Bound and Determined in Hawaii


 


  We finally made it to Kona--were given a big red SUV for the 2 of us as a rental, which came in handy Sat. night.  I heard from Jeff, oldest nephew who left pregnant wife Emily and 2-year old daughter Maddie home (color me so sad about that) that we were invited to a barbecue at the house  rented for himself and 2 sons plus 2 girlfriends. The younger men were playing golf in a wedding tournament all day and Brock and the 2 women were off hiking then shopping for food before moving into the house, 
 Matthew was hesitant to go at the time Jeff gave us in case no one was actually there at 5, so we waited and called. Sure enough Brock had just arrived, though maybe Jeff and Garret were there earlier. Their house was beautiful with a sunset view and nice pool, so it was fun to hang out there that evening. 
We brought enough wine and  beer for a large party, not knowing how many and being told to prepare for anywhere from 9-15 (there were 8 of us). Being with the family does teach us to go with the flow...or at least try. The best for us was that Steven, the groom and my youngest nephew of 27, showed up and spent most of the evening with us.

 Here's Maddie's wonderful dad with a son on the way. I'm so proud of him and how he interacts with her. Jeff's generation seems to have created a whole new way of parenting involvement and care that I love. 
 I know some of my former students and colleagues read my blog--remember the cute little 4 or 5 year old blond who used to be in my class after lunch?  He's quite the man now.



Middle nephew Garret is on the right of the picture below. He's the only one who still lives close, for which I'm very fortunate. He has a long distance relationship with the most adorable young lady Jennifer. I am so lucky these guys have finally brought women into this male-dominated family! And every one of them is beautiful, loving, smart, and wonderful in her own way.



 The wedding was Sat. at 5:30, so Matthew and I had the day on our own again. We mainly stayed by the pool relaxing
and catching up on sleep, went out for a bite to eat, then got dressed and headed to the wedding. I guess I should have had someone take a picture of us, but alas...I don't have one. I have a couple of him with the family and will hopefully get the group shot they took after the ceremony. Here are some I took of the boys (okay, men) waiting for Elise, then of the 2 during the ceremony, and a few of later. Their good friend Max officiated and seriously, he did the best job of anyone I've ever heard.
 The wedding was great and the after-party was so much fun. We ate and danced and danced, then that SUV came in handy because we managed to fit all 7 of us into it and drive Brock, et al back to their rental house.









Listening to many lovely toasts to the couple.  Jeff's was the most poignant because he compared Steven to his mother noting how much like her he is. But of course, Garret had his moment too...making me laugh at some very inside jokes, like how many thousands of chicken and broccoli dinners Steven endured after Marianne died (Brock's only go-to meal). Brock was thoughtful and also brought in Mar and family and how proud she'd be of Steven. So true. And she would love Elise...and Emily and Jennifer.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Not Just the Food...how about butterflies?

Image
We are actually now in Kota Bharu after a harrowing long day at the airport...a much longer day there than planned.  Before I tell the day's long story, I want to finish Penang since we had some really great experiences there.  We've been in search of hawker food like we found the last night in KL, so the Aussie couple we met told us about the area near the mall, of course, but outside it.  The four of us shared a taxi there, then went our separate ways since they had last night shopping to do before going home the next day.  Matthew and I tried foods from about 4-5 stalls, and I didn't take many pictures, though did get a couple of the guy who danced to the great old American music and pounded his knife to the music, then swung around while pouring sauce on the plate still in beat.  The next day we decided to find where the free city shuttle was and use it to find out way around.  Matthew had a different map, but used it to figure out where we ...
Read more

Small Steps and New Aches

Image
 So here it is:  my new computer...got the IMac last week.  Never one to do anything the easy way, I bought the trackpad instead of the mouse.  Now I have to learn how that works and since I never liked using the pad on laptops, this is a new challenge.  The computer is beautiful, the graphics awesome--I'm transfixed when the screensaver comes on. First, they're always different, so I never know what to expect, and second, it's like watching a colorful slide show.    Many things are different on the Mac--like finding commands I often use.  I did sign up for a class, and my first one is this week.  I'll see how helpful this is before signing up for another one.    I bought the one-to-one, so I don't have to sit with 15 other people and have someone ask, "How do you turn it on?"  I've been in that class before and it wasn't fun.  Nor did I learn anything especially when they partnered us up and I landed with the one who did...
Read more