All the Local Things

 

*He made sure to hand the controllers over while filming!  Don't fly & film! LOL*

Aloha!

I've enjoyed making lots of local things lately! 

- Homemade lemonade from my in-law's lemon trees *lots of other kinds of trees too on their prop:    lemons, bananas, ulu (jackfruit), avocado, lychee, starfruit, guava 

- Spam musubi (a local lunch/appetizer, great to make up to take to the beach)

- Kapa making (a special Hawaiian tradition)

All the family got to go take part in making kapa for my bro-in-law's upcoming wedding next week.  We got to go to their wedding site; it is kind of like an outdoor learning center, land and farm w/ lots of indigenous plants growing.  It was from one of these growing crops that the kapa is made.  Kapa is a traditional Hawaiian cloth made from the insides of a certain kind of tree.  It is pounded and imprinted w/ a watermark.  One of its uses is in Hawaiian weddings where it is wrapped around both the bride and groom during the ceremony and symbolizes the arms of both families encircling the new union.  It was such a neat experience to get to learn about this tradition and take part in making it!  Definitely will be a treasured memory.

Sam was also able to meet w/ a potential employer *fingers crossed* and fly his first helicopter here in Maui.  I am so jealous watching his footage and will be waiting for when he can take me up!  *Fun fact - the rock/land formation seen in the video is known as "Jurassic Rock" and was used in the movie Jurassic Park when they're flying in a helicopter approaching the island.

I am in the works of getting all my paperwork in order for work - one thing that is different here than in TX is that a TB clearance is required for both me and my kids in order for school.  We explained the process to Phoebe and so now it's known as the "bubble shot."  

Kids are having a blast spending time with cousins, lots of sleepovers, beach time, and fun!  We are enjoying the weather and getting to spend so much time outside, but are missing our loved ones and the connections we have from TX, and living in a house that we own; although, our short-term rental now is awesome.  We'll be moving into our long-term sometime later this month.  Looking forward to making lots of new connections here!  I have to remind myself we lived in the Cleburne area for about 12 years and so I have to be patient and it takes time to get situated in our new location.  We are lucky to be surrounded by so much family here and have their love and support.  Aloha 'Oe!