Fifteen Years Ago Today

My mother became my guardian angel.
"Those we love don't go away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed and very dear."

In the beginning, when I'd think of her I'd cry.
Now I smile.

"You can shed tears that she is gone
or you can smile because she has lived.

You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back
or you can open your eyes and see all she's left.

Your heart can be empty because you can't see her
or you can be full of the love you shared.

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.

You can remember her and only that she's gone
or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on."

Up Next

Brigadoon

March 25 - April 10

Castle Performing Arts Center

Starring Gabe Wright and Nicole Enos

In Front of the Irish Peat Moss Fire

Our Irish Friends

We made wonderful friends with Catheroina and John Lambert and their daughter Kerry.

Catheroina cooked for us, John made us laugh & Kerry entertained us.

We love them.

The Birds

My anniversary gift to Gene - falconry

We spent 5 hours on an Irish country hillside flying hawks, falcons and owls.

A spectacular, once in a lifetime experiences.

St. Paddy's Day...a Month Early & in Ireland

I swear we didn't have a drop!

(serious blackmail picture)

From Our Irish Farmhouse Window

We saw this

Every morning.

Ireland

Me and My Boyfriend of 37 years (35 years married)

Northern Ireland Coast

13 February 2011

28 and counting

That's how many hours before we fly off tomorrow evening for Ireland. Only got a million things left to do - but they are all manageable.

Can't forget to -

1. Leave Valentine treats for the kids
2. Finish my work for engineer's group
3. Get Valentines for the girls to give to classmates
4. Register for my D.C. meeting in March
5. Make Hannah's appt with neurologist for when we get back
6. Clean the fridge
7. Vacuum the van
8. Mail Jacob's Valentine present
9. Cut my hair!!!

At least I'm packed...

Found!

A talking photo frame - of Jacob - about age 9 years old - saying "Happy Mother's Day Mom! I hope you have fun in Buffalo! I love you!"

I was thrilled to find it. I had forgotten all about it.

And I can't remember why I was in Buffalo 11 years ago!

Cleaning Closet

Its scary...like Hoarders Buried Alive. Items found:

To Be Trashed

Black heels circa 1990 - cracked vinyl

Dick Tracy T-shirt

Susan's shoes from when she was maybe 3

17 purses!!! including one from 1985 when we moved here!

Lots of broken hangers

A white linen skirt - what was I thinking????

Old computer cords

2 backpacks

Lauhala bags that are pretty much eaten away.

Keepers!

A quilt I made for Jacob when he was 2

A red muumuu I thought I'd chucked

My favorite Peter Max shirt from 1978!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And cause I've lost some weight, it fits!!!)

Some cool reef walkers

3 wooden hangers - the antique kind that the dry cleaner used to give - I know they are valuable cause they have Territory of Hawaii printed on them - so that's pre-1959!!!!!!!!!!!!

No money yet, but I'm not done cleaning!

So far - 5 garbage bags for the dump.

Hoarder!!!!!!!!!!

What's On Her Mind

Michelle woke up yesterday morning and said, "Mom I have a picture of Hunter in my mind."

I said, "oh you're thinking about Hunter?" Hunter is a girl from church.

Michelle said, "No I just have a picture of her in my mind."

I was telling Gene about this last night and he asked her, "Do you still have a picture of Hunter in your mind?"

Michelle, closed her eyes for a moment then opened them, smiled widely and said, "Yup I still have her picture in my mind!"

Happy Birthday

To my Mama.

She would be 79 today.

Happy Birthday Mama.

Wednesday Nights

Gene works at the temple Wednesday nights so its quiet around here (not that he makes a lot of noise).

I cook whatever - or not at all - on Wednesday nights.

Gabe doesn't have rehearsals on Wednesday nights.

The two girls read or play quietly on Wednesday nights.

I like Wednesday nights.

Who's In Charge?

I asked Michelle to get me a cup of ice water.

She did and when she gave it to me she said, "Can you get your own next time?"

I replied, "No".

She said, "Are your legs broken?"

I said, "No".

She said, "Well why can't you get it yourself?"

I replied, "Because I'm the mother and you're the kid. You have to do what I say"

She said, "But I'm not the mother!"

I said, "Right that's why you gotta do what I say - like get me water!"

She looks at my water and says, "Can I have a sip?"

I said, "No. Go get your own!"

She walks off muttering to herself, "But I'm not the mother!"

He Wrote - So I Breathe - For 7 More Days at Least

Dearest Mother,

So this is my day:

Today Jacob Wakes up and turns off the alarm on the phone. except that it is not an alarm, someone is actually calling us at 6:15 in the morning. One of our investigators dialed the wrong number. So i get 15 more mins of sleep.

Now Jacob Gets out of bed for reals. And crawls to the bathroom to find a spanish elder on the pot (oh yeah, we had 2 spanish move in with us in our apartment. one doesnt ever lock the bathroom door...)

Jacob, waiting to shower, forgoes morning exercise in favor of the ever well balanced breakfast that is doughnuts and mountain dew.

Jacob goes in to the shower and lets hot water run over him for about 10 mins before actually beginning the cleansing process.

For studies Jacob and comp relate scripture people to star wars characters (after all, it is pday studies.)

Jacob then watches as the spanish missionaries take off in their full-time car taking only a moment to fantasize of the varied comforts it would offer before wrapping up in a jacket and beginning the trek to Wal Mart.

Some guy screams at us on the way to walmart from his car as he drives by, which in and of itself wouldnt have been odd except that we were in pday (normal) clothes.

We walk to email at the family history center and our zone leaders wave as they drive by in their 2010 Subaru. grrrrr.

and now i am here! but all in all, not to bad a day so far to be honest. smith and i have a lot of fun no matter what we are doing. which makes things entertaining.

hmm....as for the work, we have another baptism this saturday, then one next friday, then 2 more 2 weeks after that. once again, baptisms dont equal amount of work put in (altho in all modesty i believe we have put in great work) but they are good encouragement to keep it up. we also picked up a couple new investgators this week. yups. smith is definately my favourite comp, and i think that we are gonn serve together till he goes home (he has only got this one and next left) altho after that i only have 2 left and their are still others who i want to have a chance to serve with.

random factoid: i think that my favourite commandment to teach on the mission is Tithing. tiss awesome. kinda like buying blessings. lol, jk. but it really is my favourite commandment to teach. my fav overall would probably be repentance or faith tho.

anyways, hope you have a wonderful week, and i thank you again for being awesome. and helping me in the infinite ways that you do!

love, jake

On Tuesday's I Breathe

once I get Jacob's email.

...I'm still holding

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!