Hawaii Trip Photos

People are asking to see more photos from our trip to Hawaii. Now that everything has gone digital, sharing trip photos with your family and friends has changed as well! It used to mean getting together with stacks of developed photographs to flip through. My how times have changed. Ideally, I would love to have them all scrapbooked immediately, safely behind page protectors and in order with cute captions ready to share. Some of my friends are able to do this. I'd love to know how! I am YEARS behind in scrapbooking and barely do it at all anymore now that I have Bree to run after. Lucky for me - technology at least gives me a venue to share photos with family and friends. More will follow soon.

Bree's first dip in the ocean at Kahalu'u Beach Park, Kona:














Bree LOVING the swimming pool - such a water baby:

Mauna Kea, World's Tallest Mountain?

During our recent visit to Hawaii, we took a trip to the top of volcanic Mauna Kea. This was a surreal experience, having just left a winter where we were treated to a white Christmas, for the sunshine, beaches and 80 degree temperatures of Hawaii. On that evening we found ourselves once again in below freezing temperatures and surrounded by snow.

At 13,796 feet tall from sea level, and a massive 33,000+ feet from the bottom of the ocean floor, Mauna Kea is said to be the "tallest mountain in the world." I guess it all depends on how you are looking at it. The peak in our backyard, is 14,110 feet tall from sea level. However, due to its location you do not begin to ascend it from sea level the way you do Mauna Kea. 33,000 feet is taller than Mt. Everest's 29035 feet, but you must consider that this measurement for Mauna Kea starts at the ocean floor.

At the summit there is a collection of observatories which house the world's largest optical and infrared telescopes. As you can see from our pictures we unfortunately had a cloudy evening and were unable to do any stargazing, but traveling to the top of the mountain was a treat in itself. We found it funny that many of the hawaiians take their trucks up the mountain and fill the beds with snow, which our guide said they then drive back down to the beach to use for snowball fights.

Who is your presidential candidate?

http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460

This website will ask you a series of political questions and then give you feedback on how your views compare to those of the candidates. Very interesting! I've been told usatoday.com
has a similar feature.

What is this stuff? I love it!

Hapuna Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii 12/29/07
Bree had her first encounter with sand.

tranquil twilight

Lucky to live in Colorado.
For as long as I can remember I've been in love with the sky at twilight. After the sun sets behind the mountains the sky goes through a dramatic change in blue. Starting with a peaceful light blue, it transforms throughout the next 20 minutes or so until darkness takes over. This sight always stops me - I catch my breath and feel grateful for the moment. Sometimes we are even blessed to add a sliver of a crescent moon and/or a twinkling star or planet.

This time of day always brings me peace.