A week full of Mahalos!

Well, it's been a little over a week since our last posting, and life has been moving pretty fast for the Nelson family.  This week's entry is mainly pictures, but I also wanted to take a chance to say how wonderful we have found the people of Hawaii to be in our short time here.  Linda has had some in depth conversations with the bug man, several neighbors, and a handful of couples that she has met on the street.  The church people love seeing her in the pews on Sunday morning, and Cooper loves to be seen as she plops down on the third row right next to her mama (usually in the bumbo chair).  Over the past few days we've hiked, visited with the oldest member of our congregation (102!), went to the beach several times (Linda is learning to bodyboard), rode our bikes to the store, got cable (tour de france in HD?  What up!) and... began to learn that there is no real way to say "you're welcome" in Hawaiian.  I'm sure there are words for it, but when asked what you say in response to "mahalo"- there just isn't an answer.  I think it's pretty cool that people just smile and nod whenever they are thanked... if they're really talkative, they say no problem.  Very cool...  anyway, enough with the chatter for now.  Here go those pictures!

More Alohas and a container full of stuff!

Last week, the women of the church invited me to attend their June meeting in memorial hall.  Linda and Cooper are already members of this robust ministry by virtue of their womanly nature.  It was very cool to sit and talk-story with these ladies because they really are an important part of the church.  They are always thanking someone or hosting an appreciation pot-luck or just generally taking care of the members of the congregation.  We are very blessed to be a part of this group, and I am lucky to get to sit in on their gatherings.  

This particular night, the ladies of the church gave Linda and I Kukui (koo-koo-ee) nut leis to welcome us as part of the family.  The Kukui nut symbolizes light, hope, and spirit in Hawaii because they were often used to provide oil for lamps back in the day.  As you can see, Cooper loved them.  For both of us, these leis symbolized our excitement of being a part of this parish family, and every time we look at them, we'll think about the light, hope, and spirit that the ECW gives to this community and to us.  Pretty awesome, huh?

On Friday the 20th, our container finally arrived early in the morning!  Three very hard-working guys unloaded our box of stuff in less than three hours, and before we knew it... our house felt like a home- even with all the boxes and clutter.  Linda and I both (yes, I chipped in) worked hard on Friday and Saturday unpacking and re-arranging all the goodies from the boxes.  I love unwrapping everything because it feels like Christmas, but as most of you already know, Linda is less than thrilled when things are out of place.  

Saturday morning I got up early (after going to bed late) and worked in my new garden with two of my neighbors who are showing me the ways of island gardening.  Mahalo to Debbie and Odie for not only showing me the ropes, but also for giving me some eggplant and tomato starters.  We'll be on our way to vegetables before you know it.  Needless to say, after a morning of hard labor in the garden and an afternoon of unpacking boxes, I was worn out!  So, after church on Sunday and after a Wal-Mart run, Cooper and I lounged in the hammock in the gentle evening breeze courtesy of the tradewinds.  What a way to wrap up a weekend!  Bacon and Biscuit even got in on the action!

Daddy's new toy...

Well, mama and Coop-Coop gave me a video camera for Father's day, and the blog-0-rama may never be the same!  This post is mainly to test-drive the hardware, but let me also use it to say that Father's day finally makes sense.  It was so cool to have a little celebration at church and then have the day to spend with the girls hanging out in lots of different places.  Cooper and I watched some golf on Linda's big screen TV and then we all went out to the beach for some rest and relaxation.  The beach was perfect, but Linda and I kept falling asleep, and I think we worried that somebody would snatch lil' bit while we dozed on the sandy shores of baby beach.  Here she is in her cute little bathing suit, waiting for us to take her to the water!

After we hit the beach, Linda treated me to some fabulous take out from "The King and I"- a local Thai joint that is absolutely "broke da mouf" (Which, I'm told, means really delicious).  Yum!  Monday I made my first round of hospital visits which was pretty neat... I told my friend Hendree that my drive to the hospital might be one of the prettiest in the country.  Our parish administrator is gone for the next two weeks, so I'm really learning the ropes around here... thankfully, she gave me a good list before she left.  On that list is that I have to change the sign out front, so if anyone has any suggestions....

A day in the life...

Saturday morning brought Cooper and I a chance to head out into the world and see what was going on.  At my good friend Kristin's request, here is a photo journal of what Cooper and I saw as we went on our "let-mama-sleep" morning adventure.

We started out in the backyard, which is the picture on the far right corner.  Then we walked out of the church driveway (notice "sleeping giant" mountain in the background).  Then we made our way to baby-beach across the street, taking time to stop and smell the plumeria.  The temperature was a balmy 79 degrees that day, and the wind was blowing smoothly from the east.  We hung out on the beach for a little while, but like her mom, Cooper likes to keep it moving.  So, we hopped on the ocean path (that's it at the bottom, looking back toward the mountains) and made our way into town.  Along the way we checked out the fish in the river and the kids swimming at the city pool, which is right next to the ocean.  We met some new friends who were cleaning up the path, and we stopped in for some coffee at the "old school" coffee house... which was really nice and delicious- and free, thanks to a gift certificate from the old gang at St. Paul's!

Walking downtown was quite an adventure, because we met lots of people who wanted to visit with this cute little wahine keiki- she was a real show-stopper!  Kapa'a is a great little town with lots of cool restaurants and fun shops.  Not only does it have a lot of local charm, but it's also got chickens!  Coop-coop loves to squeal at the chickens!  By the end of our walk, this little adventurer was falling asleep in the baby-bjorn and was ready for her nap.  One of my favorite pictures is what an island-baby looks like when she's worn out! What a great day for daddy and baby-girl!

Cooper hits the surf!

Yesterday afternoon (which is late at night for most of you guys) Cooper, Linda, and I made our way to a really super beach just south of Kapa'a.  The beach is called Lydgate Park and it is tailor made for families.  There are two "pools" made from lava rocks that allow for safe swimming away from the currents and big waves.  Linda tried her hand at snorkeling, and cooper floated around the keiki pool with Mama and Daddy at her side.  

It was, in a lot of ways, exactly what we hoped living in Hawaii would be like.  I finished up the day and then we piled in the car and took off.  It took us a grand total of fifteen minutes to get to the beach.  The whole family got to play together!  

Cooper is really adjusting well to island life, but Linda is still battling some strange illness that seems to be courtesy of United Airlines economy class.  

They won't give you peanuts, but they will give you a cold...   let's hope she gets to feeling better soon.

The week in the office was fun, and I've enjoyed getting to write another sermon for the upcoming Sunday.  I'll try and get Linda to take some pictures of the church, so you can see all the fun excitement that takes place here on Sundays!

Shave Ice, Hula, trips to the Costco and other island tales

Well, a couple of fun stories to tell today...  First of all, our first few days on the island have really been great.  We're starting to feel more like ourselves after adjusting to the climate change and the ridiculous time zone difference.  We ventured out into the community on Friday and Saturday trying to learn more about things like shopping and finding deals.  Everything is more expensive here, and there isn't really a thing you can do about it, other than look for bargains at places like Wal-Mart, Costco, and the Big Save (which is a whole posting in and of itself).  But we're managing just fine.  Aunt Donna and Uncle Alan gave Linda a very wonderful housewarming gift and today I brought home her brand new baby- a gigantic Sony Television set.  It may be the biggest one on the island, but it is awesome.  I must say, I didn't think I'd care that much about having a super-nice TV set, but now that it is in the living room, I'm very excited.  It is so choice.

On Saturday, Coop and I went out to look at stuff and ran across a little shopping market that features a hula show during the day.  It was awesome!  We rocked out to some of the incredible music, and really loved seeing the keiki (children) in their costumes.  They were really good, and it turns out that they practice at the All Saints' Gym!  We'll be seeing more of those guys for sure.  

While we were watching, Cooper got to stare at the giant shave ice that I bought from a local vendor.  As you can see from the picture, the delicious rainbow goodness was about the same size as her head.  She was jealous...  (I did let her try a little bit, but don't tell her mom).  I didn't take any pictures of the hula because I was mesmerized and totally wrapped up in my shave ice (which is like a sno-cone, but better).  I also included a picture of Wailua Lighthouse, which is right down the road (I took the picture with my phone, so imagine how pretty it is in real life).

Sunday was my first day to preach and celebrate at All Saints' and I think it was one of the best days I've had in church in quite some time.  Those of you that know how I feel about Sunday mornings will know that this day was really special for many, many, reasons.  The people were amazing, and our little church was just brimming with excitement.  There were lots and lots of beautiful tropical flowers, a fantastic congregation and an outrageous "ono" pot luck (delicious).  Again, the folks at All Saints' have really outdone themselves with the Aloha.  We are grateful.  More to come about my first sermon, which featured a dog walking down the aisle and the Kauai Motorcycle Club.  Both of which I had been warned about.  It was fantastic.

We Made it!!! Aloha to the Nelsons!

After two plane trips, a rental car full of dogs and luggage, a massive time change and a whirl-wind trip to the Atlanta PetSmart at 8:45 the night before we left-- we have finally arrived on Kauai and are settling in at our new home!  Linda was a champ, Cooper loved saying hello to everyone on the flights over, and Bacon and Biscuit survived relatively unscathed.  When we landed, we were greeted by the Hawaii Agricultural agent who was there to make sure that we had done everything properly with importing the boys onto the island.  Thanks to Linda's killer organization skills, there were NO PROBLEMS and Bacon and Biscuit now call Kauai home.  It was pretty wild being greeted by the department of agriculture before you even get off the plane, but even wilder to be shuffled off to the "Aloha for Animals" wagon that inspected both dogs upon arrival.  Too cool!

At the airport, several members of our new parish showed up to greet us with Leis and lots of love and affection.  Pete and John loaded the dogs and the luggage into their trucks, while Muktha, Mary Margaret, Fay, Sybil, Shane, and Ty all gave us a big Aloha!  When we got to the house, David, Bill, Chris, and a a handful of others all showed us how hospitality is done on the garden isle.  There will never be enough thanks for the welcome that they showed us!  The picture at the top of this post is what it looks like to be greeted by the good people of All Saints' Kapa'a!  There were so many leis that we put them all over the house so when the trade winds blow, we can smell their sweet fragrance.  Here they are "lei'd" out on the dining room table!

Linda and Cooper are really doing great, although Linda is dealing with a mean case of Jet-lag.  Plus, we are all having to get used to the idea of living in a house with no air conditioning!  It's not ridiculously hot, but those of you that know me, know that I have been "glowing" in the warmth of our living room whenever the breezes die down.  Thankfully, my office has a window unit.  :)  

So far, we haven't done much exploring, other than a trip to Wal-Mart, Costco, and the Big Save grocery store, so I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about when we get our explorer's hats on.  I probably should continue my Wal-Mart appreciation theme, but for now know that the Lihue Wal-Mart doesn't compare to the Highland Village Wal-Mart.  A few more pics, then it's back to finishing a sermon for me...

I started work shortly after landing by attending the Pre-School Graduation party where I delivered the blessing for the "ono" pot luck dinner- Awesome!  Check out Cooper with Aunty Chris (All Saints' Parish Administrator- the best!) and the sign on the highway!

We are looking forward to Sunday!Cooper with her new Auntys!  and Mama enjoys a moment of peace and quiet in the San Francisco airport with a delicious Chai Tea Latte.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I'm sure many of our loyal fans have been wondering... where did the Nelsons go during the past few days?  Well, in addition to losing my computer for a few days (thanks new operating system!), we also went to Birmingham so that Linda, Cooper, and I could say some fare-wells to Mom and the Sisters.  We decided that B'ham was the better idea because it was a lot easier to drive three hours than the full-on six and a half that it takes to get to Jackson, MS.  Thank goodness for Residence Inns because we brought four kids, six adults, two dogs, and a 12 pack of diet Dr. P for this family reunion.  It was really a fantastic (although way too quick) way to hang out with the cousins and the sisters... and to top it all off, it was my mom's ?? birthday.  Yea Mom!  

Here we are saying good-bye...  Now, this wasn't the only Aloha that we had to say today, because we also met the Harrisons for a dinner at the Boathouse in Chattanooga.  Whew!  Now for those of you that don't know, the Harrisons are some of our best friends in the whole wide world and we knew that this one would be tough.  

Fortunately, we've also had to say good-bye the Oldhams, Alice S., the Steffners, the Odles, the Watsons, and Linda's family in this same week, so we in some weird way are prepared for this one.  Not really.  I know it's a theme, but I have to say it again... we are really going to miss all our friends in this area.  We'll talk on the phone, and we'll email, and I'm sure we will follow each other's blogs :), but realistically we know that our "face-time" will be significantly reduced with this little move of ours.  So, there are some really tough emotions going on each time we tell our friends that we love 'em and we'll see them soon.  We know that soon is not soon enough.  So for now, I'm just grateful that I have friends that I will miss so much... 

Pictured here are Coop-Coop and Aunty Kristin at the Tennessee Riverwalk, both refusing to say good-bye... Kristin says:  "Denial is okay."  

More pics below.  And that's all I got for now...

Gracie on the Riverwalk, Aunty 'drea hanging with Cooper, K.G. with C in Memorial Day-Couture, and Mammie on her speed limit birthday!