Credit where credit is due....

All right. So it has been over 2 months since I left a post on my blog. I thought it was time to give some credit where it is due.

Most of you know that I am a pretty conservative Republican, with my views being heavily influenced by my deep religious beliefs and some personal Libertarian view points. I think it would be reasonable to say that a person with strong Mormon beliefs who votes Republican and has some Libertarian leanings is not very likely to give good marks to President Obama. But I feel that in order to be honest, I need to say that in at least one area I am very pleased with some recent actions of the President.

As you all know, recently the ship Maersk Alabama was assaulted by pirates in the Indian Ocean. The under-armed crew fought back and disabled the functionality of the ship before surrendering to the pirates. The captain of the ship, Richard Phillips, offered to go with the pirates to their ship to free his crew. The pirates took the captain as hostage and went to their ship, freeing the Captain's crew to receive the aid they needed.

The pirates made a dash for land but were intercepted before they were able to reach land by US Navy Ships. As negotiations for the safe release of Captain Phillips continued on, President "Obama said yes to a Pentagon request for standing authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain". (source). (Of course, nobody outside the appropriate people knew this authority had been given at the time).

As negotiations faltered, the local military authority felt that the captain's life was in jeopardy and approved 3 simultaneous shots which killed 3 of the 4 pirates. (I believe the 3 killed pirates were pointing their weapons at the captain, and the 4th was on the phone doing the negotiations).

Bravo the the bravery of the ship's captain who willingly made himself a hostage, and put himself in harms way, to provide for the safety of others.

Bravo for the skill of the Navy Seals who complied with their orders and were thus able to help return an American home safely. I believe some news reports said the the seas were choppy and getting worse, but the marksmen did their job flawlessly.

Bravo for the guts of the local military authority who made the call to rescue the captain.

And a GIANT BRAVO for President Obama and his willingness to give standing authority to the military to save the life of the captain.

I do not believe in President Obama's economic policies. I do not believe that President Obama has the experience necessary to lead this country to safety in these trying times (either economically or against the terrorist threat we have been under for the last decade). But today I have much more confidence in a President who was willing to give his military commanders standing authority in a grave situation to save the life the that ship's captain. The potential "political" fallout would have been very severe for President Obama if the rescue had failed and the captain had lost his life. But, in my opinion the President evaluated the situation at hand and made the correct call, the "right" call, the "just" call. This gives me more hope for the future.

Don't expect me to agree with everything President Obama proposes. Do expect me to give him credit as he makes the tough decisions in a way that I can support.

Dave

Hawaii Photo Album

By far the most feed back I have received has been from the photos from Hawaii we posted. I have uploaded all of the photos from Sue's camera to a site that you can review. All you have to do is click on this link and you can see all 75 photos from this year's trip.

There are additional flower photos from Sue, some additional whale watching photos, and some more photos of the trip to Haleakala as well as other interesting (at least to me) shots.

I hope you have as much fun looking at the photos as we had taking them!

Dave

Change. (And I'm not talking about nickels and dimes).

I am, I think, at a point of significant change in my life. So, today being Sunday, I have spent some time thinking about "change" and the significance it has.

First: a warning. This will be a pretty weird post by me. Feel free to skip it. If you decide to disregard this warning and read it, you will end up with a view into my thoughts and musings, and that can be pretty scary!

I do some pretty weird things when I am considering some of my feelings. Sometimes I like to Google the subject and while doing this tonight I came up with a couple of interesting (to me) observations.

The first is a Wikipedia entry about Greek philosopher named Heraclitus. I think that everyone is acquainted with the saying that "There is nothing as constant as change". I guess that Heraclitus is the person credited with originally coming up with that saying. According to Wikipedia he actually said "Nothing endures but change", but it has also been translated as "There is nothing permanent except change" or "The only constant is change".

The second is a quote by an unknown person. I looked and looked for the author but was never able to find who originally said it. There were lots of websites that made reference to the quote, but when it was attributed, it was always "Author Unknown". The quote is: "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies". I thought that was pretty profound.

There are several things that have caused me to think about change today. Jason may or may not be looking to change his employment in the next month or so. Dan & Janelle and their family will be leaving us in about 2 months to live for 4 months in Gary, Indiana as he tries his hand at selling security systems. Matt & Kathie and their family are considering (as I understand it, no decision has been made YET) going with Dan & Janelle. And today I was released as the membership clerk in the YSA Ward that I have served in for the last 3.5 years.

The last change I mentioned has probably made me look at hardest at the changes occurring in my life. I served for about 1.5 years as the financial clerk to Bishop Woolley. I then served almost 9 years as a clerk in the Stake, first as financial clerk and then as Stake Computer Specialist. I had a year away from clerking, serving as the 2nd assistant in the Ward High Priest Group leadership, and then I received the call that I was released from today. So I can say that for pretty much 14 of the last 15 years I have been serving as a clerk.

I don't anticipate serving soon again in a clerking capacity (of course, nobody knows Heavenly Father's plans for them). I do want to serve where the Lord wants me to serve, but the last 3 months were pretty hard for me. I feel like I did not finish the race at a full sprint, but that I barely stumbled across the finish line. I was burnt out from being a clerk. I am embarrassed to say that. I feel like I did not "magnify" the calling for the last 3 months. I've known Bishop Arnell for probably 18 years and I felt that I let him down, too.

I am excited about the new Bishop. It is my best friend, Tom. He struggled a bit as the Spirit whispered to him that he would receive this call, but was able to put his trust in the Lord and is now looking forward to serving in this capacity.

So, as this is a season of change for me, maybe I can turn this into a positive and serve valiantly. If I had my choice, I would like to teach a youth Sunday School class, so that I could attend High Priest group meeting during priesthood time. But I will serve where Bishop Rascon and his counselors feel impressed to call me to serve.

Maybe I can also do some work on getting into better shape, losing some weight, and being a better grandpa, father, husband and person.

And maybe, just maybe, when you read this blog a year from now, you will see the change that started today was the beginning of my metamorphosis!

Whale Pictures!

While I have not received any comments on the last few postings, I am continuing to post because it serves as sort of a journal.

We went on a whale watch cruise yesterday. We chose the sunset cruise, which left at around 3:45 pm and got back to the harbor shortly before six. (The sun sets around 6:20 here in the Islands at this time of the year). While on the cruise Sue took a ton of pics and we were able to get some of the whales. We spent the entire cruise circling a mother whale, her baby, and the male escort. All of the pics you see here are the baby. Thanks to Sue's 10 megapixel camera we were able to crop some of the photos down enough so that you can see the whale close-up.

Sue and I are having an argument right now. She says that since she took the pictures she should get to post them. I say that since I brought the laptop to Hawaii and manipulated the photos I get to post them. After a knock-down confrontation, we agreed that I would post 3 and she would post the best 2. So here are the 3 that I get to post - you will have to go to Sue's blog to see the other 2.

Here is the baby whale, breaching out of the water.


This baby (they tell us he was male) was funny. He liked to poke his head up with his mouth open. We didn't get any shots with his mouth opening, but here is one with him poking his head out of the ocean. If you look closely, you can see the 2 holes that form his blow-hole.


This is the baby popping up away from us.


We spent the entire cruise circling this trio of whales and really enjoyed it. It would have been a little nicer if we had left them after about 1/2 the cruise and gone in search of a competition pod, but all in all we really enjoyed the cruise.

The company we went out with, Ultimate Whale Watch, is the same company we went with last year. We have gone out with 4-6 different companies, but I like this company best. We are in a 24 passenger zodiac boat that has a steel bottom. The buoyancy of the boat comes from the air-filled tubes that I sit on. There are also chairs (bench seats) for about 10-12 people, but I prefer to sit on the side. We are scheduled to go with them again on Monday and I will try to get Sue to take a photo of the "Wiki Wahine" (which in Hawaiian means "fast woman"). In the meantime, this image is from their home page:



Aloha!

Hawaiian Weather

I love Hawaii. I love being on an Island. I love the green plants that live everywhere. I love the lava rocks. I love the ocean. I love driving a convertible. I love being warm all the time. I love knowing Maui well enough that I don't have to refer to maps to determine where to go.

But, just as the rose has thorns, so too Hawaii has something to remind you that beauty must pay a price. In my opinion, it is the weather.

In my prior post I mentioned that we drove to the top of Haleakala and really enjoyed the day. That was Monday. When we left Kihei the temperature was 82 degrees. When we reached the summit it had dropped to 56 degrees. This I believe is a normal range for going from sea level to 10,023 feet above sea level. However, as we started down the mountain, the clouds rolled in.

Tuesday it rained all day. We were prepared for rain and spent most of the day in Ka'anapali. We had lunch at Leilani's and also did some shopping. We had a great dinner at Roy's in Kihei and made arrangements to meet at Stella Blue's for breakfast on Wednesday, dressed in swimming suits because we were going to hit the beach.

You guessed it. It rained all day on Wednesday. We hit Stella Blue's for breakfast, in our swimsuits, but went back to the condos and changed into regular clothes. We then spent some more time in Lahaina, doing some shopping, and went to dinner at Kimo's. While in Lahaina Sue found some ocean glass that she bought for a very reasonable price. She got a piece for her necklace, and a set of earrings. Here are some photos from Kimo's:

Tom & Lani


Wally & Beth


Sue & I


We made arrangements to meet at Mekena Beach today (Thursday). Each couple rented a beach umbrella and 2 lounge chairs (cost per couple: $35/day) and had a great morning at the beach. We went to lunch at the pool area at the Maui Prince hotel, which is right on Makena Beach. While we were at lunch the winds came up and blew a bunch of clouds in, so we lost the sun! We spent a couple more hours at the beach but it was frustrating to me because we lost the sun again! I'm sure that tomorrow will be better.

We have a whale watch scheduled tomorrow with Ultimate Whale Watch out of Lahaina. It is a late afternoon trip, and we will get back to the harbor at dusk. We went out with them last year and really liked it. They have a zodiac boat that holds about 20 people and gets you close to the water. We are really looking forward to it. We are also scheduled to go with them again on Monday.

Aloha!

Vacation!

It's VACATION time!

Every year since 1995 (except for 2) we have taken a trip to Hawaii with our good friends Tom & Lani. Some of the years we have also had the pleasure of Wally & Beth's company. For 2009, it is all 6 of us and that time has arrived!

Sue and I flew to Hawaii last Saturday (the 24th). Tom & Lani flew in this afternoon (Monday), and Wally & Beth flew in tonight. We had dinner with Tom & Lani at Fred's Mexican Cantina but we have not yet seen Wally & Beth.

We have a few simple rules on our vacations. Each couple gets their own condo and car. We usually decide where we are going to eat our next meal at the time of the current meal. If a couple decides they don't want to do what the group wants to do they have the time to themselves and nobodies feelings are hurt. We also try to limit the amount of time that we talk about our families so that we focus on spending time together.

With the fact that we were on our own today, Sue and I decided to drive to the top of Haleakala. Haleakala is in impressive part of the island of Maui. Maui is called "The Valley Isle" because it is basically 2 large mountains (extinct/dormant volcanos) with a valley between them. The island can be thought of as the west side (where Lahaina and Kaanapali and Kapalua are located) and the south side (where Kihei and Waimea and Makena are located). Haleakala makes up the southern portion of the island, and rises from the sea to a summit that is 10,023 feet above sea level. Starting in Kihei, where we stay, it is a nice day's activity to drive 37 miles to the summit of Mount Haleakala. It is a real curvy road with lots of blind turns and steep dropoffs.

We were lucky (or blessed) in that the mountain on the drive up was cloud-free and we could see all the way down. We could see the port of Kahului and we could see Maalaea Bay and lots of other interesting views. On the way down the clouds drew in and we could not see anything.

Here are some photos we have taken to this point on our vacation:

1) Sue works for Worldmark. Every day at work, above her desk, is a poster of the swimming pool at the Worldmark location in Kihei. Sue decided to do her pose of the girl in the poster, but in her normal clothes and not her swimsuit. She then shared it with her boss and coworkers to prove to them that this is where she is staying!



2) Me at breakfast Sunday morning at Stella Blue's restaurant. The place is named after a song performed by the Grateful Dead. I think I am already looking pretty relaxed!



3) My sweetheart at breakfast. Looking good, Sue!



4) Sue, with the city of Kahului behind her. I think we are at about 7500 feet above sea level where this photo was taken.



5) Me, at the same location, but with Kihei and Maalaea Bay in the background.



6) Me, in our rental car. It is so fun to drive a convertible that we pretty much always try to rent one.



7) The first time we came to Hawaii was probably in 1991 or 1992. As we got off the airplane in Honolulu we were amazed at the tropical setting and the flowers that are ALWAYS blooming. On this trip Sue wanted to get some photos of the different flowers to share with the friends back home. Here are the first few she took:











We are really pleased with the photos and how they turned out. These were taken with the camera that Sue bought right after Christmas from an infomercial on TV. It has been fun.

Please leave any comments if you want more info on the Hawaiian activities!

Dave

Time

Where does it go?

I just can't believe it has been over a month since my last post. We are already 2 weeks into the new year, and in 10 days Sue and I will be leaving for our annual trip to Hawaii.

It seems incredible to me that time goes by so quickly. As a young boy, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas took FOREVER to pass. Now, as a grandpa, it feels like you have Thanksgiving dinner, then go to the family room to open Christmas presents.

I have discovered that at least one thing, however, can make time seem to stand still. That thing is missing someone. Right now Sue and I have just passed the first week of 4 weeks without Janelle, Bailee, or Afton. Yes, Janelle stole our two precious granddaughters from us and went to visit her sister and family in Boston. (Can you imagine she would be so mean?) They are going to be gone for almost three weeks, but get back 2 days after we leave for Hawaii. So, while I am looking forward to spending 11 days in Hawaii, I'm also already looking forward to coming home so I can see them again.

And for those of you who know me, that is a MAJOR change to how I view our annual Hawaii vacation!