A Bay Found!

The next day we went back and found this little unmarked road that actually lead to the service entrance for the hotel. At the end of this road, past the service entrance, was A-Bay. This is my favorite beach so far....the coconut trees are so pretty and provide awesome shade! Now the sand here is not the best...its a little rocky. Jillian is sporting her Spiderman band-aids, her favorite!

A Bay is easier to say.

Jen and Jillian standing in front of the coconut trees.

Jeremy and Jillian standing in the ocean. The waves here were very calm...but they still made Jillian nervous. She wouldn't go in alone. Actually, none of us went swimming....the water was toooooo cold!

There was this wall of sand that extended the entire length of beach...all the way up to the next hotel. I'm not sure what purpose it served...maybe to keep the tides from coming in too far? There was enough beach in front of the wall to play and sit. I wanted to stay in the shade though. I am turning into my grandmother with sun paranoia.

In Search of A-Bay

When we first moved here I saw a postcard of this beautiful place called A-Bay and ever since then I have wanted to go. We read about A-Bay in our favorite guidebook, Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed and it was highly recommended. This past weekend we went on a mission to find A-Bay. There was a sign from the highway, but when we turned off into Hilton Waikoloa Village, there were no more signs directing us to the bay. So we parked at Hilton's public shoreline access and hiked along the trail to another hotel. The hike was beautiful and the path ran parallel to the ocean. The path was mostly made of white coral rocks. By the time we reached the Marriott, I was tired....I had been carrying Jillian...and ready to turn back, even though we had not made it to the bay.

Along the way we stopped to take a few pictures.

When we left in the morning, it was a little chilly and Jillian was a sleepy girl. We brought Gi-Gi (her fav blanket) and a pillow in hopes that she would nap in the car. She doesn't look too comfy, does she?

Pu'uhonua o Honaunau - Place of Refuge

For Christmas, our Alaskan friends, The Burson family bought Jillian an annual pass to a National Historic Park here in Hawaii....The Place of Refuge. When we got there, we learned that the pass is also good for the volcano park here and the one on Maui. That is so cool, we can't wait to go back again and again! :)


The Pu'uhonua was a sanctuary that provided the Hawaiian people with a second chance. No blood could be shed within its confines. That means that any lawbreaker or person seeking refuge during wartime could go to a pu'uhonua and be safe. If you had broken a law, the kapu, the penalty was death. Reaching a pu'uhonua would guarantee absolution and you were safe to return home.



















There is no swimming or sun bathing on their beach because it is considered sacred ground.

The Great Wall runs a border along the park, it was constructed in 1550 and stands 10 feet high and 17 feet thick. Amazing! You can just see the wall beyond the coconut trees.

















Jillian is playing Konane, an ancient Hawaiian game.
























The wooden totem poles are called Ki'i and stand guard around the park. Jillian LOVED them! I think the picture of her kissing that mean grimace is so cute!

When we woke up on this morning the temperature was in the low 70's. We thought that was pretty chilly, so all 3 of us wore jeans. :) I think we're getting acclimated....




Inside the park is a beautiful area for picnicking. The tide pools there are very neat! Fish are washed into the shallow-ish pools with the tide. We have friends who've seen an octopus one day in a tide pool here. Sadly, this day there were no fish. We'll just have to try again on another day.

Christmas Eve with Dad

Thought I'd add one more picture from my recent trip to the mainland. On Christmas Eve my sisters and I drove from St. Louis, MO to Chatham, IL (near Springfield) to see Dad, his girlfriend Leslie and her kids Graycen and Colton. I didn't have any pictures from our trip until I commandeered this one from my sister's blog...thanks Allie! :)

I am not a big road trip kind of girl.....driving is not what I'd call a good time. So, when this 2 hour jaunt turned into a 5 hour adventure, I was not excited. Katie drove the first half and when we decided that I had received BAD directions from Mapquest.....we weren't even on the right highway!....we pulled over and I started driving the rest of the way. Thankfully we realized that things were not right before we reached Indiana and crossed another state line! We called Dad and he got us turned around and going the right way. By this time we were all fighting like crazy and I was so ready to be out of the car! God knows no one can love and fight and make up like sisters. We joke that we get in a fight every 15 minutes when we are together...and really that's not too far from reality. Anyway, I started speeding and the bad thing about Illinois is that there are tons of small towns along the highways. I was going super fast when Pawnee Village popped up and the speed limit immediately dropped to 30. I slammed on my brakes, but was still clocked by a local policeman going 60. Ugh! The cop came to the window and I just broke down. I couldn't take anymore. I was tired, tired of driving and tired of all the fighting. I was sad about missing Christmas with Jeremy and Jillian and still worried about Grandma. Oh yeah, and I was PMS'ing big time.

I started sobbing and the nice guy took pity on me. Not only did he write me a warning, but he made sure that I had step-by-step directions to where we needed to go. We were 15 minutes from our destination. Seriously.

We arrive at Leslie's house and had a wonderful evening. Dad made a yummy dinner, it was great to see him and meet Leslie and her kids. The pic above is of all the kids L to R: me, Katie, Ava, Allison, Natalie, Graycen and Colton.

My evening of crying continued when Dad gave me Wendy. When I graduated high school, mom and dad gave me a mini dachshund puppy.....she was all I wanted and I begged them for months for her. Wendy stayed with my parents when I left for the Air Force and by this time she was the family's dog because we all loved her so much! She has lived the last few years with my dad and this past fall at almost 12 years old, she passed away after eating something that blocked her intestines. Dad had her cremated and gave the ashes to me. Ava, my niece, is 4 1/2 and is so precious. I told her why I was crying and she asked how Wendy died. We said she choked on something. Ava asked to see the bag so that she could see what Wendy had choked on. "Rocks" Ava said while examining the clear plastic bag. "It looks like she choked on rocks!" The vet put Wendy's ashes in a clear plastic bag and this inside a blue velvet drawstring pouch embroidered with the lovely sentiment "Until We Meet Again At The Rainbow Bridge".

Wendy came into my life and gained a permanent place in my heart. She was one of the special ones. I am better for knowing and loving her. Someday I will meet her at the Rainbow Bridge and I will hug her and kiss her and tell her thank-you.

Volcano Park and Royal's Visit

Jillian standing on the lava at the end of Chain of Craters Road in Volcanoes National Park.

Our friends, Paula, Brenda and Ron stopped over to Kona for an overnight visit during their recent vacation to Maui. Paula was visiting from Phoenix and Ron and Brenda were enjoying their break from chilly Fairbanks, AK.

Ron, Jeremy and Jillian are about to enter the Thurston Lava Tube.

Brenda and Paula inside the lava tube.....like a big straw made out of lava. Lava flowed through here at one time and left behind an empty tunnel.

Jillian is running down the end of Chain of Craters Road....you can't drive here and up ahead lava has flowed over the road cutting it off.

Where the lava meets the sea. This is the youngest part of the Hawaiian Islands and the ocean here is very deep. About 100 yards off this part of the coast, the ocean floor drops suddenly to several miles deep.

Kilauea Caldera- Natives often offer leighs to the Fire Goddess: Pele At one time, this Caldera was a boiling lake of lava. One day (in the mid 80's) the lava lake drained back into the earth and this caldera is what is left over. There had been a vent that was active for a long time called: Puu O' O, but it has also gone quiet lately. Right now, there is no active lava that can be seen except from the air. There is also no lava entering the ocean to create steam plumes. Sorry Royals.

Ron standing in the steam from the steam vents in the Kilauea Caldera. The smell of suplhur was very strong this day!

This could be you! We loved having the Royal's visit! And we would love for you to visit also!

Pictures From My Trip to the Mainland

Here is a small sampling of pictures that my mom's husband Doug took while I was home. This is a picture of Grandma's hospital....St. John's Heart Hospital in St. Louis, MO.

Girls in the waiting room....(L to R) Cousin Sarah and my sisters Allison, Natalie and Katie. This was taken before I arrived from the airport....Grandma is already in surgery.

Aunt Loretta (with my cousins Jacob and Ashton) picked me up from the airport and brought me to the hospital. This is a picture of me arriving and greeting my mom. :)

I arrived and we huddled.

Yeah, Grandma is out of surgery! :) Doug and Grandma posing for the camera. My Mom and I are very passionate about scrapbooking. Being supportive, Doug captured over 100 moments on camera. Mom and I and all the girls really, made Grandma a scrapbook titled, "The Day You Had Heart Surgery" and brought it to her in the hospital. I think she really liked it, reading it made her cry. Isn't she the cutest thing?

The night I got home the girls made sugar cookies. I went back to Grandma's to take a shower.

OK, when we all get together we get silly. Here we are comparing our bellies.

More silliness. The four of us and Katie's little Ava climbed on the couch and sang Christmas songs (even if we didn't know all the words). Our poor family had to listen to us! :)

My niece, Miss Ava.

My sister, Miss Natalie, playing cards.

My other sister, Miss Allison, e-mailing Kevin.

Withrow Update

Aloha everyone! It has been a busy time in the Withrow home since my last post. A week before Christmas my Grandma had a heart attack and was immediately sent by helicopter to the heart hospital to have a stent procedure done. She still refers fondly to the fun helicopter ride. :) When the stent did not work, her doctors scheduled her open heart surgery. She asked my cousin to bring me and my sister (who is currently living in Costa Rica) home to be with her.....along with the rest of the family who live within driving distance. How could we say no? The family gathered from Missouri, Iowa, Costa Rica and Hawaii to be with Grandma when she went in to surgery. Jeremy (my hero!) stayed home and took care of Jillian. I was gone for 13 days and Jeremy was able to take off from work every day but one. For one day, Jillian went to play with the kids at day care. The other 12, Jeremy and Jillian played hard and had a great time. I am so thankful for him! It was great seeing my family over the holidays....we are never in the same place at the same time anymore...and at the same time I missed celebrating Christmas with my baby who is now starting to understand and appreciate all the fun-ness of the Holidays.

Grandma is doing great! She was released to a nursing facility to complete her rehab a week after surgery. This past weekend my cousin Sarah brought her home, where she was so very excited to be reunited with her kitties. :) My youngest sister, Natalie, moved in and will be there to help out evenings and weekends, when the nurse is off.

When I got home Jillian was extra cranky. Jeremy and I thought that she just needed time to settle into the new normal. Then one day she was laying in my lap and I noticed her one ear was full of junk. We made an appointment for her to see the Doctor....the 2nd doctor we tried and thankfully he was MUCH better than the first one. Jillian had an ear infection! Apparently she picked up a little cold at day care and it turned into an ear infection. Poor thing was feeling so yucky. She has been on antibiotics for 9 days now and I'm pretty sure she is all better, we are just finishing the bottle like good patients. That's what the label says to do, you know.... :)

This is a picture of Jillian hugging Grinch from our neighbor's yard. Our neighbors love to decorate for the holidays and Jillian LOVES it! Everyday she went over to hug Grinch. :) This is also the only picture from Christmas this year. Pictures are my thing....video is more of Jeremy's thing. So this year, we have video but no pics.

Hope you all had a very Happy Holiday season!