Holy Ghost Church

When you drive upcountry to Kula you can see this large white octogon church, Holy Ghost Church. The first time I saw it I thought it was funny that it was named after the Holy Ghost, you don't see that very often. Today they had their Holy Ghost Feast so we went to check it out. This is the back of the church, there was a little cemetery back there.
They had food and booths and entertainment. It is a Roman Catholic Church - originally for the Portuguese that came to work in the sugar fields. They were serving Portuguese bean soup, Portuguese sweet bread and Malasadas (doughnuts) - Hey it's just like being in Newcastle again!

It was a beautiful view. You can see all the way down to the ocean.

We didn't think we should take a picture inside but it was decorated with a set of Stations of the Cross and a gorgeous/elaborate alter all ordered from Austria and sent over in 1895. This was the only octagonal structure built in Hawaii in the 19th century. The Holy Ghost Feast is held every year at Pentecost - 50 days after Easter (I didn't know what that was before - I learned something new today!)

Po'olenalena Beach

Richard and I tried a new beach this week - Po'olenalena. We had heard that it is one of the more less known beaches and not many people go there. That must be true because there was a lot of sea life on the rocks and along the beach. There were only about 10 cars in the lot and there were probably only a few other families on the beach. Richard went snorkeling while I went through my cookbooks trying to figure out what to cook for the Ward potluck we were having later that night.The opihi's were so cute. They were stuck all over the rocks right on the beach. Usually you have to go out into the water and see them on the rocks there. They looked like they had little hats on and as soon as they "felt" your presence they would pull their "hats/shells" down tight and stick to the rocks - so you couldn't even pry them off.

I was just amazed by all the opihi's on the shore.
There were huge cowrie shells on the rocks as well. They were bigger than my fist. Richard said he sees them out in the ocean all the time, bigger than these but it was the first time I saw a live one this big before.

Memorial Day

The church held their annual Memorial Day picnic out at Kamaole III. Everyone was there and it was a lot of fun. Lots of food and friends. Me, of course eating! That's Suzy next to me.
All the kids were jumping off the rocks. Kyler speared in the morning and then pretty much jumped off the rock the rest of the day. Only two injuries that I know of. One little girl stepped on a sea urchin and another girl hurt her foot jumping off the rock. You can't tell by this picture but when you walk over the hill and see the beach - there were about a million kids in the water! I looked at my friend Eric and said this reminds me of something, and he said, ya - the scene from Jaws - He was right, that is exactly what it looked like...dun dun dun dunta dun

Michelle Alberdi with a couple of the young women - Haleaka and Mandy. Elizabeth is eating watermelon (Suzy's daughter). No pictures of Richard since he is taking the pictures but he basically cut watermelon all day long - he kept cutting and everyone kept eating.

Memorial Day - Continued

The Piilani Ward (the Tongan Ward) was next to us. They played all sorts of games and had contests, dances, etc. We all sat around and ate. This is the Finau's and the Bishop and his wife.
Ashley Bowers (Bishop's daughter), Bishop Bowers and their poodle and Sis. Finau

Cap Mafileo cooking at the grill. Look at the octopus (tako) being held up!

Lopeti Otukolo and Hailame Lavaka doing some grilling. They grilled all day until the meat ran out.

More sitting and eating scenes.

Kihei Ward Nursery Baby Shower

For one of our Enrichment Activities we had a baby shower for our nursery (part of providing service - for our month of service). We brought toys and books to give to the nursery and we played games and ate cake. We also cleaned the nursery. We had a good time.
Alana is playing the cotton ball game. She got 61, that's pretty good. Our next "real" baby shower will be for her. She is due on June 24 and it's a girl.

Here is Barbra, in deep thought - hmm...what should I clean next. She jumped right in and started cleaning right when she got there.

Here is Suzy and Louise. The window sill was gross! Louise tackled that.

Rebecca and Alana wiping down all the toys.

Kihei Ward Nursery Baby Shower Continued

Nikki cleaning a toy
Me playing the cotton ball game - I did not win : (

My baby shower cake I made. I was craving coconut cake so that is what I made. You bake a white cake and then poke holes in it. Mix cream of coconut and condensed milk together and pour all over. Once it is cooled, you frost it and sprinkle coconut on top, it's yummy. The little booties are made out of marshmellows and royal frosting.

For one of the games we had to make babies out of Hubba Bubba bubble gum. Suzy's was cute, she used the wrapper for a diaper and a blanket - very clever.

This is the after picture (I wish I had thought to take a before). Suzy organized everything after we cleaned it. She is so great! She cleaned the closet while we cleaned the toys. There was cockroaches and cockroach poop and eggs....yuck (the joys of living in Hawaii). One even got in her hair while she was cleaning (better her than me!) Louise squished a giant one and took it out guts and all in a paper towel - they must come from pioneer stock : )

Mother's Day in Maui

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. It was so nice to go to church today because Kyler gave me a lei to wear for Mother's Day! Then my visiting teaching partner Paula gave me one and also one of the sisters we visit, Donna gave me one too! They all smelled so good. As soon as we got home I had Kyler take my picture with all my flowers.

Some how I was nominated to provide floral arrangements for the chapel today. So Richard and I cut some ginger from the Bishop's yard and the bird of paradise from around the church grounds yesterday. Then this morning I picked some yellow hibiscus from my yard and picked some greenery and white flowers from behind the church and arranged them all. I'm definitely not a floral arranger but all the tropical flowers here are so beautiful they look good no matter who puts them together. Richard stuck the rose in the middle - each mother received a rose as they walked into church this morning.

This is how I spent my day today. Sitting on my lanai reading a good book with my Buddy.

The month of May is "all service month" for Enrichment. We had a potluck to kick it off - let the service begin! Everyone has stickers on because I "deputized" everyone as Secret Service Agents. We did a skit where "Secret Service Agents" helped out and we played the song - Secret Service Man (that song is still playing in my head). I'm so bummed I forgot to have someone take pictures during the skit, I really wanted a picture of my three Secret Service Agents when they were all dressed up. We played a game at the end where everyone brought three things in a bag that "told about them" and then each person grabbed a bag (not their own of course) and had to pull the items out and try to guess who the owner of the bag was. It was so fun we all laughed at the different items people thought to bring - we also learned a lot about people we didn't know. Below are some pictures I took during the potluck.

I'm sure Allison will be soo glad I posted this on my blog!
This is Ashley, Chris (the Bishop's wife) and Glenda (1st counselor in RS). Ashley is Chris' daughter - she is visiting from Utah. She just graduated from college as a dance major and is going to start a new job as a dance teacher at a middle school in Utah.

This is Teresa (she works at the Grand Wailea - she is the one that got us the great rooms for Kyler's 14th birthday), next to her is Liping. She is originally from China and she is smart :0 ) She is a teacher at the local community college (another smart college teacher like my friend Jan). And in the pink is Rebecca. She made a killer curry that I loved.

In back is Sis. T. I can spell or pronounce her name. She is one of our sister missionaries and she is from Mongolia. Nikki is in red, she is the second counselor in RS. Next to her is the investigator the sister missionaries brought and next to her is Sis. Holm (she's from Utah - aren't they all!). And in front is Suzy - my lifesaver! She's on my enrichment committee and I couldn't do any of my activities without her!

Last Week's Happenings

Tuesday was our monthly Ensign Club meeting and it was held at Louise Wittern's house. We had fun discussing April's issue of the Ensign even though we got off track a couple of times : ) We had fun socializing and snacking. There was about 10 of us and the missionaries brought an investigator as well. I made my Carmel popcorn and I of course ate more than my share! I met with my counselor at school on Thursday and figured out what classes I needed to sign up for in the fall. I'm going to take 15 credits (five classes) so I will be going full time. We'll see if I can do it. I'm going to take a math class, an English class, a history class, a speech class and a Hawaiian studies class (which satisfies three mandatory classes). Richard started a new job. He is working for ACE Medical. They pick up the lab samples from the doctors/hospitals and package them and then take them to the airport. It's a part time job just to bring in a few extra bucks. He really likes his boss and the guy he worked with so it should be good. In fact his new boss kept asking him questions about the church and so on Friday before she flew back to Oahu (she lives in Oahu) he gave her a Book of Mormon. He is a way better member missionary than I will ever be. Kyler went on a hike to Haleakala on Friday with the Boy Scouts. They had to hike four miles into the crater and then set up camp. The next day they hike two miles to the lava tubes and after breaking down camp had to hike the four miles back out to the cars. So a total of 10 miles - back packs, sleeping bags, tents and all. Oh to be young again. They all had a good time, however, they all returned very tired and sunburned - even Kyler who claims he never burns. I'll post pictures as soon as we get copies.