Called to Paradise: Christmas 2013 in Hawaii

Christmas 2013 in Hawaii

On December 18th I did my first hula performance with my Hula group. Here I am before the performance when I thought I was only doing one hula to "White Christmas." The instructor said she wanted us (sister Crummett and I) to do all three hulas and just follow along if we didn't know it well enough. So we did all three hulas but the only one I really knew and could have done alone was "White Christmas."

Waiting for the other ladies to come on stage. We were in the back row so people couldn't see if we goofed up anyway. (I am in the middle and Sister Crummett is on the right.)

All ready to begin, I am in the back row right in the center.

After the hula Tracy, James and family went with me on the "Christmas Lagoon" ride. All month we have been sewing costumes for the Christmas Lagoon. These are the Russian Costumes. I did the fur for all of these costumes and made one of the jackets too.

My roommate, Sister Wang, is trying to get the bag of candy open to throw some to my grandchildren.

These are the Germany costumes that we made in the Seamstress department.

I wish I would have taken more pictures. You sit on a large canoe that holds about 30 people and float along the lagoon as the nativity is acted out on shore. There were lots of lights, singing and dancing as they told of Christmas celebrations around the world. Russia, Germany, Africa and Spain were highlighted. Tracy said,"This sure beats going to Temple Square to see the lights and freezing!" The Christmas Lagoon was a really nice event. Over 12,000 people rode the canoes during the 10 nights it was open.

The beach was the favorite spot for James and Tracy's family. Shelby sat and watched the ocean.

Darcy all ready for a swim.

Dallin and Shelby loved the snorkeling. There were lots of colorful fish to watch.

Cody and Darcy even did a little snorkeling. Tracy and James saw a sea turtle while snorkeling.

We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center for the day. Here we are at the Samoan village trying to make fire. The Samoans make it look so easy, but the family found out that it is not easy.

Dallin and Shelby worked very hard at it. I saw a little smoke, but no fire.

Dallin,Cody, James, Tracy,Darcy and Shelby enjoying the warm weather here.

There are some huge and powerful waves this time of year. They just finished the Triple Crown of Surfing here the week before.

There was some interesting plants and trees to see on our hike up to Waimea falls. This is a Cannonball tree. Look at the strange balls on the trunk.

We called this a "Rainbow Tree" it had a big unpronounceable name so that is why we named it. No one painted the trunk, it grows naturally this way.

Notice the water in each petal of this unique flower.

It was a beautiful nature hike.

We finally made it to the falls.

The water at the falls was uncomfortably cold.

Some stayed in longer than others.

I was content to watch and stay warm and dry.

Taking pictures.

They all seemed to have a fun time at the falls.

We went back to the Polynesian Cultural center to visit the villages that we missed the first day. This is the young man that asked me to dance with him at the Fiji Devotional.

At the Tahiti village they picked Tracy out of the audience to model and dance the Tahitian fast hula.

Changing her costume for the dancing.

Tracy did a great job. There were two men that were picked to dance too. When they asked the audience to clap for their favorite, Tracy got the biggest applause.

We saw this beautiful rainbow while at the Dole Pineapple Plantation.

It turned into a double rainbow. Tracy remarked at how we saw rainbows almost every day. I guess that is why they have a rainbow on their license plates.

This picture and several that follow are of the view from Pali Lookout.

We hiked up to see Makapuu Lighthouse. I was amazed that there were so many cactus growing there. I don't think of cactus as the kind of plant that grows in Hawaii.