Oh its been such a long time since I updated!!! Where has the time gone? I haven't been productive at all and finally listed Hope today. I think I have been working on her since my trip to Hawaii....She is available on ebay and hope this week to somehow get motivated and make something new and creative....???

So hard after being gone to get myself back into sewing. Last week I tried to be motivated and my sewing machine was acting up so much I had to pull out my old one. I guess this new one needs to visit the machine doctor.. ugh there goes some pennies!!! Happy I saved my old machine!!!

Wednesday Shane and I drove to Roseburg to visit the Air Force recruiter. If all goes as planned he will be joining. He feels it is the right choice for him and I have to support his decision. This time I do 100%. With the economy the way it is and him being still layed off from Les Schwab he realizes he needs to make some decisions about his life. So hopefully if all goes well we will know something in the next few weeks.

Friday evening Steve and his brother and sister surprised his mom Shirley with a 80th birthday party. Went over very well with around 40 showing up we had a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant Benetti's. I spent all day saturday shopping in Eugene with Laresa. We both had a great time and we both spent our birthday money!!! Love those gift cards!! Sunday Steve and I were invited for brunch at his parents home where Debbie cooked a fabulous breakfast!! ( no that isnt "ME" Debbie cooking, Steve's sister is also named Debbie) This pic was taken after we ate of his immediate family.

Nothing else is happening too exciting here,,,,, RAIN is falling like no other in years!! Can't believe how hard it has rained here and finally I see a bit of sunshine peeking through the clouds.

So now my day is half over and I need to sew!!! Dinner is in the crockpot so now onto ME time!!! :)

The Last day and Home again

Well tuesday was quite the day... got up checked out of the condo and then drove into Lahaina ... found a really nice restaurant to have breakfast and then I went shopping and Steve off to the tattoo parlor. About an hour later he was done and well I wouldn't say I was but we met up and left my favorite part of the island. Drove down to Kehei, walked through small shopping centers and tried wasting time.. Yes our flight wasnt due til 10:30 pm which meant a day of doing something but didn't really want to do anything but get home. So while driving around we venture a new way up to the Iao needle. After all the times on Maui I have looked at brochures and said I wanna go there and we just never had. Since we were so close we drove up there. Well worth it,,, It was gorgeous rainforest!! Huge philodendron leaves, waterfalls, and tons of stairs to the lookout point!!! Well worth the walk up there but my calves sure felt it yesterday!!

We arrived at the Portland airport after a detour to Salt Lake City since the original plane we were to fly on was delayed from LA to Maui we got on an earlier flight but longer. Flying in first class makes those long trips much easier!! Was so happy to finally get to our car and head towards home. After a 4 1/2 hour drive in the car we made it to our humble abode!! Was so happy to see my cats and all the stuff I needed to do staring me in the face. Extremely hard for me to get back into a routine. Yesterday I dealt with a horrible headache and neck pain and felt like crap but today seems to be pretty darn good so far! I hope to sew!!! Crossing my fingers for progress!!

Another day in Paradise...

Another day spent paradise... This was a picture taken last night from our condo of the sunset. Quite amazing the pictures and memories made on this trip to the islands. I have to say Maui must be my favorite and this was the best time we have had on this island in years!!! Again today we went into Lahaina... bought all our souvenirs for the kids to take home and had a wonderful lunch at Cool Cats overlooking the park and town. OH the best Lava Flow and chicken
sandwich!! I have to say we have had some wonderful food while here. We stopped at a small Expedia kiosk in town and booked a cocktail cruise. They guaranteed to see whales for about an hour. Little did we expect to see them for the full two hour trip ,,, they were right near the boat and so worth the money!! We have decided further trips to Maui will definitely have trips out on the ocean to whale watch. These are a few shots taken tonight on the sunset cruise

Tomorrow we check out of our condo and have to spend the full day waiting to fly out. We will do the lower part of the island maybe have a nice dinner. Our flight isn't til 10pm so will be flying the red eye home. Not so bad being in first class ( the only way to fly!!) Looking forward to seeing the kids and especially my cats... I MISS THEM SO MUCH!!! Next time I post I will be back in wet, cold Oregon coast, Coos Bay where it snowed this morning!! What a change in temps I'm going to have... until then... Aloha... :)

Rainbows and water

Beautiful start to our day!!! We were greeted out our balcony with a rainbow over the ocean. I knew it would be a good day after that start. They say this island hasnt had this much rain in years...its just beautifully GREEN!!! Steve and I drove to Lahaina and then onto the dock to get on the Zodiac raft. We barely got out on the ocean and the whales were plentiful. We watched whales breaching, slapping fins, fighting, babies riding on moms backs and baby whalesbreaching about 30 feet and closer from our boat. So worth the money to do!!!!

After being on the ocean for 2 hours we had lunch at Moose McGillycuddys... OH YUM!!! My Mai Tai was heavenly too!! Walked down the street a bit and then decided to drive back to the condo. I need a nap, seems the sun and water took it out of me and I have one of those crappy headaches that are hard to get rid of..... Not sure what our plans are tomorrow as of yet,,, we talked about Steve going on a snorkeling /whale watching trip ...he'd snorkel and Id watch the whales. Im no longer interested in BEING in the ocean waters after seeing a man drown.... I will enjoy being on land or boat. We will play plans for tomorrow by ear..... Enjoy todays pics....

Kauai bye-bye Hello Maui!!!

Well we left Kauai today...and woke up to this absolutely gorgeous sunrise!! I have never in all the times to the islands ever had a chance to see a sunrise so beautiful with these colors. BREATHTAKING!!! We had an early flight to Maui. Much warmer on this island and prettier than the last time I was here. Its whale mating season and the whales are very active here. Steve and I can sit on our balcony overlooking the ocean and watch them slap at the water and every now
again breach. I have always wanted to do the ocean whale watch tour so we booked one for tomorrow morning!!! We will be on a large Zodiak raft out in the Pacific and they guarantee to see whales.... Just want to see one of them breach once in my lifetime close up!!! ( well not too close!!)

Anyways... hope to have more wonderful photos tomorrow night. Here are a few others to share from our condo unit today. Until tomorrow.....

A Thousand words...

Can I say a picture or pictures are worth a thousand words??? The helicopter ride was a GO today!!! I was so lucky to get the seat next to the window ...just glass between me and the world below .... What an amazing experience to see the island!! We also ordered the video of our trip but on here you will only get to see my pics..... We were taken over the valley, through the canyons, places unaccessible to humans in cars, inside the volcano and along the coast. Lots of waterfalls and pictures cant do them justice. So with all that sit and enjoy the pics until I post once again!!! Tomorrow we are off to Maui!!! ALOHA!!!

Pretty day!!

Steve and I started our day traveling down the road towards Princeville, I was going to do the whole snorkeling thing but after watching a man being pulled from the ocean and later finding out that he died I chose to keep my butt firmly planted on a beach towel on shore!! But Steve did and said it was beautiful. Along the way we stopped to watch for whales but seems the whale watching is better in Maui then here,, maybe next week I will have better luck in watching.
Today is Laresa's birthday!!! Happy 22nd my dear daughter!!! Sorry I can't be there to share it with you!!! Heres a pic taken last week in CA after the fundraiser on friday night.... Love this picture....
We got a phone message that the helicopter ride is confirmed for tomorrow morning so hopefully it all goes as planned, I really, really want to see the island in places you cant go by car!!!
Anyways...until I have more to write about...ALOHA!!!

Good Morning!!

Well another day on the island... it poured last night here so looks like once again we won't be up in the air today. Oh well... we will find other things to do!!! Here is looking out our balcony this morning.... beautiful even though it's not clear. Until later this evening .....

SIMPLY GORGEOUS!!!

Well as you can see I am enjoying Kauai!!! We were set to take a helicopter ride today but was cancelled due to wet/windy conditions...better luck tomorrow... WE ARE CROSSING OUR FINGERS!!! The temps are mild with cool breezes. Evening is what I call cold and windy. I hope for better weather on Maui saturday. For the time being pray we get nicer weather to enjoy Kauai.

We did have a horrible site to see today. Steve and I went to Poipu beach. We had visited here last year and thought we would sit and enjoy the views of the ocean and watch the surfers etc. We found a picnic bench on the beach and planted our buns facing the ocean. Just shortly after doing so a lifeguard is motioning towards the water and one is on a surf board in the water. Yes as you can only imagine,,, someone was unconscious in the water. And I truly believe he never ever woke up again. It probably took more than 5 minutes to pull him to shore where he was worked on with no responses. Makes you sick to see someone drown... Sad and shocking as well. So kinda put a damper on the day. On a lighter note we had a wonderful lunch at the Olympic cafe in Kapaa. I had a grilled avocado brie sandwich.. OH YUM!!! As a side I had a Lava flow ,,, oh YUM!!! We drove back to our condo and made Strawberry daiquiris and Lava flows and now watching American Idol. Hopefully tomorrow we will be in the copter and I w ill be posting pics tomorrow night....If not we will possibly snorkel and definitely going to do some whale watching. So til tomorrow Aloha!!!

ALOHA!!!!

ALOHA!!!!! Yes tomorrow I am off to Portland and tuesday off to the islands!!! Sand and sun and a heck of a lot of drinks!! I hope to blog from there but that will all depend if I have internet in our condo or not.

I had an absolutely wonderful birthday in California. Brian's fundraiser was the same day and hundreds of people attended. Was like a reunion,, lots of hugs,, lots of people I hadn't seen in years. Truly WONDERFUL!!! Not to mention I was given great gifts.. it just couldn't have been better!!!

I finally updated my WSOAPP shoppe!!! If you get a moment take a peek, you will find the small bunny in his carrot and my Blue Angel doll. A few other dolls lay here not quite finished but they can wait til I return from my vacation..... ALOHA til then!!!