We were a little slow on the whole picture uploading thing, but here are some pictures from the Aysta's trip! It was a really great time. I can't believe how much stuff we we're able to do in the time that they were here. After the second day, I think Paul and Beck had already driven on every major road on the island (which is fairly impressive). Lindsey had to work a lot during the week, but Paul and Beck rented a place literally two minutes from our house up in the rainforest, so we were able to see them a lot. We hit up the Volcano Park, Waipio Valley, secret Kona beaches, made Paul eat poke (cubes of hawaiian raw fish), Indian, and Thai food, and lots of other stuff.
Just this week, it seems we have added a new member to the family, Kuma (bear in Japanese). Lindsey was driving to work and passed this dog crossing the road and continued on her way, but then on the drive home some 10 hours later, the dog was still in the same spot wandering around on the highway. Lindsey stopped and was finally able to get him in the car. He was pretty clearly abandoned because he's a bit older, but he's really sweet. We took him to the vet and he has deteriorating vision, some arthritis, a skin condition (which we're treating), and he's pretty timid. But, he does like to go for walks and stick his head out the window. We're just taking it one day at a time and seeing if he's a good fit, but with him being so old, he wouldn't have much of a chance at the Humane Society. So, it looks like we have a dog!
Right after Paul and Becky left, we had some big thunderstorms and received a lot of snow on Mauna Kea. I wish it had been a little clearer out...
We took a wagon ride in Waipio Valley, the end of the road heading up the coast.
There are probably 5 million pictures of this same shot on the internet.
At church I've been working with the youth group to start a band and we performed for our first time this past week. Most of the kids are Tongans and they are all pretty fun to work with.
They sang Oh Happy Day, just like at our wedding.
We went to the tidepools down in Puna, which were really awesome. There are all of these little pools with fish and corral and you can just spend hours exploring.
The road down to Waipio Valley was pretty wicked, the steepest grade was 39%.
While we were at the volcano, there was a small rock fall that put up a plume of ash...pretty awesome.
Here we are over on the Kohala Beaches
We drove the Saddle Rd. over to the beach one day and everyone was blown away by how cold and windy it was. Paul is clearly not too excited.
Down in the valley.
Just this week, it seems we have added a new member to the family, Kuma (bear in Japanese). Lindsey was driving to work and passed this dog crossing the road and continued on her way, but then on the drive home some 10 hours later, the dog was still in the same spot wandering around on the highway. Lindsey stopped and was finally able to get him in the car. He was pretty clearly abandoned because he's a bit older, but he's really sweet. We took him to the vet and he has deteriorating vision, some arthritis, a skin condition (which we're treating), and he's pretty timid. But, he does like to go for walks and stick his head out the window. We're just taking it one day at a time and seeing if he's a good fit, but with him being so old, he wouldn't have much of a chance at the Humane Society. So, it looks like we have a dog!
Right after Paul and Becky left, we had some big thunderstorms and received a lot of snow on Mauna Kea. I wish it had been a little clearer out...
We took a wagon ride in Waipio Valley, the end of the road heading up the coast.
There are probably 5 million pictures of this same shot on the internet.
At church I've been working with the youth group to start a band and we performed for our first time this past week. Most of the kids are Tongans and they are all pretty fun to work with. 
They sang Oh Happy Day, just like at our wedding.
We went to the tidepools down in Puna, which were really awesome. There are all of these little pools with fish and corral and you can just spend hours exploring.
The road down to Waipio Valley was pretty wicked, the steepest grade was 39%.
While we were at the volcano, there was a small rock fall that put up a plume of ash...pretty awesome.
Here we are over on the Kohala Beaches
We drove the Saddle Rd. over to the beach one day and everyone was blown away by how cold and windy it was. Paul is clearly not too excited.
Down in the valley.
