Nie Nie Dialogues

I happened to catch Oprah the other day. She had Stephanie Nielson and her husband on. They are both survivors of a plane crash. They now live in Provo. I was so impressed with Stephanie. I looked up her blog and now check it every day. Check it out. Go back and read some of her older posts.

Updates on the home front: I lost my camera. JT has the swine flu and basketball tryouts for the High School. I GOT A NEW CAR!!!!!!!!!! :) Shane and Jace are off on a special draw deer hunt.

Grace...

Sometimes it is just kind of funny how things come to you..... I was in the shower at the gym getting ready to go to the Dr. and I happened to read my shower gel bottle. It goes like this:(from Philosophy)
"Life is a classroom, we are both student and teacher, each day is a test, and each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject: grace. Grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence, and the list goes on. It's something that money can't buy and credentials rarely produce. Being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest, can't help. Being a humble person can and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude."

Sometimes we just need a little reminder :)

As it turns out....

As it turns out I won the women's division in the Triathlon. Here is my photo for the win. It just very well be my one and only win ever! (Beginner/intermediate division :) )

Picture of My Number on my Leg

HAFB Triathlon

Today I did my first Tri with my sister Kris. It was one cold, rainy, summer morning. We checked in. We waited by the pool for our heat. We were in the last heat. We were glad that we were in the last heat so there weren't too many people watching us swim! The swim ended up not being as scary as I thought it would be. But the whole time people were hitting, kicking and pulling on you. I wasn't really able to use my newly aquired swimming skills. I am not sure how long the swimm took because I forgot to stop my watch. The biking was fun. It was raining and very windy. I did well on the bike. My feet were freezing! I transitioned to the run. My feet were numb and frozen. The run was not my best run ever but I feel pretty good about how I did overall! The event was free and you also received a free T-shirt!

A big thanks to Jared, Brecklyn and Trey for cheering us on!

PICTURE LOADING PROBLEMS

LOTOJA Training

Heidie, Sara and I in the early morning hours getting in our 50 miler!

Goals

I have had a busy year of setting goals and accomplishing them!

JT

I am truly getting old. Today is JT's 15th birthday! I can hardly believe that he is that old! I am so proud of JT. He truly is such a good person. JT has the kindest heart and has very sensitive feelings. He is concerned for others feelings as well. He is growing so tall. He is over six feet tall now. He is getting ready to start high school this year. For his birthday Shane took JT and Jace to the sand dunes in Rexburg. They had such a great time. I am glad that JT, Jace and Shane have such a good friendship! JT is a awesome older brother! Honestly I just can't say enough good about that boy! We love him so much! Happy Birthday JT!

Pictures of JT's birthday party at the dunes.

Clunkers for Cash

I have to admit, I was thinking that the clunkers for cash might just be the answer for me! But it was not to be. My car does not meet the EPA rating of 18 mpg or lower. Plus then I heard what they do to the cars when you turn it over to the dealer, and there is just no way I could do that to my car. :( So I sit dreaming of a new vehicle. But while I was at Girls Camp Shane bought a Crane Truck for our business. At least it is automatic for when I have to drive it!

In the meantime I have been to Girls Camp and Pitcher Family Reunion at Lava Hot Springs. It has been a really crazy summer. I have been doing as many bike rides as I can to get ready for the LOTOJA!

The most recent and exciting news at the Johnson family home is Arie's new ride. She has had so much fun riding and riding. She has been practicing so she can beat her friend Jackson in a race. The boys at my house are getting ready to leave for the sand dunes in the morning They are going to celebrate JT's birthday!

I don't have too many more updates on the bike tour. But one thing that is pretty funny is one day Tony, Chris and I were riding in Eureka,CA and we were getting pretty hungry and we saw a COSTCO, so we stopped. The door employee wouldn't let us in. Chris was telling the lady that he was a gold member but wasn't carrying any ID. (The Lady was not nice.) Finally a manager heard and let him in to the service desk and he got us in temporarily. Tony and Chris went in for the food and I sat with the bikes. They brought out the food, pizza, diet coke, ice cream, churro?, and we just sat right outside the exit of the building and ate. As it turns out while Tony and Chris were getting the food someone asked them if they were going to play football or golf. They thought that was pretty funny. Like all the spandex might help their golf swing or something. While we were sitting outside Tony told me something and my reply to him was " I heard what you said, but I don't get it." I was getting so exhausted I just couldn't think very well. I went into the restroom and on my way out a lady stopped me @ the deli to ask me what the deal with my shoes was. The rest of the patrons of the deli seemed to stop what they were doing to hear what I had to say about my tapping shoes. When I told her that we were cycling to San Fransisco it seemed to set her at ease.

Part 2

There are going to be lots of parts to this story :) So because all of us rode the first day we left my truck in Lincoln City. We arrived at camp late in the evening. It was my night to cook dinner so I worked on that while some of our group made their way to camp. Everyone had arrived, but Tony noticed that Chris hadn't made it. Tony started trying to call Chris and we were just starting to think that we needed to get in the truck to go find him when he wheeled in. Had gone too far into the town. So people in the group ate and set up their tents...my camping gear was in my truck. Luckily I had my suitcase so that I could shower. You have to use quarters to shower. After a quick shower (not real quick) Andy, Andy, Bri and Brooke and I headed back to pick up my truck. We arrived at my truck and I drove that back to camp. It took about 1 1/2 hours each way. When I got back to camp it was around 1am. I thought that I was smart sleeping in the cab of the truck. Turns out, it was not such a idea! After a uncomfortable night some of us were up early and ready to ride. Evan, Andy B and Gary cooked us a nice batch of eggs. After getting everyone up and breaking camp, we were ready to ride. I left my truck again.

Many parts of this trip are a blur. But some of our group this day only rode about 1/2 the mileage so they headed back to pickup the truck, so we didn't have to do a late night run again. Lunch once again by Evan. Ham--sandwiches. It was hard to dress for riding. Sometimes it was so cold and then you would go inland and it would get so hot. Stopping for lunch was very chilly. We found that sitting on the asphalt helped warm you up and get you out of the wind. There was a section of the ride this day called the Seven Devils. They were steep son of a guns!

On the second night that we rode, we had dinner at a bar and grill in Bandon,(?) OR. They had fantastic burgers and garlic fries. This was the first night that I used my new lightweight backpacking tent and pad. The tent was cool, the pad was not so cool! After another great breakfast of eggs and toast we were ready to ride again (and application of the dz nuts). I am starting to get my days confused. So I guess I will just have to give trip highlights.. at least in the order that I think that it happened. Here are some pics.

We had to walk across this bridge. Tony, Chris and I took off our shoes to help save our cleats. The wind was blowing soooo hard. I was worried that it might blow the bike out of my hand. We were able to cross lots of bridges.

Pics of Bike Trip Part 1

Bike Trip Part 1

Friday morning we met bright and early in Bountiful and did a long day of driving to Portland. The crew consisted of: Andy B, Bri, Andy N, Brooke, Tony, Chris, Evan and me :) The drive was pretty uneventful except for losing the tread off the tire on the trailer which in turn took off the fender/wheel cover on the trailer. So the menfolk changed the tire and we stopped at Les Schawb and bought another new tire. We arrived in Portland and stopped at the airport to pick up Blake and Gary. Then we headed off to Lake Oswego (sp) where we had a hotel for the night. Early the next morning Andy B went to pick up Jesse who lives in Portland. We loaded everything back up into the trucks and off we went to start in Lincoln City. Lincoln City was holding their annual Kite Festival. I took a couple of pictures of kites. Pretty awesome. We unloaded and prepped our bikes. That took awhile. We left my truck and Evan went ahead with the other truck and trailer. It was rather chilly and it was hard to decide what to wear. We started off down the coast. This first day was a coastal ride. This was one of my favorite days. The wind was blowing so we had a nice tail. Nothing is flat. There is always a up and down. It was nice when the bike trail took off the main highway. There is not any shoulder on the highway.
Here are some pics of the first day.

PORTLAND TO SAN FRAN

I am just putting up a couple of pictures of the end of the ride at the Golden Gate Bridge on the 4th of July. When I regain brain function I will give a trip update.

The end of May

I think that May is one of the busiest times of the year! I am now done with field day(2 days)!!! Soccer is winding up and try outs are going to start. Basketball camps are about to begin, swim and tennis lessons too. I think that we will be plenty busy, but we just won't have school to worry about!

On Tuesday night I had the chance to go with Arie to the Taylor Swift concert in Salt Lake. It was sooo much fun! It was fun to watch the girls sing along with Taylor. Arie and I went with Chalisa, Kaimbre and Aubre. We headed down a bit early and ate at the Red Robin and then went to the concert. The video clip is the beginning of the concert. Kelly Pickler was one of the openers, but cancelled. Arie and I didn't make it home until 1 am. We were even later than the bear hunters!

The boys in our house have come and gone on the bear hunt. They had a good time. Jace was able to shoot his first bear!

I bought my camera with the purpose in mind of taking pictures of some of my bike rides. Last night Shane and I went on a really pretty ride, and of course no camera. It is really a good thing that I didn't bring the camera because I wrecked so many times that I would have broke the thing! (I just put on my clip pedals and shoes--- I am not doing so well on the loose big rock :( ) I will keep working at this so I don't wreck so much. I will also start wearing my helmet, gloves and longer pants--maybe even some elbow pads!

The weather has been so nice. I have been on a couple rides this week. I hope I will pick up a few rides this week. This upcoming Sat. is the Little Red Riding Hood. Sara, Heidie and I will do the 80 mile ride :)

Marathon Report

The good news is I finished the marathon. With my injuries and training, I was wondering if I could finish. So I was happy to finish. The worst part of the whole deal was that I felt good other than the pain in my knee. Which I think is still that darn IT band. The "Special" cream that the Dr. gave me did NOT help in any way! I will stick to 1/2 marathons, bike races/events, try a tri & other stuff that doesn't hurt so much. I am glad that I was able to run with Kris. I hope that I didn't hold her back. We were able to finish together. Shane, JT, Arie, Jared, Brecklyn and Trey were all at the finish line waiting for us and cheering us on!

Preparations

Imodium-Check, Inhaler-Check, Numbing, SwampJuice Cream-Check, Drugs-Check, Ipod-check& Chiropractor. I don't know what else to do to prepare for this race. It will be good to have it over with! I think that I will work on a little mental preparation. It has been quite a process to prepare for the race.

This weekend my brother Zach is graduating from dental school, and then moving next week to Memphis to start Ortho school. We are so proud of him! We wish that we could be there to see him graduate!

Heidie is heading to Bear Lake on Sat. to do the Bear Lake Classic. I feel a little sad that I am not going. I love to ride my bike and will miss doing the race with her. But I am crossing something off my bucket list, and I am excited to be able to do it with my sister Kris. She has had to promise to leave me when things start to hurt on me!

Shane is coming down to the race. He has so kindly offered to get up at 4 am to drive Kris and I to the bus that will take us to the start line! Hopefully it will be a respectable finish so that Shane won't die of embarrassment!

Rain, Rain, Go AWAY!

I have no fun and exciting pictures to share. But here is a update on my life. We have recently had a pretty bad bout of illness with Arie this week. She seems to be on the mend now. We have been busy with soccer, scouts, track, PTO, and everything else. Our family had to speak in church last week. We are glad to have that over with. It keeps raining alot. And it keeps raining. I guess that is how it goes when you have a new bike waiting to be rode!

Since I opted for the new bike instead of the car, I decided to have a little work done on the car. The Honda was in the shop for 2 weeks!! I truly missed my car! I called the mechanic everyday. I'm not sure if the work that was done to it helped any. I also sold my old road bike. It pulled at my heartstrings a little to see the old guy go. We had spent many miles together.

I am in the final preparations for the Marathon. I will pick up the special cream for my legs on Monday. This is supposed to block pain and inflammation, so hopefully I can finish the race!

I have still been continuing my swim lessons. I am excited because that is going well. I am starting a new program on Weds. called TRX. I am excited to give it a try.

I need the sun to shine so I can ride my bike! I am tired of standing in the rain at soccer games. I need the sun! I need the sun!

The good news is that school is almost out and I got confirmation on the LOTOJA entry!!!

A NEW ARRIVAL

Today Shane and I headed back down to Salt Lake to pick up my new bike. I was really excited to get the bike. I have been having some nightmares about getting a compact double. Shane and I were both really impressed with the service at Contender. I would highly recommend checking out this awesome bike store. Shane took a picture of me, Alison (my cousin), Ryan and the bike. They are the owners of the store. I definetly have been riding the wrong size of bike! I took the bike out this afternoon for a ride. What a difference! I am excited to try a few hills to check out the gearing. I test rode alot of bikes before arriving at the conclusion to buy this Orbea Orca. So now I need to eat a little crow...... I opted to buy a new bike instead of a new car. I know that I mentioned in a earlier post that I was for sure buying a new car. I guess the Honda will just have to keep on going for another hundred thousand!

Pineapple Cake Recipe

I don't like Pineapple but this cake is really good-

PINEAPPLE CAKE-



2 Eggs

2 Cups of Flour

2 Cups of Sugar

2 Tsp. Baking Soda

1 Tsp. Vanilla

1 Can 20 ounces of Crushed Pineapple, do not drain

(I have added 1/2 cup or so of sour cream)-



Mix these ingredients together and bake in a 350 degree oven.(9X13 pan) The original recipe says 20-25 min, but I bake it for 35min and then lay tinfoil on top and finish baking. You will need to keep testing it to see when it is done.



While the cake is still warm, frost with the following recipe:



1 pound powdered sugar

8 ounces cream cheese (softened)

1/2 stick of butter (softened or melted)

1 TBSP vanilla



Beat well together. If the frosting is way thick, thin with a little with milk.



The original recipe called for nut in the cake and pecan on top of the frosting. I have not done that when I have made the cake.

More Moab Pics

Spring Break!

For spring break we did our annual trip down to Moab. I would like to say that it was warm and sunny, but it was NOT! The first day of riding (thurs.) was pretty nice. The rest of the days had rain, snow, wind and rain. This year was the first year that Jace rode a motorcycle. I was really concerned for his safety. The first day he struggled at bit. By the second day he rode like a Pro. He was bruised from his hips to his toes. If he wrecked he just got up and got back on the bike without complaining! I called him "Evil Kanevil (sp)" while we were in Moab. That boy is not scared of anything or as I say, no sense of self-preservation. JT got a new motorcycle, a KTM. He also struggled the first day. I thought that we might be bringing that bike home and selling it, but the next day he rode so well. It's really nice as a parent to see your kids growing up to be good people. I was really proud of my kids on the trip. Arie says that she didn't like to ride. She just wanted to play with her friend Addi. Most of Arie's time was spent in the hot tub! Shane has officially retired from the tour guide down in Moab. He says that next year he will be on a motorcycle! The kids were having too much fun without him!

Now we are back home, back to the regular routine of things. Back to school, track practice, YM's, scouts, achievement days, and soccer practice. The nice thing is that I think that spring is somewhat here!!!

Genetics

I have had a run with my genetics the past few days! I did a body fat and VO2 max test. The results were ok but not great.(We were told that the results were affected by genes. So I can blame my results on that!) Then I went to the Dr. for my ITB pain. He told me that my hips were the problem due to genetics. So I started physical therapy today. Hopefully to correct some of the problem so I can do the marathon that I signed up for. Kris.... How are your genes working for you?

Shane has not been working for the past month or so. It has been a adjustment for him. We drove to Logan last night for some dinner and some errands. There was a man standing on the side of the rode with the sign "Will Work For Food". Shane thought that he might give that a try. As soon as they can get cement in we can start work!

Car update. We have decided on getting another Honda Accord. There are many reasons for this decision. The kids are not very happy about it, but since they are not paying for the new car they have no say! I keep watching KSL classifieds everyday trying to find the right one at a good deal!

We are starting to get ready for our annual trip to Moab. The kids are so excited to go! It is always a blast when we go!

Stunning

This is a picture of my new swim cap and goggles. I have been using hand me downs. I just signed up for a Masters swim class. It is a bit interesting because I have worked on my swimming and I can now swim 80 laps no big deal. But in this new class you start all over at the beginning. The teacher tells you not to go back and swim how you used to. You can only practice the drills you are assigned. I think it will be much better for me in the long run. (I'll understand if no one wants to be seen with me!)

Today was Arie's Cardiology appointment. She had a echo and EKG. Everything looks about the same as last years echo which is good. So we are good to go until her next appointment. It sure is nicer to go to these appointments now that she is older. This appointment was over 2 hours long. Shane took her to Walmart after to get her own Wii controller and numchuck (sp)? Shane took me to Al's and bought my new cap and goggles along with the new lightweight tent to go with all of the backpacking gear he bought me the other day. I guess I am now committed to go backpacking. I think that it will be fun. Plus I have a new really cute sleeping bag.

Tomorrow is the long run day. Kris can correct me if I am off schedule again. I will be doing my 18 miler. This will mean I get to watch a couple of movies. Shane has given me the Transporter movies.

I don't think that I mentioned in the last post that Shane said I could definitely get a new car or whatever I pick. But the more $$'s it is the longer I may have to wait. I have looked at a few Honda Accords but I really would like to drive a few other cars, especially the Nissan Murano. I asked Shane that he would promise me that if I got another Honda Accord that I would not have to drive it as long as this one! It has been a trusty steed!

Roadshow

Our stake did roadshows for the youth. Our ward did one like Hee-Haw. It was great. JT and Jace were both in it. Our ward won first place last week so they got to perform it this week. Some of the kids (OK most) had no idea what Hee-Haw was.

Here is a picture of the boys and one of "Cletus".

He was awesome!

We have a very exciting week! Shane has been home all week. He has helped various people do some odd jobs like; tiling a shower and welding on a manger. I call him farm boy right now because he has to stand in a foot of cow crap to do the welding. It is very strange to have him around all the time.

We had a little car trouble this week (shocker)! I am cruising down the highway with the kids. (in the fast lane) The car makes a funny sound like the door is open going 70. I pull off to the emergency lane. The boys pile out of the car to check it out. As it turns out the plastic inside the wheel well has partially come off and was rubbing on the tire. So I pull on it to try and rip it off, well it was still screwed on. So I opted to drive the back roads home. It made very loud sounds and flipped gravel and rocks all over the place as it dragged on the ground. We passed a man who was out walking who turned around to stare at us as we went down the road. I turned a corner to a dirt road. I did not see a pothole in the road so we hit it going pretty fast. Hitting the hole was just what the plastic needed to be ripped off. I stopped and all the kids jumped out to run back and get the plastic. They were cheering and laughing the whole way. Arie told me after they got back in the car that she would not ride in the car anymore! (Extra Parts that the car really doesn't need--better gas mileage.)

Today Shane and I got our taxes prepared and filed. It was nice to have done! We stopped for lunch and then went to Staples to pick up a few supplies. I really needed to use the restroom so I headed to the back of the store. There was a note on the door saying something to the effect that the lock on the door was kind of broke. That if you chose to use the restroom you might get locked in, Sorry for the inconvenience. I REALLY had to go. I checked out the lock. Seemed to work, so I went in. After washing my hands I tried the door. LOCKED! I tried a little bit more- LOCKED! I thought what now.... The restroom is at the back of the store, do I bang and yell until a employee hears me? Ah ha..... I have my cell phone. 911? No, I just call Shane who is shopping on the store. Please, off all the times answer the phone! He did. It went something like this:

Shane: Hello

Kara: Hey, I 'm locked in the bathroom.

Shane: In the store?

Kara: Ya. Could you help me?

Shane: Do you want me to find an employee and tell them my wife is locked in the bathroom?

Kara: (Kind of laughing) Ya,.... No wait! I got it!

Lucky for me I kept working it and jiggling it till it opened. Saving me a big embarrassment! What if Shane hadn't been shopping with me? Call 911 really?

Is it almost spring?

It seems like it is taking me longer to do new posts. Maybe because I am too busy??? Or maybe things are pretty routine??? Today was my Grandma Bergesons funeral. It was a really nice funeral. All of my cousins were there. My brother Zach was able to come from Pittsburgh. Although I will miss Grandma I am glad that she was able to go peacefully. She would have really loved her funeral. It was good to visit with old neighbors and friends. My cousin Addi was there with her 2 little boys. Because I read her blog I was not surprised at how big her boys were getting.

JT is now done with school basketball. He will be starting competitive basketball and track soon. Jace and I are just finishing indoor soccer and will be starting outdoor soccer. Arie is now in achievement days. Shane has some down time for work right now. He plans to do some snowmobiling, I have some plans for some honey do's for him! We shall see! (Ha Ha Ha)

I am getting excited to start riding my (road) bike outside. You can only ride the trainer for so long. I am still working towards the marathon. I had a discouraging run yesterday. I hope that the next long run goes better.

I will be following Jill's (Up in Alaska Blog) progress in the Iditarod race. She is using a SPOT tracking system. I think that is a totally crazy race! I am such a boob when it comes to being cold. Her blog has some really cool pictures.

Winter update

I have been so busy lately that it has been hard to make time to blog! We had Arie's baptism and confirmation on Jan.31st. It was a really neat experience. Afterwards the family came over and ate, then we headed out to do some sleigh riding/tubing. I think that everyone had a good time. It was fun to have everyone over and stay and play for a while.

Today is JT's last basketball game of the school season. I am really proud of how well he has been playing. Shane and I have really enjoyed watching him play. Jace and Arie are a little tired of going to watch the games.

Last Sat. Jace went and moved chickens for the first time. They sent the forms to fill out for taxes for Jace, so I am assuming that they will ask him back again.

I have rode my mountain bike outside a few times in the last couple of weeks. I had a wreck on one of my rides. (Ice- got me.) In getting ready for the marathon I ran 17 miles. And then after I was done checked my e-mail and realized that I only needed to run 15-16 miles. Kris has to keep me on track because I seem to like to get ahead of the training schedule. It is time to also start planning the upcoming events for the year. It is hard to decide what to do.....so much to choose from. I heard that the LOTOJA is the 13th of Sept. I have not yet checked for myself.

On Monday night Shane took the family to the Rock Haus in Logan to do some rock climbing. We had a really good time. Arie really likes to climb!

I hope that everyone is doing well. Especially with the economy the way it is. We just signed another building. So we have work for a few more months.

Arie's 8th Birthday

Today we celebrate Arie's 8th Birthday! She is so excited about turning 8 and being baptized. Shane and I were talking about how time flies. Arie is turning 8, Jace passed the sacrament for the 1st time, JT is getting so big and is almost ready to start driving. Arie adds a spark of life to our family, everything is such a big deal. It seem just like yesterday that we were in the hospital fighting for her life. It is truly amazing how her health has improved year to year! Sat. will be such a special day for me to have Arie baptized, it is a day that I sometimes wondered if I would ever see happen. Happy Birthday Arie!!! We Love You!!!

Family Trip

I thought that I would share some of our activities in Hawaii and some of our photos. We left on Mon. Dec. 29th 2008. We had a direct flight to Hawaii. We stayed at a beach house in the town of Laia. Which is close to the North Shore where the famous pipeline is. Of course we checked out the pipeline and Sunset beach. There were lots of surfers and bodyboarders. The humidity was very high and it rained every day. But at least it was a warm rain. The boys and Shane took surf lessons with Cory and Jaden at Chun's Reef. Their lesson was taught by "Uncle Bryan". "Uncle Bryan" claimed to be the coach of alot of the pro surfers. All of our surfing students did get up and surf. While I was watching the surf lessons I saw a guy surfing with a bulldog on his board. I told Shane that we are turning Riley in for a new model.

We hiked to a waterfall that was about 700 feet tall. It was a waterfall that tourists don't go to, just the locals. We had to climb a rope up 2 sections of water. We ended up with a ton of bug bites. We had to hike up the river bed and in the river for about one mile. Only Bret and Chalisa's family and ours went to the top. The kids had the chance to jump into pools of water under some of the smaller falls on the way up and down. I slipped and fell into one of the pools, which was ok other than I had a bag on my back with beach towels and clothes in it. The bag quickly weighted me down as I tried to make it to the edge of the pool.

We did alot of body boarding at different beaches. We only ended up with one major injury. Bret totally got ate by a pounder. He injured his neck. He had a painful couple of last days and had to miss his surf lesson. When he got home he went to the Doctor, who told him that he had torn his ligaments in his neck.

We went to Pearl Harbor, the PCC, Hannama (sp) Bay (snorkeling), saw the blow hole, the most photographed beach, visited Tim and Elaine Hobbs (serving a mission at the PCC), ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, went to the Flea Market, ate fresh shrimp at the Shrimp trucks (yummmmmy!). I am leaving out many of the sites and beaches we went to. We did alot of beach walking and gathering shells. We enjoyed snorkeling at different beaches in our touring.

New Years Eve in Hawaii is a HUGE deal. They start letting off fireworks around 5pm and don't stop until sometime early in the morning. The smoke is so thick from all of the fireworks. The Hawaiins save their money to buy fireworks. They have firework wars and shoot them across the street at each other. If you wonder what the picture is with the smoke it is New Years Eve on the street where the temple is.

We drove up the West side of the island (north). This is really the ghetto of Hawaii!

(See the picture with the Holiday Inn Flag!)