randy at the top of Diamond Head. He and Connie were so physically fit, they ran up like mountain goats.

I thought I was going to die on the last 99 steps going straight up! It's been 2 years since we hiked it.

Island visitors

Ray's cousin Ronald and his wife Gillette visited for 10 days and really enjoyed our island tour. We suggested a couple new ideas just to mix it up a bit but they didn't want to do the shark cage! We visited Pearl Harbor and had lots of fun visiting as family.