Oh, Christmas Tree

So this post is mostly for my mom who wanted to see what our tree looked like this year. I have been doing this thing each year where I hand-make everything on the tree. I did it last year and Houston loved it so much that he wanted to do it again this year. We have a few special ornaments but everything else is made by us. We went with an all natural theme this year and this is what we did:

Driftwood Cross

Driftwood Christmas trees

Dangling shells

Driftwood Santas

Dried Oranges. I love the stained glass effect these gave off.

Driftwood Star

As you have probably noticed, we love driftwood. :-) Hey, what can I say? Its free, readily available, and we like the look! We also strung some popcorn, made a bunch of salt dough ornaments, and hung some individual, pretty shells that we stubbled accross. We were going to add some pinecones as well but we never made it to the other side of the island to get some! Overall I really enjoyed the earthy feel of our tree and Houston absolutely loved it. Not a flashy or fancy tree (which I love as well) but it was perfect with the view of the ocean playing as a backdrop.

Celebrating and Surprises!

Whew…Now that the holidays are mostly over, I guess we should update you on how we celebrated.

Thanksgiving was really nice actually. Of course we were bummed that we weren't going to our parents' houses to overeat all their delicious food, but we managed to eat enough food to feed a small country nonetheless. I was super surprised at how many Thanksgiving lunch/dinner invitations we got for Thanksgiving! It really made us feel loved that so many were willing to let us join in with their family during the holidays. I started out my day working while Houston went surfing. Yep, I was jealous! After work/surf we decided to hang out at the beach and get some sun before we overindulged in Thanksgiving goodies. It was such a nice and relaxing time for us to reflect on all the things we are so thankful for! We ended up eating a late lunch LINNER with James' family at a restaurant at The Tavern. It is a super delicious restaurant here on the island. Afterwards we went over to a family's house from church (The Gauthiers) to stretch our stomachs even further. We ended our evening trying to burn off calories with laughter by watching Seinfeld at the Gauthiers. :-)

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving, here are the top ten things we are Thankful for while on Kauai (in no particular order)

1. The Church- as in the body of Christ. We are so blessed to have continued fellowship with people in Florida as well as building new relationships on the island.

2. Work- We are so thankful to have jobs that we enjoy as well as provides our needs and even some wants!

3. Creation- Seriously though, I've said it once before but God really was showing off when he created Kauai! When I think I've seen it all, he puts the ridiculous sunset before us or gives us a spectacular view we haven't seen before!

4. Family- Dang we love our family. We miss family back home but are so grateful for the family we have here too! We are continuously grateful for the love that we feel from you as well as James' family being so willing to take us right just as their own!

5. Technology & Social Media- Yes, we are both thankful for Facebook and Instagram (even if Houston doesn't want to admit it!) We are able to keep in touch with you and see what's going on in your lives …or at least snoop on your page. ;-) The daily texts from some of you are pretty awesome too.

6. Our alarm clock- We are so thankful for the fact that for the most part, the sun gently wakes us up (no, that doesn't mean we sleep in until 9). We have jobs that don't require us to get up before the sun does during this season of our lives and we love it.  I can get used to my alarm not blaring in my ear and having to push snooze 50 times!

7. Fruits & veggies- Being able to go outside and pick oranges, lemons, avocados, grapefruit, and starfruit among other things is just plain awesome.

8. Babies- Yeah babies are amazing and they are everywhere and we are very thankful for the new babies in our lives as well as the ones to come!

9. Visitors- It's been so awesome having people fly here to visit us…hmmm maybe it's just the island they want to see ;-) Either way, a little bit of home is always nice!

10. Health- We haven't gotten so much as the sniffles while here! Maybe it's all this fresh air and perfect weather. ;-)


Houston and I were so Happy that Travis and Jonathan were coming to visit, especially so close to the holidays! James Aunt and Uncle were very generous and are letting us stay in one of their homes on the beach for a couple of months while we have visitors! When I say "on the beach" I mean it! We have been loving the fact that the waves sing us a lullaby while we sleep and we can watch the ocean while showering. So Relaxing!

We had a few days with Jonathan before we picked up Travis. As I am sure you all are aware because of Facebook, Courtney and Nora gave me the best gift ever! They surprised me by flying out to hang out with us! The surprise didn't pan out how Houston wanted but it was certainly effective either way! We were at Costco when Houston got a text from Travis that they had landed early.  We rushed to the airport and had to do a drive-by pick up. As we were loading up Travis' stuff, Courtney came out holding Nora in her arms! I was so surprised and excited to see them both! Houston, Travis and Jonathan spent their time surfing, jumping off cliff and God knows what else. Court, Nora and I were much more laid back and just hung out and enjoyed our time together. I am just so happy we had that time!! Their visit was definitely a remedy for any homesickness we have had!

The Christmas season really is the most wonderful time of the year in my opinion. I LOVE everything about it. The joyous music, over the top decorations and yes, even the cheesy movies. This year was definitly different than we are used to! We usually spend Christmas Eve with my dad and then spend the night at the Brothers' home. Then we wake up at the butt-crack-of-dawn to open presents before we head over to my moms house for more gifts and tons of yummy food. This year was a bit different. We ate too many cookies and watched Elf on Christmas Eve with Jonathan (after I worked). Christmas morning I worked another holiday while Houston and Jonathan surfed (this sounds like a horrible pattern). After my long shift, we headed home to open gifts and hang out on the beach. We later got ready to have another big dinner at The Tavern with James family (I like this aspect of the pattern!) It was really nice because we had a huge table full of people and conversation that reminded me of all of the melodious chatter at my moms house during the holidays. It's only been 6 months and we feel like James' family is ours too (wait…it's ALREADY been 6 months?!?!) It's been different, but sometimes different is perfect…especially when we know that this is where God wants us!

We have really enjoyed celebrating the holidays as well as a couple of surprising (and not-so-surprising) visitors that have come our way. We can't wait to see Bret and Meghann in a few short days!

We love you and miss you,
Happy Holidays

The Brothers

A lesson on Pigeon (the language, not the bird!)

I thought it would be a good idea to share with you about the local language- Pigeon. I guess it's more of a dialect of English, but when you hear a full out Pigeon conversation, you won't have a clue what they are saying! Some of the words are really hard to get used to, but some have been fun to pick up!

I got a lot of these words and definitions from "Ultimate Kauai Guidebook" which I would recommend to anyone coming to the island. It's a very controversial book on the island because it exposes so many places that only locals knew about. We have heard of people busting open windows of rental cars if they see that book laying in the car seat. We have actually even seen busted car windows of some tourists spots. Don't worry, if you visit we can try and arrange for you an old beater car so everyone thnks you live here! :-) Oh yeah, anyways…back to our lesson.

A couple of HAWAIIAN (different than pigeon) words that would be good to know are:
Makai (ma- KIGH)v- toward the Ocean
Mauka (MOW-ka) - toward the sea
You may hear these words when receiving directions from a local. "Foodland is on the Makai side of the highway."

Pau (pow)- Finish; End; Pau Hana means quitting tome for work. "Oh, It's 5 o'clock, I'm Pau!"
Pupu (POO-POO)- Appetizer, snacks or finger food. Why yes, it is pronounced like going to the bathroom. We love going to James' family's house for pupus! If someone asks you if you want a pupu,    "yes" is a great answer in Kauai!
Kama'aina (KA-ma-EYE-na)- long-time Hawaii residents. I'm just throwing this out there in case someone asks you if you're kama'aina (which is highly unlikely). Most places will give you a kama'aina discount even if you aren't a "long-time" resident. If you have a license to prove you live here, you're good!

Now for the pigeon words and phrases:

An' den- and then? so?
Any Kine- Anything; any kind
Ass Right- That's right
Ass why- That's why
Beef- fight
Brah- bruddah; friend; brother
Brok' da mouf- delicious
Buggah- That's the one; it is difficult
Bus laugh- To laugh out loud
Bus nose- How one reacts to a bad smell
Chicken skin kine- something that gives you goose bumps
Choke- Plenty; a lot
Cockaroach- steal; rip off
Da Kine- A noun or verb used in place of whatever the speaker wishes. Heard Constantly!
Fo days- Plenty "He got hair of days!"
Geevum- go for it! give 'em hell!
Grind- to eat
Grinds- food
Haole-  foreigner. This can be anyone who is not local meaning people from the mainland, tourists, or just white people. Mostly used as a tern for a white person.
Haole rash- Sunburn
How you figga?- How do you figure?
Howzit?- How's it going? How are you?
I owe you money or wot?- What to say if someone is staring at you
Mek house- Make yourself at home
Mek plate- Grab some food
Mo' bettah- this is better.
Moke- a large tough local male. ( don't say it unless you like beef!)
No can- cannot; I cannot do it
No mek lidat- stop doing that
No, Yeah?- No, or is "no" correct?
'Okole sqeezer- something that suddenly frightens you ('okole meaning butt)
O wot?- or what?
Poi dog- a mutt
Shahkbait- Shark bait, meaning pale untanned people
Shaka- Great! all right!
Shredding- riding a gnarly wave
Sleepahs- Flip-flops
Stink eye- Dirty looks
Suck Rocks- Buzz off, or pound sand
Talk stink- Repeat bad about somebody
Talk story- shooting the breeze
Tanks eh?- thank you
Tita- a female moke- same beef results
Yeah?- used at the ed of sentences, all the time.

Well there you have it. A few words and their meaning to get you started if (or shall I say when) you come and visit us!

With love,

DA BRUDDAHS

Home Sweet Home

Well, as you probably already know we have landed safely back to Kauai. It was so awesome being in Ocala for a couple of weeks! It was hard to leave. How can you love someone so much and only know them for a week and a half?! Im telling ya, Nora made me believe that "love at first sight" is a real thing! I've always been a sceptic. ;-)

Now that we are home, we are back to normal life in Kauai. Houston and I went back to work the day after we landed and didn't allow jet lag to conquer us! We've only been back for a few days so nothing too exciting is happening quite yet. We did go on a new hike Monday morning and loved it! It's called "The Power-line Trail". It's called that because the main trail basically follows a big power-line. The trail splits off into many different trails so there is lots of exploring to be done. The weirdest thing about it is that there are random cars along the way just rusting and letting nature take over. We probably saw at least ten during our short hike. It was a nice way to start our day.

Other than that, I have started a 7 day juice fast/cleanse. I wanted to do it to clean out my system and teach my body to start craving healthy stuff rather than the junk I am so accustomed to. I am in the middle of day three and it is so hard! I don't know what I was thinking! It wouldn't be so hard if i actually like the taste of the juices but I gag every sip. I'm not letting myself go hungry, just drinking a disgusting healthy juice when I am and filling up my body with nutrients. We will see if I actually stay on the path of eating heathy for long term! Wish me luck!

We love you and miss you all.

The Brothers

Leaving on a jet plane....

I can not believe the time has come! I am so stoked to be flying to Florida! Seriously ya'll, time flies WAY too fast!! I hear it only gets faster as you get older. Darn. I will be boarding the plane to head back home tonight at 10pm (4am) your time and will land about 12 hours later! I seriously hope time will be fast as lightening while on the plane. Unfortunately though, time is rather funny and would rather do the opposite of what you want. I just can't wait to see everyone!!!  It's going to be a baby-filled vacation that's FO SHO! As you all know, I get to (hopefully) welcome home my already beautiful niece, find out the gender of Travis and Molly's baby, and meet Emma Curcio and drown her with kisses (as long as she hasn't recently spit up. ;-) hehe) So.Much.Fun. There are lots of bellies to rub and fun times to be had and I can't wait!

Love,
Brittany

Bombarded

So yesterday I was bombarded with texts all at once from a lot of you for me to update the blog. I know, I know, I've been slacking but sometimes I don't know what to write about!

Let's see.... We did go to a party the other day. It was at the home at Slippery Falls. They are remodeling the home so one of our friends has to move out and he had a bunch of people over for one last hoorah. We had a good time and he even got a fire dancer to perform for us in the middle of the water but we missed you guys a lot. There was like at least 50 people and we were just lost in a sea of strangers! There were a handful of faces that we felt comfortable with but I definitely missed the feeling of knowing everyone in the room. We played some ice breaker game while there and that really helped. We got to talk with Bethany Hamilton (don't know her new last name) and her husband which was really cool. They are super nice people. It's good for us to force ourselves to branch out and meet new people because we are both a bit uncomfortable with it!

Some updates I put on Facebook, like the fact that I am volunteering at an elementary school near us. I just really missed being with kids and the satisfaction of knowing that I am making a difference! I volunteer two days a week at Hanalei School tutoring some kids in the library that are behind academically. I am really enjoying my time there. It will also help out if we decide to stay for another year so they will know my face when I apply for a job!

Houston has started chief men back up again. It is definitely a bit harder when you are thousands of miles away and there is a six hour time difference. He makes it work though! We rush home from church so Houston can make it in time to FaceTime the class. It works out well since we are home by 11. The only bad thing is, we aren't able to stick around for the pot luck and fellowship after every service. Houston and I just did an assignment for chief men where he had to record himself baptising three times. The rest of the guys did it in the baptistery at church but obviously Houston couldn't make it. We decided that since our church doesn't have a baptistery, we would have to do it Hawaii style. We went to the river behind our house and did one there, one at slippery falls and one in the ocean at Queens bath at sunset. Queens Bath is by far our favorite sunset spot and it is only 5 minutes away! That was an assignment where we had a lot of fun! One bad thing about being on the island and having to do book reports is that there is not a single book store on the entire island and the library in our town has a limited selection! The only way to buy book around here is to go to Costco (which has an even smaller selection) or order it off of the Internet. Hawaii is kind of out in the middle of no where so sometimes things take FOREVER to get here! I'm sure he will survive and have another great year in Chief despite some of the obstacles!

I can't really think of too much more to tell you about. We are working, enjoying the beach and going to church a lot. We miss you all and I cant wait to be there to see you! I can't believe its only 10 more days!!! Crazy! I'll be able to be there to find out the gender of Travis and Molly's baby and hopefully see my first niece be born! What a fun and baby-filled vacation! I am beyond excited! Maybe I will go ahead and pack now... ;-)


Much love,
The Brothers

2 weeks

I know...It has been a while! We have been pretty busy these past couple of weeks. James had a friend come visit from New York last week so we were doing a lot with him. Houston and James have had a lot of work come their way so when they are not playing, they're working!

Here are some things we did the past couple of weeks:

*Sunset surf session. This is something we always do when someone comes to visit. This experience is like none other. Even if you can't surf, its just awesome being on the board surrounded by mountains and a colorful sky!

*Got invited to a dinner with a private chef at one of Julia Robert's homes. We were served a delicious meal and had awesome company. The purple mashed sweet potatoes and mini key lime pies were the yummiest parts. 

*Went exploring in a No Trespassing area. Yeah we are risk takers. ;-) We ran into a large waterfall and really little one (but a beautiful area). We also found a swimming hole and some cool views. 

*Houston went on a camping/hiking trip with James and his friend Drew for a night. They had a blast. They saw beautiful sights (as usual) and were able to jump off do back flips off waterfalls. Houston showed me some pictures of his trip. The night sky was amazing! I was a bit jealous but I ended up staying home and eating junk food, browsing Pinterest and watching two chick flicks until 12:30am. I made the most of my evening alone. :-) 

*House/Dog sat for James' aunt and uncle for a couple of nights. It was so much fun being with the dogs and being able to have a place of our own for a couple of nights! We felt like we were on vacation...and their house is only two houses down from ours! 

*Houston carves a fish out of a log...with a chainsaw. A visiting family member of James came over and taught Houston, Drew and James how to carve a fish out of wood with a chainsaw and a few other smaller tools. The guy has been doing it for a living for more than 30 years. They all had a good time and were clearly impressed with themselves...as was I! Look at that fish! 

* We went to Slippery Falls. This place is so much fun! It is a waterfall with a slide and rope swing. The slide was made into the rocks for an old movie called South Pacific. The slide was super fun...the rope swing...not so much! It.Is.So.High. I almost died. It took me a minute to actually get up the courage to do and and once I did, I was so concerned about letting go at the right time that I didn't think about how to land. I basically did a belly flop...on my back. OUCH! It knocked the wind right out of me but I got over it quickly with the guys acting a fool and making me laugh. :-) We totally ignored the fact that it was raining and cold because we were having a blast! The only way you can get to Slippery Falls is if you know someone who lives at the house (it on a private property) or sneak in at night. Luckily we got in because of the former. We have a friend who will be living there for a couple more weeks before they start renovating so we need to take advantage of it a few more times while he's there!  I actually like the fact that it's closed off to the public because we were the only ones there! Sorry about the poor picture quality. James has more on his computer and I can post the when I get them from him. Here's some people sliding down the slide on youtube if you want to see what it's like! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwGi8yYPIcc

That's all the exciting things I can think of at the moment. It's kind of been a blur! Love you and miss you!

The Brothers

Church

We have really been enjoying our church, North Shore Christian Church (The Tent Church). We have been faithful every Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights....hey, they serve delicious food at every gathering so how could we not be?! ;-) The people are very friendly and we feel comfortable being there. The church has about 100 people on any given Sunday and there are about 10-15 young adults go to the bible study on Wednesday. During our bible study, we talk about what Kahu (pastor) Steve preached about on Sunday, much like small groups at One Life. We are really loving it. There are a few young married couples in the small group and the rest are young, single adults. We have made lots of friends but definitely miss the ones we have back home!

The direction of the church seems to be looking quite exciting. From what we have heard, the leaders and church were kind of in a rut a few years ago. They weren't really reaching out...just doing their thing on Sunday. Well, we had dinner with the Youth Pastor/Assistant Pastor and his wife and they were just so on fire for God and making a change. It was so awesome to hear. The church is making steps to be more outward focused and reach out on the people of Kauai. I am very excited to see what kind of ministry opportunities we can be a part of.

Reaching out to people on Kauai can be quite difficult. Being a Christian isn't as common here as it is back in Ocala. Typically people are either super spiritual (in a yoga loving, tree hugging, Buddah worshipping kind of way) or don't care about life or the meaning of it and smoke a lot of weed among other things that feed the flesh. it would be pretty typical to be driving down the road behind some sort of work truck and smell weed coming from the driver while he is on duty. When it comes to teenagers on the island, drugs are an obvious problem as well as gang-type issues and many of the girls get pregnant before they graduate. I work with a guy and he's been to jail several times, has 3 kids and a couple of grandchildren ...and he's only 31! All that to say, people here desperately need God but are very difficult to reach. That's why we have to be the different in their life!

You can be praying for us to continue to make relationships that edify Christ with the people in the church as well as people outside. Why else are we here right? Can't just be a year long vacation! :-)

With love,
Houston and Brittany

Blessings: work and food

We haven't been on any adventures lately because God has definitely blessed us with a lot of work this week. Houston was asked to build an outdoor shower cover for one of James' aunt's properties. It turned out really great! She was super happy with it.

                                     

Doesn't it look awesome?!?

He was also able to pick up a side job to help out a guy doing lawn work, deliver some materials for someone and mow a couple lawns for Paradise Lawn care.  Houston and James finally got their trailer and a smaller lawn mower so they can get more work done!

                                                 

Just this week he was able to make probably twice as much as I have made the whole time at my job. I am thinking about quitting and joining forces with Houston doing side work! ;-) Not really but it is tempting! It was just really awesome to see God provide for us and still allow us to have some time to go to the beach and enjoy the island!

So, being in Hawaii has made us open our minds to new things a bit. This is a time to change and stretch ourselves. We decided that we needed to branch out with food a bit. We are eating more organic things and planting a garden but recently we gave ourselves a food challenge. This challenge came about when James' cousin Hali was in town and cooked a few meals for dinner. It seemed like every one of her meals had a food that we have never even heard of before. We decided that we needed to branch out a bit and try new foods. Our challenge is to try at least one food a week that we have never eaten or even heard of in some cases. I LOVE trying new foods....Houston not so much.... but he was so up for the challenge. The challenge is helping Houston branch out and try new foods but it is also helping me learn how to cook new foods and have a more versatile menu.  Some items on the list I have tried before but maybe have never cooked. It is SO MUCH FUN! Even Houston is getting all into it and pointing out crazy veggies that he wants to try. So far we have tried leeks, quinoa and kabocha (japanese pumpkin). We like all of them! Houston is even branching out with regular foods. I made some healthy gumbo-type stuff (picture below) and he ate it and liked it! Ya'll, this stuff has tomatoes, green peppers and onions among other things! Im telling you, back in Ocala he would have stuck up his nose to this! I am writing so much about food because this is a pretty big step for us!

Our garden is also doing pretty well. We are learning a lot about gardening and the fact that it takes work and time but it is so worth it to have food that you know where it is coming from! In Hawaii there is big controversy about GMO foods. Most people are so against it and even try to pass laws where all foods should be labeled if they are GMO or not. There isn't a ton of exposure about GMO on the mainland, but here people talk about it often. You should look it up if you aren interested in how our food is being genetically modified. :-) Anyways, we are loving having a garden and we just picked our first veggies today!

Look at those yummy squash! Well, a couple of them weren't so yummy. They had maggots in them.  :-( It's okay though because this whole garden thing is a learning process! We will eat a few of the squash and keep a closer eye on the ones that are still growing. Right now we have a cucumber, squash and some beans that are waiting to be picked. Its pretty exciting! I really find gardening something I can totally get into. It's just amazing to see life sprout from tiny seeds!

Wish you were here,

The Brothers

Naked Guy and more Hiking

Well Mason is out of the house now. It's a little weird to be honest. We just so used to having him around and always doing stuff with us!

We wore him out a bit the day he had his flight. His flight was taking off at 7pm so we decided to have one last adventure. Mason, Houston, Travis (ha! sounds like the Brothers) and I snorkeled for about 45 minutes to an hour from Ke'e beach to get to Hanakapi'ai beach. On our way we were able to see some reef, lots of beautiful scenery from the mountain, caves, turtles and...a butt naked man. Yeah. James said we would get used to seeing naked people while we are here. We got tired at one point from the swim so we decided to pull over onto the beach. Well, there was this butt naked dude standing facing the mountain with his hands in the air....probably worshipping some mountain god or something. Once we saw him, the whole pulling over idea sounded more like an awkward situation than a good idea....so we kept snorkeling on along to another section of the beach. We finally pull over and do a bit of looking around and Naked Guy come walking right towards us.  Unfortunately each of us got a good look at EVERYTHING as he walked past us. We didn't realize it, but our destination was super close so we decided to walk the beach instead of snorkel the rest of the way. We figured we would run into Naked Man again but we did not expect to see him laying on his back in the sand and doing kicking motions with his legs. It looked like he was riding a bicycle while laying down. Seriously? SO AWKWARD, but funny too.  We just avoided eye contact and made our way to Hanakapi'ai. We rested a bit on some warm rocks before we started the two mile hike back....barefoot. Yep...no shoes. On our way, tourists graced us with funny looks as well as "Way to go" or "You guys are tough." I thought it was a perfect last day for Mason. Naked Guy and all. :-)

Before we set out! 

This is where we saw Naked Guy. Sorry, no pictures of him! ;-)

On our barefoot hike back.

To cope with missing Mason, we had a cookout on the beach with some of James family and family friends, We made hot dogs and campfire bananas. The bananas were so awesome! We just cut the banana in half, loaded it with goodies (chocolate chips, marshmallows, peanut butter, cinnamon, and/or honey), wrapped it in foil and stuck it in the coals. DELISH. One of the family friends plays the banjo so we were entertained by his lovely music and singing while being warmed by the fire and starring at the stars. I thought being at the blueberry farm at night was the best place for the stars but they turn it up a notch over here. You can easily see the Milky Way pretty much every night and from probably anywhere on the island. It really makes you think about the vastness of God and get all deep thinking and stuff. :-) Its good to do that sometimes...to realize our creator is way bigger than us and our little problems. He's got it under control.

Friday night Houston and I went away for a couple of days to stay in a cabin in the mountains on the South side. Originally it was supposed to be a group of us, but people bailed and we weren't allowed to get our money back so Houston and I went alone. It was nice to have our own house for a bit. Our house has just been so busy for the past month and a half! It's always Houston, James, Nevin and I but we have had Mason there for a month and also James' cousin there for three weeks (most of the time overlapping with Mason). That's quite a bit of people in one house! Anyways, Houston and I stayed in some crappy little cabin but it was lots of fun. We had no service, no internet, no TV so we played cards and read and did a lot of hiking. We hiked the Canyon Trail to Waipo'o Falls. This was easily one my favorite hikes thus far. The views of the canyon were UNREAL! Pictures and video do nothing compared to actually being there. There was also a small waterfall and anther large one at the end of our hike. We stayed at the end of the trail to eat a snack while enjoying the view and sounds of mountain goats and waterfalls for about an hour. It was so amazing!

Aloha,
The Brothers

hiking, surfing, camping

Well, I've heard from a few of you that I am taking too long to write on the blog so I made myself post tonight. :-)

This past Friday night we (Me, Houston, Mason, James, Travis <-friend, Hali<-James' cousin) went camping on the south side of the island. It takes about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get there but it is so worth it! I love going to the south side because it feels like you are in Tennessee or something with a view of the ocean added. We went to the beach right when we got to the south side and watched James, Hali and Travis surf. I had to work so we got there pretty late and didn't want to start surfing. When they were done showing off their skills, we headed up the mountain to a camping area called Kokee. It is a nice camping spot with bathrooms and all. We wanted to rough it up a bit so James decided to go down a road that only a 4 wheel drive truck could handle to see if there were any spots to camp. After a bit of a drive, a few million bumps and some mud flinging, we found a spot to pitch our tent. We got a fire going, talked, ate too much junk and made Oreo S'mores to top it off. Yep.... Oreo. The bomb! :-) After doing the typical camping stuff we hit the sack.

When morning rolled around after a long sleepless night, we woke up and went to The Lodge for breakfast. It is a restaurant that is on the Kokee camping ground. We got fueled up and went on our hike. I can't remember the name of the spot we hiked, but it is at the very top of the mountain. When I say top, I mean it! We were like seriously in the clouds. It was pretty awesome. Some of the trail looked like one of those scenes from a spooky movie where you look down the road and it's all foggy and creepy. Despite the fact that the clouds blocked a lot of the views, we still managed to see some beautiful scenery and have a fun hike. The hike was SO muddy. We were slipping all over the place and laughing hysterically when Houston was the first to slip and fall. The trail went on forever but we didn't. The beach was calling our names so we had to listen to it's beckoning and head out. I surfed for a short amount of time and everyone else caught a lot of waves. My arms just don't have enough strength to surf for a decent amount of time yet. I have to keep practicing and get into shape! We headed home after the beach and went to bed pretty early. We were worn out but it was a great day!

We were pretty much this dirty all over!

Every first Saturday of the month Hanalei has a board swap. Basically a bunch of people go with their boards and trade their board for another board or just sell it. We got a new surfboard and I am totally stoked! The board is so huge! It's a nine foot long board and it is apparently really fun to ride. We got a great deal on it too! It is probably better for Houston because he is so tall but I can't wait to try it out as well.

Houston and James are doing a few more lawns thanks to the connection with James' aunt. They are still waiting on a trailer so they can really advertise and brach out. Everything takes FOREVER in Kauai!!! We will be patient and know that God provides (that was the sermon was about this morning too!) They did get their first check from a customer today! They were pretty excited! :-)

Guess that's it for now! Love you all!

Love,
The Brothers

Hau`oli Lā Hānau to me!

Despite the fact that all of my friends and family weren't around, I had a fantastic birthday!

We woke up and went to breakfast at The Common Ground. Its a local spot that grows pretty much everything that they serve in their restaurant. We enjoyed our acai pancakes and bacon, egg, and cheese bagel then set off to go hiking on the Okolehao Trail.

The hike was super fun! We probably hiked about 2 miles up (and when I say "up", I mean it!) We were greeted by pretty flowers, tall trees and jaw-dropping views. Houston was in a silly mood and was doing a great job at distracting Mason and I from the burn in our thighs as we climbed the hills. We had a blast.

We went Rock Quarry (a beach) after hiking and I laid out while the guys got in the water. I was hoping to surf a bit some but the Summer-time waves are just so small. Some days a good swell will come in, otherwise it's like Daytona waves...almost non existent.
After getting sunburnt, we got some tacos at Pacos Tacos and I got an organic shave ice for dessert. Organic coconut/blueberry shave ice= dancing taste buds. Delish!

We were really tired after all that so we ...uhh....I took a nap for about 45 minutes.

For our last adventure, we set out to a place called Queen's Bath. I wish I would have taken better pictures of it but basically it is a place that has a bunch of natural "pools" made from lava rock. There is one pool that is called Queens Bath but we went further down the lava rock to get to a more secluded area. It is not packed with people at all, it's just easy to find a spot where you don't see a single person. We snorkeled a bit in a pool and a honu (turtle) wished me "Happy Birthday." :-) We enjoyed the sunset on the warm rocks after our snorkel an thanked God for giving us such a beautiful place and awesome day.

We were hungry after all that so we made breakfast for dinner while listening to some Jack Johnson.  Houston made me feel special with a chocolate chip banana pan"cake." So yummy!

Doesn't that just sound like a fantastic birthday?!?! I seriously had a blast and felt so blessed. God allowed the day to go so much better than I had even planned. He timed the gentle rain perfectly for our hike to cool us off and turned the sun on bright when we got to the beach. He even allowed for an unplanned nap so that I would feel refreshed while watching the sun go down.

SO. PERFECT

The only thing that would have made it better would be having all of you with me to experience this day!


Love you and miss you,
Houston and Brittany

Working Hard but Playing Harder

Well, we have certainly been busy lately!

I have been at my job now for about a week (working 4 of those days) and I really like it. I am catching on pretty quickly and I like all of my co-workers that I have been scheduled with. Just for you to have a bit of a background on where I work, the Prince Golf Course is one of America's Top 100 golf courses. Apparently that's a pretty big deal in the golf world. There have been many famous people to walk through the doors and people aren't shy when it comes to spending money. It's not uncommon to see people drop a grand or so on golf shirts at the shop. I work in the gift shop selling retail, but I also do all of the booking of tee times and getting people out on the course on time among other things. Knowing all of the pricing and package deals as well as learning the jargon has been the biggest challenge for me. I seriously couldn't tell you what a driver was until today...I still am not confident that I could pick you out one! I like the challenge of it all and am enjoying my time there.

Last Sunday one of the School Board members of the Christian school I'd like to work for got up to speak for a bit about the school. Apparently they are going through financial issues and tastefully asked for money and prayers. I don't know how promising it sounds that I would even be considered for the job or if there is even a spot. Enrollment is down and I still haven't heard back from anyone. I am not worried or won't be disappointed in any way if I don't get that job. I know God will provide. I would like to ask for your prayers though for Houston and James' lawn business...Paradise Lawn Care. So far everything is working out fine to be licensed and they are in the process of ordering more equipment but the hard part is getting accounts. They haven't tried to get accounts because they don't have everything they need quite yet but it's still something they are trusting God with. We would just like enough to pay for our bills, an occasional date night, and enough money to help entertain our guests. ;-)

We have had a lot of fun with Mason so far. I can't believe he has been here for a week!! Time really does fly when you are having fun! So far he has enjoyed a cookout on the beach during sunset, a swim at Turtle Cove, an insanely fun day boogie boarding, and surfing at sunset. We've done a few other fun things but those are the big things. Don't worry, we have put his muscles to work on our garden as well. No free stay when you visit us! :-) We still have a few more adventures up our sleeve before he goes home so I'll try to post pictures or at least tell you about them.

Turtle Cove was a blast as always.

Going to Hanalei Bay and surfing at sunset was seriously so awesome. We had to paddle out super far to go where the reef break was but it was totally worth it. The waves weren't the greatest that day but the view and the sunset was oh so gorgeous! God really decided to spoil us and throw in a rainbow a little before the sun set. Houston caught the rainbow as it was fading away in this shot. It was so fun. Mason did a great job on his first time surfing as well! I hope to do it again in the near future but it's going to take my arms a good week to recoup from that paddle!

We miss you and love you all!

Aloha,

The Brothers