Working In Hawaii

Ben and Emily are having a blast in Hawaii.

At least, judging by the pictures they are tagged in on Facebook.

There is often no caption to the photos so I just have to guess what is going on based on past experience.

Ben turned nineteen in Hawaii. Emily will turn sixteen in Hawaii.

I've never missed their birthdays before.

Their first two weeks in Hawaii, they were at training camp learning this year's Bible lessons and how to teach them to children.

They had to study a lot before they left and they have to study a lot while they are there.

They have to go to a laundromat to wash the clothes they took with them.

There's just no way to pack for a two-month trip in one suitcase without doing lots of laundry.

They held practice clubs so they could work with kids and get hands-on experience.

They have chow lines.

Dishes to wash.

Kids to carry.

Songs to learn and sing over and over and over.

It's not all work and no play, though. They also get to spend some time relaxing.

Hydrating.

Eating.....string? Giant tennis balls?

Um......demonstrating how to throw a small person?

Getting dirty.

And taking baths.

Posing.

And.......your guess is as good as mine.

Comments

Ben's Feet

Ben went camping with his youth group this weekend. He said it was the best weekend he's had since we've been in Hawaii, and possibly in his entire life. The one negative part was that he stepped on some coral out in the water and cut his feet up pretty good. He swears it was all dead coral - you shouldn't touch live coral, much less walk on it because it damages the coral. No one ever mentions that it also damages your feet. They just tell you not to damage the coral. Also, coral is a living organism . If you step on live coral and a tiny piece breaks off in the cut, it will continue to grow. Did you see the movie Alien ? If some creature incubates in Ben's feet, then breaks out and eats us all one night, I'm going to be quite miffed. (Make sure you read the inscription on his tee shirt in this picture. It's quite appropriate.)

Mammogram

I'm having my annual mammogram today. I always hear about how painful they are, but honestly, I've never thought they are that bad. Not the most comfortable, but not painful either. Every time I have a mammogram, I'm reminded of this story. It won the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition and I still get a kick out of it every time I read it. So I'm posting it here today for your reading pleasure: Erma Bombeck Writing Competition 1st place in Humor Category Winner Leigh Anne Jasheway of Eugene, Oregon "The First Time's Always the Worst" The first mammogram is the worst. Especially when the machine catches on fire. That's what happened to me. The technician, Gail, positioned me exactly as she wanted me (think a really complicated game of Twister - right hand on the blue, left shoulder on the yellow, right breast as far away as humanly possible from the rest of your body). Then she clamped the machine down so tight, I think my breast actually turned inside o...

Japanese Fishing Shrine

Here's an interesting little spot we stopped to see. I'd passed this many times before and had never stopped to see what it was. Since GG and Sherry were here, we decided to check it out. There is a shrine of some sort with a statue and a carved rock. There was no information on sight as to what it is that I could find. There were flowers, food and incense left around the base of the shrine. There was a ceramic statue and a rock with a figure carved into it. None of the food was old or rotting (although plenty of it had clearly been pecked by birds) and the flowers were all fresh which made me think it must be cleaned and cared for on a regular basis. After we got home, I did some research and found this article about it from the Hawaii Star Bulletin, our local newspaper (I have edited out some bits, but otherwise the article is unchanged): "Maintenance" of the monument has been assumed by a group of Vietnamese Buddhists - Shingon Shu Hawaii, the Buddhist temple th...

Mama On The Move

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