Hawaii Day 2

We have done so much walking - the bottoms of our feet actually hurt! After breakfast yesterday morning we headed out to the International Marketplace. I made sure to tell Tom NOT to pay full price for anything. The women working at the booths here are funny! The famous phrase is "how much you pay...., friend" AHAHA. Then they make you feel like you are getting such a deal, but the items are marked up so much that by the time you negotiate - you are paying what you should be paying in the first place. But it is a fun "game" and very entertaining.Tom enjoyed a Mai Tai by the pool after our shopping adventure.
A couple of trees in front of the hotel
Waterfall inside the hotel lobby.
Lots of beautiful flowers here....

There are several of these canopy type trees here. The odd thing is that the roots grow from the branches up high and drop down into the ground. Here is Tom standing in between a couple of the roots.

We walked to the Honolulu Zoo. We were pleasantly surprised by all of the animals, plants, and flowers.

These little guys were cute!

Zebras!

View of Diamond Head from the Zoo.

This monkey was soooo funny! He was laying on his back looking at us just chillin.

More amazing flowers!

Flamingos!

We went to Senior Frogs last night for dinner.

Palm trees lit up in the lobby of the hotel. The hotel is open to the outside. Today we have been kinda lazy. Had a nice breakfast, took a nap and now we are off to get a snack (I really want sushi) and then we are off to the aquarium.

Hawaii Day 1

Traveling. What a loooooong flight! The landing was quite brutal. But we made it!
Tom at the Portland Airport. Us on the Airplane.

Woo hoo... waiting for our flight to Hawaii!

So far we have taken a bus all over the island........ not on purpose, but in route to our hotel. We were a little tired, but enjoyed seeing the city. And the elderly Japanese people looking for their Hotel..... Every time we stopped they would ask the driver.... Aqua? Aqua? Which was the name of their hotel.

Then we get up to our floor (we are on the 17th). Another Japanese couple wanted the stairs. Funny how even with a language barrier you can still understand someones needs. He was funny making signs with his hands to represent the stairs.

Here is our room:

We have a slight city view, View of Diamond Head and Ocean View: This is the view of the park on the Ocean - taken last night from our balcony.Tom on the beach taking pics...

We got in last night, settled in our room and went out for Sushi... yum. Then we took a quick walk along the beach and headed back to our room for some much needed rest. We were exhausted from the full day of travel.

Yummy Sushi! I had a sampler. The spicy tuna was amazing! And so was the unagi! We woke up this morning took some pictures outside our room. We were up at 3:00 this morning which was 6:00 our time. We had to force ourselves to go back to sleep!

John S. in our office asked me to take a picture of my feet showing the view behind them. He said he would respond with a picture of his feet and his view from the office.

Here is the picture I sent John and my message was "Ahhhh":

Here is the picture he sent back and his message was "You are #1": By the pool after breakfast:

Well... we are off to walk around and do some shopping!

Karie's Blog Game - I'm in!

Another fun blog game!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! (Though I hope you will!)
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year. {might be a little while}
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. I don't even have a clue what it's going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a homemade gift! It may not be great, but it will be fun!!* * *Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!* * *

Garrett

Cute picture of Garrett on the stairs with Max.

More Kristen & Kaden Pics!

Kristen will be in her 3rd trimester in less than 2 weeks. We are going to paint Kaden's room and get the crib all ready to go as soon as Tom and I get back from Hawaii. So much to look forward to!!

Kyoto

Kristen and AJ asked us to go out to dinner with them last night. We went to Kyoto. Kristen is so funny! She does not want pictures taken of her while she is pregnant. So... I get the hand in front of the face shot. Anyway, we had a nice evening.

Fun at Kristen & AJ's

We went to pick up the bassinet last night. Good luck putting it together AJ!!!!

AJ and Kristen were getting things ready in baby Kaden's room, and also for their new carpet on Saturday. Phoenix loves when we come over for a vist, and AJ's dog is too smart! I was eating a piece of a rice crispy treat Kristen had made and he was sitting looking at me - like he wanted some. I pretended to throw a piece over by AJ and the dog was trying to find it. I felt bad and so AJ said to go ahead and give him a piece. Both dogs followed me into the kitchen. I told them to sit - which they did - and they both got a little piece. Then we were in the livingroom and Phoenix decided he wanted to give Tom some love! Muah!

Hearts & Snow

Tom is always doing cute things to show me how much he loves me.... here is an example. I found this on my car this morning as I was leaving for work. I just have one question... Can I trade the heart in the snow for a heart in the sand???

Glass Update

Hello Everyone. I have been a busy guy. I worked on my "man cave" for a while added exhaust and a comfortable work area. It's been good but what's been even better making new creations. Some have asked, "why are you focusing on marbles, they seem simple?". Well, they really are difficult to make. A lot of different motions and techniques are used to create one marble. If you look on my facebook profile you will see what I did this last Friday night with my nieces. We had fun. I have been learning a lot and it seems like the better my skills get the worse something else gets. Colors have been my frustration lately. What I want to happen doesn't, even though all else went well.

Here are Friday nights marbles. The girls picked the colors and the style. I did the work, and variations and was amazed at how one of them turned out. You tell me which one was the surprise.

I don't mean to trump the wedding, the baby, or our count down to Hawaii. All are important. I am becoming like a little kid with excitement as this grandbaby gets closer to delivery. A year from now is when I will really kick in and start to enjoy him. I do want to share a few more photos of what I am doing and where I am working. So my torch on a normal setting with out the outter fire ring lit looks like this.

The above photo was taken with my phone. I hope you can see enough. That flame gets to be about 2 feet long when I am really heating things up. I run on propane and oxygen. That flame is about 2500 degrees. You can see bits of glass and stuff on my work area. It looks messy and usually is about this messy. I do clean it up after a project but clear rods usually lay about. Here is a panoramic view of the infamous "man cave".

I don't think that came out right. But you can see to the left my work area. The blue box is the kiln. I have my favorite team logos I painted on the wall. Neon signs to add a glow and surround sound for my favorite tunes. Yes I can also watch and or listen to my teams kicking butt out here. Here is my last photo for the night. It's probably my most famous and liked marble yet. It's design came from my sister. She showed me a web page of an artist's work. He I believe is doing soft glass in a furnace and doing it rather well. He does animal skins and other wonderful creations. So this marble was created as a first attempt at a zebra for Melissa, who is now named "Mrs. Dib's" because she puts dibs on so many of my creations. It's fun to have a fan. :)

Good night my friends and family. It's my joy to share something I enjoy doing so much and it seems to bring a smile to all who hold and look at my creations. My God bless each of you as you leave our blog.

Tom

Baby Kaden

Kristen finally let me take some pictures of her tummy (She didn't want her face included in the picture though) she is silly! They have also decided on a name! AJ did a great job in picking it! Our grandson's name will be Kaden Aaron Atkinson!