Sunshine, surf and President Obama

Jan 2, 2010 is a day for record. Myself and two buddies headed out to Pyramid Point to get in some surfing. (Pyramid Point is one of the only medium to big wave spots on the windward side of Oahu. It's great because it's located on the Marine Base, so very few people have access to it.) The two I'm with were born with surf board stuck to their feet (like most Hawaiians) so they spent the majority of the time riding waves. It was my third time and first on the big waves. So I pretty much did the washing machine thing for two hours. Once my arms turned to noodles I headed in. The two other took pity on me and headed out of the water not long after.

We headed over to wash our boards when I notice a few plain-clothes officers walking around. Soon I noticed other dudes in khakis and silk Hawaiian shirts attempting to fit in but were really standing out. We put two and two together and soon realized that the president might be heading to this beach. A few minutes later this huge caravan of black SUVs showed up and out walked President Obama and his family.
How awesome is that. So we ran over to see if we could get our picture with the president. Secret service had set up a perimeter so we can't get that close. We didn't want to waste the opportunity to have our picture taken with the president so we improvised. President Obama was sitting under the green umbrella and Michelle Obama is standing just beyond it. (she's wearing pink). The idea behind the picture was for me to have my arm around the president, even though he was way off in the distance. However it appears the dude who took the picture did quite understand what we were trying to achieve.

Saturday hike to Maunawili Falls

A bunch of Polynisians, a muddy field, and a football...

This year's Turkey Bowl was one like no other. Gone were the layers of sweat pants and long sleeve shirts. No frost on the cold hard ground. This year no one could see their breath or had runny noses. Temperatures were in the upper 70's. The grassy field still had standing water from the rains the day before.

So the tradition is: young men against Elders and High Priests. This year we had too many adults, so the bishopric headed over to the young men's team. I know what you're thinking, "real fair, a bunch of adults against some young men." But you must know that Polynesian young men are bigger than most adult Caucasian men and have more football experience than them too. So it was much more even than you would think. Plus what better clash could there be than a group of has been adults wanting to relive their youthful glory days and the youthful young men wanting the prove their abilities and beat down the old men?

After a few plays, the beautiful grassy field with standing water quickly became a 50X25 yard mud pit perfect for any "Wipeout" television show. In reality the mud was icing on the cake. A game with passionate footballers provides satisfaction enough, but add brotherly love, comical face plants in a muddy puddle, you now have memory to last a lifetime.

I have played in many Turkey Bowls in my life. But this one is hands down the most memorable.

So there I was...

I was wracking my brain trying to figure out the best way to both archive precious memories while at the same time sharing exciting experiences with those we love. Facebook is nice but let's face it, its very terse and dynamic. A great comment is quickly lost in the deluge of random pointless statements and links to an occasional humorous clip. So in an effort to slow down life and highlight it's finer points, we begin our very own blog.