A Christmas Break

With Christmas upon us, things have shut down for two weeks; so Rick & I flew to Hawaii for a break, and to spend some time with our daughter & son-in-law, Tamara & Lee Loewen, and their four children.  It felt strange to leave Fiji, and go to America, driving on the right side of the road, again, and seeing all of the familiar stores and restaurants that we are used to.  But the most special thing was to see some of our kids & grandkids, after 2.5 months of being away from them.  

A visit to the Botanical Gardens, Honolulu.

On December 23, we watched two NCAA
basketball games at the Diamond Head Classic.

Each day, we have made sure to spend 
some time at a beach in the area.
It is fun to play with the grandkids,
and to go swimming or snorkeling. 

On Christmas morning, Santa somehow found us and the grandkids in Hawaii, and left a number of presents for all of us.

It was fun to watch the grandkids open their presents.

Santa brought Rick & Lee matching Fiji Bula Shirts

And Santa brought more matching Bula Shirts.

On the afternoon of Christmas Day, we went to watch the two 

final games of the NCAA Diamond Head Classic Tournament.  

It was a lot of fun watch BYU play a very close game.

On the evening of Christmas Day, we enjoyed a nice meal at "Tikis" in Wikiki.

The purple buns were unusual, but tasty!

This Praying Mantis at the next table caused quite a commotion.

On Boxing Day, just before we went to the North Shore Beach to play in the waves, we walked around BYU Hawaii campus near the Polynesian Cultural Center.

We also walked around the temple grounds.

And enjoyed the Visitor's Center.

We finished the day by treating ourselves to a "Lava Bowl Shaved Ice".  What a wonderful treat!

We are looking forward to one more week off before we return to Fiji January 3rd to complete our six month Humanitarian Mission.