10 Days

Til we leave for Ireland for our 35th wedding anniversary celebration. So looking forward to it!

We are going with 4 friends - Hank & Rochelle Featheran and Nadine & Willy Frost.

Why Ireland? its one of my favorite countries - mild climate, green, friendly people, no language barrier.

We are staying at this place

Knee Hi Farm - a 4 bedrooms/3 bath modern farmhouse near Mullingar in County Westmeath - about 1 hour from Dublin.

We've hired a cook to prepare our meals and a bus to take us wherever we want to go each day.

It will be a relaxing - yet fun - 8 days.

Can't wait!

What I Saw at Church Today

A lot of this

I was confused for a minute.

Then I remembered.

Kung Hee Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Update

Make that 31 adults and 2 kids going to Scotland in October! Wow!

Mossman Ohana Scotland Trip

27 adults and 2 kids have signed up and paid their deposit - awesome!

Jacob - Short but Sweet

Heya mom,

thanks for the email, ill probably copy and paste what i write to dad so that i dont miss anything going to either of you guys.

anyways, this week elder russel nelson came to talk to the mission. it was pretty cool, we even had a q&a session. he said that his testimony first came from his study of the sciences, medical specifically.

lets see, a new transfer started also. my favourite comp elder scott smith and i are serving together again for his last 2 transfers as his 'dying request.' our mission pres prayed about it and said that the spirit gave the green light, which is way cool.

hmmm....so yeah, we had a pretty good week. a lot of good work is coming up which is nice to have.

anyways, love ya and thanks again for everything that you do!

love, jake

Gabe's Video

Here's the link to the video that Gabe made as part of the Church's Strength of Youth Media 2011 DVD that has been distributed worldwide (you gotta cut and paste it)

http://broadcast.lds.org/strength-of-youth/2010-12-02-we-believe-theme-song-900k-eng.mp4

He's the 4th kid singing - the brown one with the blue shirt. You'll also hear him in various parts in the background - then there's a close up of him singing towards the end.

What Jacob Wrote

MOTHER!!!!! i love you.

anyways, let me tell you about my week and how peculiar it has been:

Monday: After extreme mouth pain, went to the dentist. He pulled one of my wisdom teeth and said call him if it still hurt and sent me on my way with a prescription for vicodin, saying i should probably stay in and rest for the next 2-3 days.

Gave a lesson at the interview meeting (2 districts attend at a time to be interviewed with the pres.) with half of my mouth numb as it was 30 mins after my 'surgery.'

Tuesday: Pday, the usual missionary sabbath.

Wednesday: AAHHH!!! still in pain today. 3 cheers for vicodin tho! allowed me to function.

Thursday: It got warmer, like 45 today! also got a call from pres about a surprise meeting for all missionaries in the ibm. the last time this happened Hollond came to talk....

Friday: Okay, this is rediculous. i am in pain unless i take a couple vicodin every 3 hours or so. went to the dentist. he gave me a root canal. he really should not have described the process to me before doing it tho. reccomended i stay in and rest for 2-3 days. we then walked 7 miles to the mission office so that the mission pres could interview an investigator for baptism.

Saturday: IDK what happened, i slept in till 11. had to do the usual paperwork till about 3, then attended a lot of meetings which were really boring. then i slept through the stake con priesthood meeting.

Sun: MORE STAKE CON! but the root canal did just what i needed =]

thanks again for everything!

anyways, that was pretty much my week. hmmm........i think there is something else i was gonna say but i cant recall at the moment so if i remember i will tell ya laters.

love, jake

Elegant Evening

Had my annual engineering excellence banquet on Sunday night. A formal affair, we had visiting dignitaries from our national organization (24 of them) attending.

Beautiful setting at Koolau Golf Club. Fancy set up and very nice menu. Jazz musicians in the background. Fantastic silent auction display that kept everyone (including me) in a good mood.

Putting together such an event takes about 5 months of coordination and hard work on the part of many people. I enjoy heading the event each year though.

However, this year was very memorable. At the end of the evening, as we were packing up...

I fell - backwards - flat onto my back!

So now my back's a mess again...

But it was an elegant evening.

Look Out World

Be afraid! Be very afraid!

On 1/12/2011 at 3:28 p.m. - the streets of Oahu became a bit more frightening.

Gabe got his license!

And like all teenagers when they first get their license he asked me, "Can I run any errands for you mother?"

That helpful attitude should last oh I'd say - 2 weeks tops.

Congratulations son!

Trying to Catch My Breath

Its been a whirlwind! Yesterday spent all day taking a friend to various medical tests in town. Today I went to help a friend dress her mother's body for funeral. Usually wear white when we do this - and I thought "oh no, I gotta go buy a white muumuu" then I remembered that I wore a white muumuu when my mom died - now where is it?

At the back of my closet I found it! Still fit - thanks to weight loss 2010! But - small yellow age stains on it...oh no! Then I remembered something about lemon juice and the sun.

So I doused it in lemon juice and hung it on the line. 2 hours later - voila! White as snow!

Got to the mortuary by 2:00 then raced home to meet Hannah's bus at 3:45.

Tonight I'm going to a community council meeting with a friend - she'll owe me big time for this.

Tomorrow - taking the Monday friend back to hospital then racing back to Kaneohe for the funeral and then to Laie for burial and then racing to pick up Gabe to take him for his driver's license test (beware!!!) by 3:00.

The rest of the week isn't much better - huge engineering banquet on Sunday that I'm in charge of - then next week I'm on the speakers circuit - giving FASD workshops - and preparing for a tradeshow the following week.

Bonkers!!!

But am grateful for:

1. Back and leg improving!!
2. Supportive husband (he's da best!)
3. Kids are being so great (no dramas!)
4. Susan's a huge help
5. Gabe's busy with rehearsals (so he's not in my hair!)

But one bad thing - I was late emailing Jacob today =(

2010 at its BEST

Highlights of the year -

Anniversary (34th) in Sonoma in February!

Gabe's performance in "13"

Michelle's Soccer Award from King Intermediate After School All-Stars

Steve & Azeema's wedding

Church History Tour

Puerto Rico Trip

Gabe's dance concerts (2 of them)

Grandma's visit to Hawaii

Getting back in contact with some dear friends - Michelle Stagge & Malia Robinson

But the absolute # 1 highlight was my Mossman Ohana Reunion held in November. I love my Mossman family - TOGETHER FOREVER.

Accomplishments 2010

Before setting goals for 2011 I decided to see just what I have accomplished in 2010...hmmmm...can I think of 5 things?

I gave up eating red meat (except In-n-Out Burger when I'm on the mainland)

I lost some weight!

I converted to a MAC (and I'll never look back)

I reversed into a parking space TWICE (that is a big deal for me)

I have conquered my fear of heights (thanks to a hot air balloon ride)

Its the little things ya know.

Hauoli Makahiki Hou from Home

Got home just before midnight - starting the New Year where I want to be. Here's hoping each of you is where you want to be and with those you love.

Happy New Year!