Engagement Party

While everyone was home for Christmas, we celebrated John and Sarah's engagement with a party! We used the new room at the Delaware Township Community Center (I think we were the first event). On the menu was pizza from Mellow Mushroom, Greek Salad which we assembled, breaksticks, cake and ice cream. John spied a huge silver punch bowl when we first looked at the room to rent and we all agreed that LOTS of ice cream was the best use for it!


One of the ideas we had was to set up a camera for people to take their own pictures as a message to Sarah and John.

instructions :)

danny testing the camera remote

ashley and her mom

great kids!

of course!

so sweet!

It was a great evening with lots of friends wishing the happy couple well as they prepared to California early in January for John to be stationed/attend class at Camp Pendleton/Twentynine Palms.

tom, danny, tom

adrianne and elliott


kay, steve, elliott

emily, danny, dan

rhonda with 3 of her daughters, sarah, john, dylan, alynna

cute little family

:)

Christmas 2009

We were so fortunate in 2009 to have everyone at home together at Christmas! Last year Elliott was in Iraq and it was hard for he and Adrianne (and all of us) to be apart. The night we celebrated it was quite a full house, as John and Sarah also brought Dylan and Alyanna! Everyone enjoyed the company, the fire, the decorations, the dinner, the presents, and most importantly, each other!!

Matching pajamas at bedtime!

Dylan

Alynna

Thanksgiving in Birmingham

Bailey and I traveled south for Thanksgiving last year. She's a good traveler and we made it with just 2 stops. We arrived midafternoon on Wednesday and Emily, Bailey and I took a walk around the apartment complex to stretch our legs and then had a picnic under the large tree right outside the front door. Emily and I ate cheese sandwiches and chex mix and Bailey watched squirrels up in the tree.

We slept in on Thanksgiving morning and mid morning, we headed over to Oak Mountain State Park for some hiking. It was a beautiful day; sunny and blue skies with a temperature in the mid 60's. We packed a picnic (peanut butter sandwiches, apples, cookies and water and dog treats!) and hauled it up the mountain on a gorgeous hike to Peavine Falls. Bailey and Emily led the way and once we got to the top of the mountain, the trail was level along the ridge. We didn't see any other people until we got to the falls and we had a nice hour eating our lunch and relaxing. Bailey was so tired she was asleep on her feet in the sunshine!

The weather was great the whole time I was there, much different from when I visited in August (steam bath!). On Friday we took it easy and just visited, watched TV, walked Bailey and hung out. We spent some time that evening working on a budget - Emily loves spreadsheets!

I left on Saturday morning and had a pleasant drive home.

Aloha 2009

After earning some spending money by taking in short term tenants, I was lucky enough to travel and visit Adrianne and Elliott for an entire week over fall break. We had lots of time to catch up, relax and enjoy each other. The house they are renting is adorable and so spacious. I had my own room and plenty of space to enjoy. (side note, the garage attic they lived in before was fabulous and spacious enough that there were five of us there for a few nights a couple of years ago!)


I arrived on a Saturday night and after we got back from the airport, Elliott went and picked up a pizza and we just visited and it was SO good to be with them! We got up early Sunday morning and made our way to the marina at Kaneohe Marine Base. Adrianne and Elliott had just gotten their boating licenses and had reserved a pontoon boat. Their friends (and now mine!) met us and all together there were 8 of us (Andy and Traci (and her parents),Rahul, Adrianne, Elliott and myself). Everyone brought a breakfast item and we had an outstanding buffet served from the back of the boat.

captain hultgren

view from our anchored spot

Elliott drove us around the bay and anchored at the sandbar. There were only a few boats there when we arrived but before we left it was packed! The sandbar was huge and we got off the boat and enjoyed the water. The boys played bocce ball in the water and the girls took pictures and sat in the water and visited. Others had grills out, footballs, floats and all kinds of things. It was so much fun!

Rahul, Andy, Elliott during a bocce ball break

Later that afternoon, while Elliott did homework, Adrianne and I set off to the other side of the island to the new Target store! We loaded up on items to decorate the sunroom (my self imposed project for the week!) We had so much fun and got lots of good stuff. We also stopped in a furniture store to look at coffee tables for the living room. Sunday night we went to Tammy and Ben's and had a wonderful italian feast prepared by Traci and her parents.

For most of the rest of the week, my time was spent as such:
wake up in the morning at leisure, have a cup of coffee on the lanai, pack up and walk to Kalapawai Market where I bought my favorite coffee (Hawaiian Hazelnut) and an oat bran muffin, continue out to the beach, find a spot that had shade and sun, spend the day reading and moving between the sunshine and the shade with my book! The only thing that changed was which beach park I went to and whether I walked or rode the new beach bike! It was glorious!

favorite coffee stop

trail leading to a shaded spot

entrance to Kailua Beach (marine base in background)

how i spent most of my days



different day, different beach park!

Mid afternoon each day I walked or rode the bike back to the house, ate lunch, showered and worked on the sunroom. I had a blast assembling and rearranging.

room before

room after

On Thursday, Adrianne took the day off work and we went for a morning hike to Maunawili Falls. We used directions from a guidebook, parked in a neighborhood and set off for the falls. We thought we were following the printed and posted directions but ended up walking past the turnoff. We met a group of friends hiking together and together we backtracked and found it. We walked further and took longer than planned but enjoyed every minute of it!

got a little wet crossing the streams

The Falls!

great hike and beautiful spot!

new friends met while looking for the trail

Elliott took a half day off work and was already home when we got back. We cleaned up and headed out toward the North Shore. We stopped for lunch at Aloha Salads (and Subway) and ate in the car on the drive north. It's a beautiful drive along the Kamehameha Highway with views off the ocean all the way north. We drove through the town of Haleiwa almost to the edge of the island to Camp Erdman, where the LOST scenes of the "others" community is filmed. We planned on exploring the 'homes' but then realized that there was a camp in session. Elliott pulled over on the side of the highway and I ran up for a quick picture!


We drove back through town and looked in a couple of shops. Got an iced coffee at McDonalds (at the same location I had my first one a few years ago!). We stopped at Turtle Beach (Laniakea) and observed the turtles resting on the sand. It's a protected area for them and there are areas roped off but you can get very close. The sun was setting and it was a beautiful spot.

35 year old turtle

Elliott and I at Turtle Beach

sunset at Turtle Beach

We continued south on the highway (after Elliott went back and found my shoe!) and stopped for dinner at one of the many shrimp trucks along the way. We ordered three different flavors and shared them all. The "hot" ones were so spicy and the garlic ones were my favorite. We also got fresh fruit smoothies that were delicious. It was a great day and we were all exhausted but managed to stay awake for Survivor when we got home!

Adrianne and Elliott waiting for our shrimp dinner!

On Friday morning I hung out at the house in the morning and then rode the bike to St. Anthony's for Adrianne's first grade classroom Halloween Party! I got to help with the games and snacks and could not get over how many moms brought stuff in and helped. When they were introducing themselves to each other they told whose mom they were and when it was my turn, I said Miss Hultgrens! The kids were cute and funny and were bouncing off the walls until they were dismissed (early on Fridays). Adrianne had her staff meeting to attend so I rode home, changed, and spent my last afternoon on the beach.

Adrianne's first grade class

great beach bike, the "mokes" in the distance

That night we drove across the island to Honolulu and ate at a restaurant overlooking Waikiki Beach. Elliott had a group class meeting and after dinner he left for that and Adrianne and I walked around, looked in shops, got coffee and sat on Waikiki Beach for a long while just talking.

restaurant overlooking Waikiki Beach

We set alarms for super early the next morning and hiked up to a lookout point in Lanikai to watch the sunrise. The hike was quite a ways up and dark when we started but the sky began to lighten and we sat on an abandoned military bunker/lookout point and wait for the sun. It was quite a sight and we had fun waiting. Elliott was the master photographer this morning, willing to do contortions to get the perfect shot!

Elliott willing to risk life and limb for the perfect shot :)

worth it!

hike back down

happy hikers

We went to breakfast at a delicious new crepe cafe and all ate heartily! My flight was in the afternoon and by the time we got home, showered and packed it was time to leave. I had a fabulous time (as always) and can't wait to go back. I hope that more of us can go the next time.

Aloha!