Memorial Day Hike - Manoa Falls

It was all agreed that we wanted to do a hike for Memorial Day, but which hike. It took us a while, but we finally decided on Manoa Falls. It was a hike we hadn't done before. It was good workout, and pretty scenery too, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Here we are, ready to leave. I should have taken a picture after because our shoes were all muddy.

And we're off.

The start of the hike.

There was a stream alongside of us.

Crossing the bridge.

Isn't it gorgeous.

Here's where the real hike began. What made it hard was not only going uphill, but the trail was wet and muddy.

After a good 45 mins, we made it to the falls. Access to the falls was blocked off because huge rocks falling a few years back. Some people didn't care and went in for a swim anyway. Boy was it hot and humid. I'm sure it felt good to be in that water.

Trying to pose amidst many tourists and hikers.

There we go. I wished we had been brave and just asked someone to take a picture so that Randy could have been in it as well.

The hike down was harder, trying not to slip.

There go Micah and Kara.

I swear I am NOT picking my nose. I'm rubbing it because it was itchy. . . REALLY! LOL!

As you can see, we did have a casualty coming down.

Green everywhere.

Picture time. In case you're wondering, the younger two went off ahead of us. As you can see, we were very concerned.

Back to the bridge.

Last pose. We were all tired!

I had to put this one in of Micah.

Trying to wash off what mud and dirt we could. Good thing we had water.

Well, since we were in Manoa Valley, we had to have lunch at the Manapua Factory. Very ono!

We had a fun day. We all went home with heat exhaustion . . . no really, we did. We didn't realize it till after getting up from our naps.

Can't wait for the next hike!

"We'rrrrrrrrrrrrrre off to see the Wizard"

To end our busy day, we went to BYUH to see their production of "The Wizard of Oz". It was a good play, but I do prefer that it be a musical.

The kids waiting for it to start. These are the things that make me happy that we moved back, not only to Hawaii, but to the North Shore, where my family gets to enjoy all these things.

Randy and I waiting as well. We both are exhausted in this picture. We did a lot of running around.

The costumes were done well. This is the girl who played Dorothy.

Not a very good shot, but you can see that it's the Lion and the Tinman. The Scarecrow is actually on the other side of the Lion, but it's hard to tell.

When we were driving home, we were talking and it came to my attention that most of my kids had not seen the movie. We're going to have to add that to the list of summer movies to watch.

Arrow of Light

Today we celebrated Tyler's accomplishment in Cub Scouts. He achieved his Arrow of Light. He worked hard and diligently in completing all that he to do to reach this point. Tyler was so excited for this night (as well as his parents).

Tyler waiting to start. He was a little nervous about reciting the scout oath.

We put all of Tyler's things in a shadow box. This is the display of pretty much everything he's done. These are also his three cars from the Pinewood Derbies he competed in. The maroon one was his first car. It didn't place. The silver car placed 1st in our ward derby as well as the black one. The black on was by far the fastest of the three and went on to place 3rd in the district and 15th in the state.

Here's the family that was able to come out and support Tyler.

Tyler rehearsing with his dad. I just have to mention that when Randy was a Cub Scout, he too completed his Arrow of Light.

Cousins!
Cub Master Bro. Reid conducting the ceremony.

I'm not sure the name of this gentlman, but he is from the Order of the Arrow in our district.

Boys from the Order of the Arrow sharing the story of the Arrow of Light. The boy in the red shoes is our Bishop's son.

Tyler being sworn into Boy Scouts. Tyler thought that he was going to recite the oath by himself, but the ended up doing it together. He did good. He knew it all.

Randy presenting Tyler with his Arrow of Light patch.

I presented him with his certificate.

Tyler pinning on my Mother's pin for his Arrow of Light.

The CubMaster presenting Tyler with our Cub Scouts gift which was this carving of the Arrow of Light with a really cool looking arrow. We found out that our home teacher Bro. Gale made that award. It is awesome looking!

LeeAnn Akina on the left there. She was Tyler's Webelos Leader. Tyler "crossing over" from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.

Tyler being welcomed into Boy Scouts and presented with his neckerchief.

Tyler being given his official boy scout handbook. That is our bishop's wife (who is part of the order of the Arrow).

Tyler shaking hands with everyone.

Joining the ranks.

Everyone checking out the arrow.

The proud parents.

Good job Tyler!! We are proud of you and can't wait to see what you do in Boy Scouts!!