A week living here

We have had a fabulous week. Our kids have adjusted to the time zone and new life with amazing ease and grace. We have had a squabble or two, but not more than usual, it seems less to me. We really like our place here. Julianne is starting to become adept at shopping here. We have had fun with the Judds, who have moved in next door. Dad left for two days on a trip to get ready for some of his field trips. It went well, and everyone survived. We have watched movies in the big theater here in the Center, have played in the gym, at the playground, and gone for a little walk or two. We even went to the Anglican school, and met teachers, got schedules squared away, etc.

While at the church in Tabga, which is designed to commemorate the feeding of the five thousand, as Dad was praying, the reality of the Savior's ministry came crashing down on him. While he has long known of its reality, the idea of sitting (again) where (or near to where) the Savior did such a miracle made it seem so real. With that came the overwhelming feeling of how real it was that God sent his son to do all of this for us. It was so immediate, so personal, so real, that it was a powerful moment of deepening discipleship. Oh how the Lord loves us.

Today we had church. It is such an incredible setting for Church. Everyone seems to have done well.

Mom and Dad went to the Garden Tomb today, what a great experience. Again, there in the tomb, the reality of the Savior dying for us, and then rising again, was overwhelming. We do not know better now than before, but I think we know it more deeply. He really did rise again, he really did it for us. How blessed we are to know it!

Getting to the Center -- Adventures Ahoy

We are doing well. The flights went spectacularly well, I couldn’t have asked for better, other than a few delay problems with the first flight. The kids were incredible. We got to the JC (Jerusalem Center) to drop the luggage off, and the kids were given a brief tour. They loved it, and were so excited to be here. Sadly we had to leave pretty soon to our hotel. It was an okay, modest hotel. Really pretty good for Middle East standards, but not quite the Marriotts that the kids have stayed in during the last year. It was also about 50 yards from the Dome of the Rock in a very Palestinian section. The kids were pretty worn out, were a bit stressed by not being able to understand many of the people around them or read any of the signs, and were not impressed by the hotel (though it was a very big room, with 4 twin beds). We also arrived during Ramadan, and as the sun went down people started lighting firecrackers. Some of the kids thought it was gunfire. BJ said he wanted to go home, he didn’t want to be here, he really wanted to go home. They were all fully stressed. It took a little talking and relaxing to get them feeling okay. We had some prayers, did some blessings, and within an hour BJ and everyone else told us they were glad to be there.

People fell asleep okay. But Jacob woke up after only about 3 hours of sleep and we never got him to go to sleep again. I stayed up with him for about 4 hours trying to keep him happy and quiet enough others could sleep. Everyone woke up pretty early, by about 5 am. We read some stuff, talked, listened to a kids book on cd together, and went for a walk (the weirdness of the area freaked them out a bit more). Then we were provided with a great breakfast at the hotel, went over to the JC to do some luggage switching since we had figured out some packing mistakes we had made, and then caught a taxi to the bus station. I had researched ahead of time when the bus we wanted would leave, so we got there, got the tickets, and got to the right spot with about 20 minutes to spare, which I thought was perfect. But somewhere along the way things had changed, and the bus was actually leaving an hour later than we had planned. So we waited for an hour and 20 minutes and finally got on the bus for our 5 hour bus ride. The ride went okay, most of them slept for the first half. It stopped about half way so we could use the bathroom, eat, etc. As we got off, in the middle of the desert heading towards Sinai, the heat was so oppressive it made everyone feel sick. No one felt much like eating, I got them to eat some fruit. The last half of the trip was not fun for anyone, until I got come dvd’s going on the personal dvd players. Then it went okay.

When we got off, the heat was worse than ever. It was horrible. The original plan had been to get a hotel there in Eilat, and go snorkeling on the Red Sea. However, I had misunderstood some information that the travel website I was using had given me, and the hotel we had was just across the border, in Egypt. When I had figured this out (a few months ago), I had tried to get another hotel in Eilat, but they were all gone, except the $500 a room kinds. So we caught another bus to the border. It was so, so, so very hot, the kids were dying. They were great troopers about helping to haul the luggage, etc. Sadly, the wheels on our biggest suitcase had stopped working, so for the whole trip I had to drag the big thing everywhere we went.

The border crossing was tedious, sometimes difficult, and had more hidden fees, sometimes big ones, than I had every guessed. We filled up every kind of water bottle we had just before leaving Israel, since we knew the water in Egypt was not safe. We drank it all before we got to the hotel, and were still on the verge of dehydration. The wind was strong, and very hot, and the air was burning. If the children of Israel went through that Sinai area in August I don’t blame them for complaining they would die without water. It was probably a matter of hours without it before they would die.

We got a taxi to our hotel. The hotel itself was great. We changed and went swimming in a few of their very cool pools, that included water slides, caves with water falls, a bar in the swimming pool, etc. We had a great time. Then we went back, ate some snacks, and went to sleep.

The next day we celebrated Kaleb’s birthday. The hotel provided an incredible breakfast, just incredible. Then we went to snorkel in the Red Sea. But the spot we were had had absolutely nothing to see under the water, just nothing. Oh well, we went to the swimming pool instead. We checked out of our hotel just barely when we needed to, and waited for our scheduled taxi. After a while I inquired why it had not come, only to learn that Egypt had changed time when Israel had not, and we had another hour to wait. We got some expensive ice cream to celebrat Kaleb’s birthday, and finally got to the border, again. It was just as hot, and just as tough, but he kids were so great.

We found some taxis to take us to the Jordan Border. One of them arranged some Jordanian taxis for us on the other side of the border to take us to Petra. He arranged a price that seemed like it was okay (it is hard to judge, I knew how much one taxi should be, but not how having 8 people total affected the price).

So, we did another hot, bothersome border crossing. It was really not a fun experience. But the kids were so, so great. I couldn’t believe how good they were, and though they were hot and dehydrated and tired, they were holding up so well. We had originally planned to stay in Eilat again when we finished with Petra, but since our hotel was not actually in Eilat, and we didn’t want to do the border crossing twice more when we got back, we decided to cancel the last part of the trip, and tell the folks at the JC we would get in a day earlier than we were supposed to, even though we had promised we would not.

I really, really did not like the ride to Petra. They had no van taxis, so we had to ride in two cars, and I did not like being separated from Julianne and the littlest kids. My driver kept getting so far ahead that I could not see the other car, and I would have to tell him to slow down. The fact that every Arab man we had met had demonstrated an irresistible need to touch Sabrina’s blond hair, and try to hold her and walk somewhere with her made me quite nervous. I knew we would get this a bit with out blonde girls, but it was surprising how much Sabrina got it. I had to keep an eye on her all the time. Anyway, the drivers were crazy on a very windy road, and two children threw up on the way.

The hotel in Petra was nice. Not super nice like in Egypt, but nice. We slept well, had instant oatmeal for breakfast, and went to Petra. It was a lot of hiking, and it was hot. The kids had a lot of fun, were amazing troopers, and we did well. But we didn’t see everything because after a while they voted that they would rather go back. I thought it was wise, and I think they were incredible. They really were so good during everything. We had a nice time there, nice swimming at the hotel when we got back, and a nice evening overall.

The next morning we left. Our taxi driver found out we were going to go to Eilat and then Jerusalem, and told us there was a border crossing point closer to Jerusalem we could use. It would be an hour longer drive in Jordan, but about 4 hours less in Israel. I had not chosen this border crossing point because we had been planning on staying in Eilat, and because I knew that Eilat was the only place you didn’t have to buy a Jordan visa ahead of time, you could get it on the day you crossed. I asked him if that would pose a problem for us going back. We were both pretty sure that going back you only had to pay an exit tax, but nothing else, and it wouldn’t be a problem. He called an uncle who worked for the police, who looked into it and told us we were right. So we decided to go to the King Hussein border.

Part way through the drive my driver, who was in a BMW, started driving so fast and so crazy. It was making kids sick, and I couldn’t see Julianne and the others in the other car. I kept having to tell him to slow down and keep them in sight. We later found out that he had learned that the border crossing we were heading to closed at 1 pm on Saturdays, so he was trying to hurry. But it wouldn’t have done us any good if only half of us got there, and the other car couldn’t go that fast, and it just wasn’t safe. It became a very, very stressful ride. We got a flat tire part way through also.

About ten minutes before 1 pm I learned that the border was going to shut down at 1. We tried hard, but did not make it. It turned out that they stopped letting people go across at 11 am, and letting them finish coming into Jordan at 1 pm, so we missed it b y a long ways anyway. So we reconsidered our options. There was another border to cross about an hour north, and we decided to go that way, though it meant paying for that much more in taxis. Ah well. We drove like crazy, stopping to buy a new tire along the way, etc. The kids were hot, hungry (no time to buy food, and they wouldn’t eat the granola bars I had), car sick and bored. But they really handled all of that well.

We finally got to this border (took us almost 2 hours). It was the strangest process I had ever seen. After moving from taxi to taxi to station to bus to station, paying tons, filling out lots of forms, interviews, etc., etc., we got the the Israel side, and did more of the same. There were a few stressful things involved, but with the help of the Lord we worked out way through it.

We finally got through the whole process, found a nice minibus to take us to the center for a good price, and had a nice drive here. The kids were so excited after all of that to get to this place that they feel like this is the most wonderful place on earth. They feel like it is so modern, so friendly, so beautiful, that they are absolutely in love with being here. It is very nice.

The apartment they have created for us is very nice. It is just a bit smaller than how much room we had in Hawaii. The place is magical, and we are very happy here. People have been bringing us food, and doing a lot to help us out. Today the kids played, we did a lot of unpacking, we greeted our friend family as they arrived, played in the playground, etc. There is a calm, peaceful, almost magical feeling about this place. Everyone is very, very happy to be here. I wish that the tv did not have Disney Channel, but oh well.

I have not been able to get our internet phone working, but will keep trying.

I honestly believe that while we went through some fun and very crazy and stressful stuff, that you could not have found 6 kids anywhere in the world who did it better than these 6. They were overly incredible, and I am so pleased about it. And you can see them really coming together. Overall it is great. I have a few more grey hairs, but it was great.

Disneyland!

So, after flying back from Hawaii, we had a 24 hour turnaround before we started our drive to Southern California. It was weird to be in Pleasant Grove but not have a house. My parents had us there for dinner, and then Tammy let us sleep at her house and made breakfast for us. David and Tricia made us lunch we could take while we went, along with a lot of snacks. Unpacking and repacking was more complicated than we thought, but we eventually made it. The drive down was a bit slow, but we finally made it to Las Vegas, where we found a very cheap hotel room and had a good night's rest.

The rest of the drive to Orange County wasn't too bad. We really liked the hotel room we had there. It had two separate bedrooms, a front/diningroom with a sofa sleeper, and a small kitchen. It was great for our family. We liked the pool too. That night we just relaxed, swam, watched some tv, and went grocery shopping.

The next day Dad did lectures, etc., all day long. Dad really enjoyed meeting the people from Orange County ARCE and from the LA group for studying Egypt (the EEOC). Very nice and very interesting people. He thinks the lectures went okay. This is how we paid for the trip, and they were all very good about helping us get a hotel, get to Disneyland, etc.

Sunday was very nice, a bit of relaxing, etc. And then Monday came.

We met a very nice lady who helped half of us get in for free, and the other half at a discount. We had a great day, doing a ton of fun stuff like Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mtn., Tiki Room, etc., etc. The kids were so good, though they were clearly getting tired. We even went to the California Adventure "World of Color" presentation. It is very cool. Most of us could not see very well for most of it, we eventually got it to where half of the kids could see well. Mom held Jacob the whole time helping him see a little, while Sabrina rode on Dad's shoulders and Dad held Alexia also during the whole thing. Mom and Dad were a bit sore when it was over. While it was an incredible show, no one felt like it was worth the couple of hours of waiting (even though about an hour of that was just Dad by himself while others went on rides) and the missed time doing other things. Good show, but not good enough for that, and not very well thought out as to how little folks can actually see it.

Food had been a bit of a fiasco. We had heard they were a bit tight about letting outside food in, so we brought some snacks, etc., and made it through until dinner time that way. Then we went to buy some food. We felt like everyone needed to get a good meal, so we bought their full on meals, adding to over $60 for the whole family. The price ticket was a bit hard to swallow, but we felt okay about it because we knew the kids were really hungry. Then we opened our meals, and learned that for all that price, we had tiny tiny portions. We spent all that money, and when done eating, the kids were saying they were still hungry. That I didn't like. It turns out they were not that tight on food policy, so the next day we brought enough food for all of us for all day.

We had not been able to get an extra night at the hotel, so that meant that we had to pack everything up that night. Mom and Dad stayed up until 1:30 or 2 am getting everything packed. Then we all got up early the next day and loaded up. We checked out of the hotel, leaving some of our larger luggage stored with them.

We went to Disneyland again, this time getting all but two in for free because we did the "Give a Day, Get a Day" service promotion that Disneyland had done. The process worked well, and soon we were in having fun. Today we did Tomorrowland, Toontown, finished up Fantasyland, and then did a little of whatever we still felt like doing. There were a few glitches along the way, such as getting on rides that broke down, or working hard to get to a ride that broke down just as we got there, etc. But we had a great, great day. We had one stroller with us, but after seeing how tired the youngest three were of walking by the end of day one, we decided to rent a stroller for day two, and I'm glad we did. All in all, our little troopers were great and we had a ton of fun!

By the time we got out, got back to our hotel to claim our old luggage, got a bite for Mom and Dad to eat, and started heading to our new hotel in Bakersfield, it was very late. Dad had only gotten less than five hours of sleep for the last two nights, so he had a hard time driving. The last half hour he had to stop every ten minutes to jog around and wake up enough to feel safe driving. But finally they made it to the new hotel (thank you Marriott Points), and fell into an exhausted sleep.

This time it really may have been too much fun.

Too Much Fun (what's that mean?)

These last few days we did a Mom/BJ/Tashara trip to Hukilau to boogie board, a PCC trip, a Castle Beach trip with friends where the older kids had great boogie boarding and Sabrina freaked out the whole time because she was afraid she might get hurt by a blue bubble. We also had a good time when we went with some friends to Alligator Pond. It was nice, but then we had bad weather, and on of our friends got stung by a blue bubble. It was Kaleb's friend, Brett, and Kaleb was so good at taking care of him.

On Friday we went to Waimea Falls. We took a lot of time going up, taking every side trail we could find, stopping to make tops out of kukui nuts, etc. We also did a few family photos (which is not always the most fun time). We finally made it to the falls. The whole hike is gorgeous like no place else, and the falls are crazy nice. But of course we were all starving by then because we took so long to get up. We did, however, survive, and later had a nice picnic. It is such a beautiful place it just lifts your soul. We were ready to build a big tree house in one of the monkey pod trees and move in, but they wouldn't let us. There was a really nice Laie Kapuna auntie who worked there that made a nice weaving of a family of fish. She made 4 male fish and four female, matching our family. She did it just to be as kind as possible. It was very sweet of her.

Saturday was a day of lazing around for just a while, then cleaning, and a Mom/Dad/Kaleb snorkeling trip, with some of the best snorkeling yet. Then BJ and Tashara did boogie boarding at Hukilau with friends, and then we had a great dinner with our friends the Tuellers. We have also been having fun dinners or lunches with the Schades, Nilsons, and Lanes. It has been wonderful to be with old friends.

Fantastic Week!

This week we did so many things. A quick trip to Hukilau with just Dad and the older three kids brought some great boogie boarding with some decent waves. The whole family did a small trip to Turtle Bay for snorkeling in their little bay. Then, on Friday, we went to Haunauma Bay for a great day of snorkeling. Everyone got into it but the youngest two, who had a great time on the beach. Even Alexia, who had gotten a little nervous last time we tried snorkeling, couldn't help herself when she saw a bunch of fish immediately. Then we couldn't get her to stop. The older two went for ever and ever. We all saw some fish we had never seen before, and felt like we were in another world. Snorkeling is one of the great, peaceful pastimes of the world.

That evening we went over to Ko'Olina harbor, because we had heard that the Black Pearl (the ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie) was in harbor there. We had heard it was by the Marriott hotel, so we went there first. I was just going to check it out so we had a home base (not thinking we would stay, but thinking we would see how that hotel was) and see if they could tell us where the Black Pearl was. But we liked the hotel and the different activities they had for the kids so much that we decided to use some Marriott points to stay there the night. We had thought there was a small chance we might, so while we had not brought a change of clothes, toothbrushes or anything, we had brought pajamas. So we stayed and had a wonderful time. It was so beautiful there.

They had some pools with small hammerhead sharks, another with manta rays, and others with all kinds of fish. They had an activity in their little lagoon where we could feed the fish. They had a lei making activity. And they had fun snorkeling in their little lagoons. We also went to their really cool pools with the waterfalls, slides, etc.

And of course we drove out to see the Black Pearl, did some hiking to get the best view of it, and got close enough that it filled up everything you could see in our binoculars. It was fun. They even shot a cannon while we were there. BJ was way stoked, and we all thought it was fun.

And on Sunday we saw some great fireworks that they shot off at Turtle Bay. It was really a nice show, and we really had a nice time together. For FHE on the 5th of July we did sparklers and little fireworks with all the friends here at the Townhouses. I think we lit about 200 sparklers, and had a great time.

Pearl Harbor and Manoa Falls

So today, as part of BJ doing his US History with us here, we made a trip to Pearl Harbor. The folks there helped us with some educational materials, and we had a great time seeing a number of things there. Sadly, we needed to wait 4 hours before we could get out to the Arizona Memorial.

So, in the meantime we hiked to Manoa Falls. It was a beautiful hike. It was also a very, very muddy hike. Jacob and Sabrina were so excited they led the way and kept going and going and going, way ahead of the rest of us, and we had a hard time keeping up. We saw the gorgeous falls, and loved how the whole place really is a Rain Forest Jungle. But we got totally covered in mud. We cleaned up as best we could, but we were still pretty muddy when we went to the Arizona.

We all had a meaningful experience there. We were very touched by what people have done for us so that we could enjoy our great Freedom. As Dad and Sabrina were in the part where the list the names of the people who died, Sabrina said to Dad "I wish they didn't have to die". She was so sincere, and so saddened that this had happened. It was very touching.

PCC and a good day gone bad.

So we have been going to the PCC and having a ton of fun there. It is such a wonderful place and such a good feeling there.

One day we went boogie boarding at Hukilau beach. The waves were perfect, the kids were really riding them quite well (the older 4). We couldn't believe how well they were doing, they could really ride those things. After a while Julianne helped Sabrina ride a few as well. Then Sabrina was stung by a Jelly Fish in a way we have never seen. The thing wrapped around her leg a few times, and we couldn't get it off. As Julianne took her around looking for someone with Windex or one of the other little remedies to help, Alexia was stung in the same way. We took them all around to a bunch of houses and couldn't find anything that helped them, so Dad loaded them in a wagon and ran home with them and started trying to help them there. It was a nasty bad sting, and they still aren't so sure about going back to the beach, and when we do they always ask if there are any jellyfish (or blue bubbles as they are called here).