Ohana time

I've always found living far away from family to be difficult. When we left Indiana 15 years ago, I knew Grandma, who had Alzheimer's, would not remember me by the time I came back to visit. I knew cousins would grow up, weddings would happen and babies would be born while I'd be watching it on a computer screen from thousands of miles away. Then I married Chris and gained another entire family, just as fantastic as the one I already had, but also thousands of miles in the distance.

I'm so grateful we were able to take an extended trip this fall to not only help out with some projects there, but just to be there for the everyday life that we miss out on. I believe strongly that people work too much, and that if given the option, it's worth sacrificing some of our material wealth for time. Time for popping popcorn and watching a movie. Time for helping parents store up winter firewood. Time for taking a break from that firewood cutting to give kids rides in trailers. Time just to live and enjoy life. Time for prayer and getting closer to our Creator, knowing this discontentment I feel is simply a longing for permanence God put in my heart so that I'll look forward to heaven.

Grandma watches the kids every Thursday

A really fun dinner

Jaspers gather at the end of a great party



Family members wears sweaters, all handcrafted by my mom
 



"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten" reads the artwork my niece, Lydia, made me. Before the recent trip, I hadn't seen her since she visited almost eight years ago while I was preparing for my wedding.

Voyage au famille

Chris and I attended a Jasper family trip to Nuevo Vallerta in February. It was my first trip to Mexico so I was excited to see a bit of that country, but the main purpose of the visit was to spend time with the other 22 Jaspers in attendance.

What stood out more than anything else to Chris and I was the level of virtue we observed among the average residents. Folks we met in local, not just touristy spots, seemed friendly, even when they were not trying to sell us something. All the areas were visited looked clean and felt safe, even places where some level of poverty was evident. In one instance, we went out on a pier and watched several people who were fishing. They left no trash on the ground, were not cussing, drinking or smoking pot. It was a compliment to the area, and a contrast to Hawaii where plenty of locals give us stink eye even though we've lived here and contributed to the community for years, pakalolo (pot) is regularly smoked openly in public areas, and there is plenty of litter that was not thrown out by visitors.

Highlights of the trip included boogie boarding with the kids, forming a giant flotilla of 24 family members in the resort's lazy river, and just getting out of the resort to see more local areas. We stayed at the Grand Mayan, a gorgeous, upscale resort. It was a treat to be there, but since we live in Hawaii, we have seen an ocean resort or two. Sitting in a pool all day and swimming up to the bar for another $12 margarita will never be our type of vacation, and I am happy we spent a lot of time away from the hotel.

One day the entire family took a boat tour to a snorkel spot, then to a remote village that is inaccessible by car, where we had lunch on the beach. There were tons or tourists taking a hike up to a waterfall, but seeing the young, local kids rent horses for the trail, and people selling coconut and pineapple and boys playing super old video games in a small arcade gave us a glimpse of this genuine, Mexican town. We also had a blast swimming by the waterfall where Johnny climbed up a cliff and hucked it. This was a great day.

We spotted a crocodile sleeping in a drainage ditch just outside the resort.

Dinner with 22 people is an exciting and chaotic affair.

Several family members pose for a photo after zip lining.

Johnny hucks it off a cliff.

Too bad we couldn't translate the labels on all the containers. This fascinating store sold in bull grain, dried goods, tree bark and who knows what else. It was really fun to look at.

This booth at the market sold da kine: kitchen utensils, tools, blank video tapes. It was very random.

Summer Camping Trip

I had a few days of vacation time from work that had to be used so I took last week off. Besides lots of chores and working around the house, Chris and I camped on the beach one night, and another night my dad and I camped at Volcano. We cooked brats on his grill and right around sunset 12 endangered nene geese flew overhead. After that, we stayed to watch the steam plume from Halemaumau crater glow red from the lava lake below.
The next day we decided we had explored the park many times, but one place my dad had never been was to Lake Waiau on Mauna Kea so we drove through Hilo and headed up the mountain.

I thought there was a bear at our campsite but it turned out to be my dad hiding behind a chair.

Halemaumau at night. It's a spectacular sight, but living downwind from an active volcano has its drawbacks, the pollution has taken away Kona's bright blue skies and it's probably not healthy to breathe.

A view of Mauna Loa from the 13,000 foot elevation of Mauna Kea.



Sunlight streams through the forest and shines on this Ohia branch.

My dad and I at Lake Waiau on Mauna Kea.

Camp Break

We decided to take a break from our work so we did a one-night backpack along the Kohala Coast. My dad has been talking about camping lately, and he hadn't been in a really long time, so he came, too. We had a nice time and cloudy weather made for a cool hike back across the lava field.

Clouds were welcomed for the hike home.

Cooking oatmeal on the Pocket Rocket.

When the Jaspers Come to Town

What a great time we had with Chris' parents who came to visit us for a week. I've always said the worst part about living in Hawaii is being so far away from family. But the best part is not only enjoying the island but getting to share it with friends and family when they come. It was also an excuse to try a few of the restaurants my co-workers are always talking about (we rarely eat out so that was a real treat). We also had a great time visiting with my parents, going to the beach and strolling the botanical gardens in Hilo. And Chris' dad hooked up with a plein air painting group on the island, so I hope that will bring them back before too long for a return visit. Hana Hou!


Chris' dad wanted a project so we made use of his talents by asking him to paint flowers around our bath tub. They're beautiful, and they're even native species.

Our God's creativity shines at the botanical gardens north of Hilo.

Enjoying a stroll around the grounds at the Hilton in Waikoloa.

The View is Tremendous

Chris and I have had a couple of memorable hikes to our "red rock canyon" near Oniuka Center at the 9,000 foot level of Mauna Kea. If John Glenn had been on our hike with us he would have said, "the view is tremendous." Instead I shared the day with my two favorite guys, my dad and my sweetheart. The cool, dry mountain air was perfect for hiking. When we finished we stopped by the Onizuka visitor's center where we were treated to a view of the sun through their super fancy telescope. We could make out a couple of solar flares on the edge of the sun. Awesome!

Friends in High Places

We have a friend named Christoph who is here from Germany training to become a helicopter pilot. He will take his test to obtain a commercial license in just a couple of weeks.

He recently had instrumentation training which required a four-seat helicopter so Chris and I were invited to ride around the island for two hours while he practiced flying by instruments only. For the exercise, he wore blinders so that he could not navigate by landmark. So we climbed into a helicopter with our blinded student driver who - no joke - had to ask his instructor how to start the chopper.

All kidding aside, we could see that Christoph is already a skilled pilot and I was completely comfortable flying with him. I've seen our island from the air before, but I was just as stunned as ever by the beauty. Incredible!

Christoph works his way through his preflight checklist before we leave Kona.

Christoph prepares to land in Hilo with his blinders removed.

The entire flight offered views like this one of the Kohala Coast with Hualalai peaking up through the clouds.

Party Night

The Jaspers organize a big family trip every year to be sure all 28 of us get to spend some time together. The trips include nightly gatherings for drinking beer and wine, plenty of poker playing, story telling and games. On Dan's birthday we played a "how well do you know Dan?" game in the movie theatre at Tuscana where we stayed. It was a nice little theatre with a pretty darn big screen and quite the sound system. The theatre can be reserved by anyone staying at the resort. Plenty of good times were had just visiting with the family that's spread out between Hawaii, Alaska and Minnesota. We don't get to see them enough.

Family Hike

A person could spend a week's vacation in Orlando without having any idea what the natural environment is like. Luckily, Chris found some natural spots for us to check out, like this hiking trail in the Green Swamp wildlife refuge. We chased an armadillo, observed the local fauna and even spotted an alligator in a pond.

Busch Gardens


Another highlight on the trip to Orlando was a day to Busch Gardens near Tampa. My parents raised me right- they took me on the American Eagle at Six Flags when I was 3 and took us to King's Island every summer. As a teen, I always got a season pass to Six Flags Great America and treasured my trips to "American's Roller Coast" Cedar Point. I have grown to understand engineers cannot build a roller coaster big enough or fast enough. And Chris has never ridden one, so it was fun to share that with him for the first time. Busch Gardens didn't have any record breakers, but they had several pretty good coasters, including our favorite, Shakra, that featured a 90 degree drop and speeds up to 80 mph. We also enjoyed Manta at Seaworld, which positions riders in a laying-face-down, feels-like-you're-superman position.

Busch Gardens is beautiful and definitely a step up from the roller coaster in the parking lot look of Six Flags. I recommend it over Disney World any day. It's just as pretty and much more fun! The Jasper clan loved it. To add icing to the cake, there weren't any lines and we ate delicious meat for lunch.

Chris enjoyed his many rides on Shakra.

Fishing with Bassmaster Dan

Chris' brother, Dan, is a bass pro who gives Lake Minnetonka fishing guide trips for a living. We had the opportunity to fish with him in Orlando during the recent Jasper family trip. Even though Dan enjoys catching crappie from his super fancy ice house in the winter, the chance to catch a big bass on a warm Florida day brought him joy. The group caught several nice bass and fishing was one of many highlights of the trip.

Love Seat

My dad made us a totally awesome glider swing for Christmas. It was my mom's idea. Now we can sit on the lanai, tell stories, hold hands and watch the sunset. It's such a cool present! I guess I've always liked swings.

Christmas on the Beach

Our employee Christmas party this year was a breakfast buffet on the beach beside the Orchid at Mauna Lani Hotel. It's always nice to visit with the work gang when we're not in a work setting, and it was also a great last hurrah for our publisher, Rick, who is retiring this year after more than 37 years with the company.

Besides being entertained by my friends, I was mesmerized by the nearby koi pond. After the party cleared out I put on my swim suit and goggles and took a quick dip in the pond to get a better look. There wasn't a 'no swimming' sign to be found anywhere and the curious and colorful fish were absolutely delightful. The gorgeous beach setting at Mauna Lani did not disappoint, I had a nice long ocean swim and took time to read a book.

Abundance

My parents joined forces with Chris and I and we had a big garage sale last weekend. The garage is full, our closets are full and we felt it was time to get rid of some of this junk. It's funny because neither Chris or I like to shop- how do we end up with all this stuff in our house? It's a funny problem to have too much. It seems strange to complain about having abundance.

Chris has a theory that time and possessions are inversely proportional. Po sessions take time. Time to use, time to store, time to fix. When we go camping all we have is a little camp stove and some food, and the amount of free time we have is astounding. Meaningful conversation, listening to crickets, finding God's beauty in shimmering cottonwood leaves...that sure beats spending the evening sorting out plastic junk from Walmart. So, we're happy to clear out the closets.

Chris makes excellent garage sale signs.

My dad decided to part with Rudolph and his sleigh.

La Familia

Spending time with the family was my favorite part of the trip to Spain. Hearing Paul's wise cracks on the walkie-talkie, learning about previous family trips that I missed because I wasn't yet a Jasper, and hanging around the castle drinking wine, laughing and playing silly games were all good times.

Dad's birthday celebration took place in this incredible dining room in the Castle d'Escales.

Jasper Enterprises

Chris has been working on setting up a small coffee business. He buys locally grown coffee wholesale and takes orders from individuals through a website. The orders are shipped out to the mainland through UPS or the Post Office. It is a pretty simple concept but he has been working on the business for a while. It has taken him a lot of effort to make the logos and labels and buy the boxes, bags, stickers, labels and get a website created. I guess the hard work of being a business owner is all part of that American dream they talk about. His favorite part of setting up the American coffee business was making a machine to help put the labels onto the coffee bags. The machine works really well even though it was made mostly of parts from a broken computer printer. Chris projects the coffee business to be a part-time thing he will do on the side.

Thoughts About Paul's Yacht

The road leading to my office was finally paved Tuesday after more than two weeks of construction to install a private propane line for Microsoft Co-founder, Paul Allen. Paul has been in town all week, as evidenced by his yacht in Kailua Bay. Many of my co-workers saw his helicopter buzzing around and we think he has been flying the chopper from his house behind our office out to his yacht which has been parked in the bay less than a 1/2 mile from his house. It sure beats taking a dingy out to his yacht and having to drive a block in Kona traffic to get to the boat ramp.

Last week I went on a Christmas caravan with the Realtors to look at houses on the market. One of our stops was a $9.4 million mansion at Kukio. (Yes, you read that correctly. Nine point four million dollars) Homes at Kukio are commonly purchased as second or third homes so the filthy rich have a place to call their own when they want to visit Hawaii. The home we saw was typical for the style- granite counters, pocket doors that open up to an ocean view and infinity pool, tropical hardwoods, pod style construction, giant, glass showers and Jacuzzi tubs in every bathroom. To be quite honest, it's really not that impressive. There's nothing in that house I need, and although it's professionally designed and decorated, the house was lacking in personality. It didn't feel like a home.

It made me reflect on my own home (which is rented) and I honestly didn't desire the Kukio mansion or any of the other 1+ million dollar estates I saw that day. OK, they were pretty nice, but my point is, I'm content with what I've got. Maybe the people who own them are quite happy, but so am I. There's love in our home. I am greeted by a happy husband every evening when I return from work. We grill a steak and enjoy each other's company and there's joy and I feel at home. I hope Paul Allen and the buyer of the $9.4 million home have that happiness, too.

Could I Have Some Fish with those Bones?

Thanksgiving morning was already off to a good start. In addition to waking up next to my sweetheart (which I get to do everyday) I had a relaxing day with family to look forward to, a fresh cup of Kona Coffee, I was swimming in newspaper which showed our staff's success at warding off the recession by selling oodles of Thanksgiving Day ads, and I also had a fried flounder on my plate. The meat was tender and yummy and it tasted exactly like a freshwater fish. However, I have never seen so many bones in a fish in my entire life. Bones ran ever which way and they were long and stringy like hair. Chris gave up on his portion of the fish, but after about 45 minutes of effort I managed to lick most of the meat out of the bone pile. The spectacle reminded me of my uncle, Wayne, who I know could have done a supurb job of eating that fish.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to remember family. It frustrates me that life gets so busy and distracts me from things most important. Spending a calm day hiking with my two favorite men (husband and dad) eating a fabulous meal prepared by mom and browsing Christmas decorations and old photos was a great time to reflect on things I highly value. The day was well spent; it felt right.

Hitched

Ron and Jen's wedding was a joyous occasion. I have been friends with Ron for the past nine years, and I've always enjoyed his humor and friendliness. We've had many nights of drinking with the old gang at Durty Jakes and hanging at his house has become my Superbowl tradition. Several years later, Jennifer started working at West Hawaii Today and her 'can do' attitude and positive approach to life really impressed me. It was pretty fun befriending each individually, then watching them grow together and decide to marry. They're a great fit, the wedding was beautiful and I am so happy for both of them.

Church Hike

Somehow, Chris and I have become known as hikers among our church family, so we occasionally plan church hikes to be sure everyone is included on the fun. Many people do not realize Puu Waa Waa is open to the public for hiking, and the view from the top is phenomenal. We could see Hualalai, Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Haleakala on Maui, and an amazing coastline view. The three-mile hike gains about, 1,800 feet in elevation, and in the summer sun it was a bit warmer than I would like. But a good time was had by all and we are already getting requests to plan another hike.