HOME ALONE

FOR FIVE WHOLE DAYS!

Debra and Ashley left this morning for Monterey, California, to attend Spirit West Coast 2009. It is a three-day Christian music festival and conference.

Packing the night before leaving

Meanwhile, I am left home alone for five whole days with an incredibly overwhelming TO DO list. Here is the list:

1. Water outdoor plants
2. Eat meals prepared ahead of time by Debra
3. Watch movies and sporting events recorded on TV

In addition to this stressful and demanding list, I must also figure out a way to spend some quality time with the 82-degree water in the pool and with the 102-degree water in the hot tub.

It’s going to be a long and challenging five days!

Anyway, getting back to the road trip to Monterey, this is how the whole thing evolved:

A few months ago, Ashley attended a weekend college retreat with a group from our church. At that retreat, she became friends with our pastor’s wife, Maureen. Maureen was inspired by Ashley’s determination and by her rope-course feats during the retreat, especially considering that Ashley has only one arm. Ashley even climbed one structure that was so high that some of the young men in the group were too afraid to climb it.

So, Maureen loaned Ashley a DVD called “Verve”, a video about Nick Vujicic who was born without limbs. No arms. No legs. Ashley and Debra both were quite moved by Nick’s story. When Ashley found out that Nick was going to be one of the speakers at Spirit West Coast 2009, well, she just had to go!

Nick Vujicic

Debra and Ashley are now on the road somewhere between Hybiscus Street and Monterey.

But there is a surprise waiting for Ashley when they get there.

What Ashley did not know at the time she pulled out of the driveway this morning was that I contacted Nick’s organization, Life Without Limbs, and told them that Ashley was driving all the way from Oregon to Monterey just to see and hear Nick. When Nick’s staff got my message, they responded and suggested that a personal meeting could be arranged for Ashley to meet Nick to spend time visiting with him one-on-one.

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Ashley will discover this surprise when she opens an envelope I left for her this morning before she got into the car.

For a brief video clip of this amazing guy named Nick, click here.

HUNTER BRINGS THE FAMILY

Out of all ten grandchildren that Debra and I share between us, we have waited the longest period of time since last seeing Hunter. We saw him at Christmas in 2006 when he was only a year-and-a-half old. Hunter is now four. We haven’t seen him for over two-and-a-half years! This weekend Hunter brought his mother, brother and sister for a weekend visit.

I was curious to know how Hunter would respond to me when I first met them at the hotel yesterday morning. Would he even remember me? I pulled into the hotel parking lot as Tracy, Cody, Emily and Hunter were descending the stairs from their upstairs room. I parked my truck and opened the door to greet them.

As soon as my feet touched pavement, Hunter bolted across the parking lot toward me, arms extended, shouting “Papa! Papa! Papa!” I was surprised and pleased and, quite frankly, it felt good when he leaped into my arms and squeezed my neck with all his four-year-old might.

Thanks largely to the Internet, I have been able to stay fairly well connected to Hunter and to his mom. It may have helped, too, that I recently wrote and printed a 50-page book, complete with over 100 photos, entitled “Hunter Turns Four”. I sent that book to Hunter only about two weeks ago as a birthday present.

The book was written as a children’s story showing photos of my parents, my siblings, Hunter’s paternal grandmother, Ben and his sisters, Hunter as a baby, Hunter with his parents and with his siblings over the past four years, a bunch of aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews, and a concluding photo of Papa and Nana holding a ToysRUs gift card which we gave to Hunter. The book basically chronicled Hunter’s roots in an easy-to-read, well-illustrated format and it was written with the purpose of helping him understand his connection to at least one branch of his family tree.

So, Hunter knew me when he saw me.

Anyway, when Hunter raced across the parking lot and jumped into my arms, the connection was strong, the chemistry was good, the excitement level was high, and the entire weekend was incredibly fun.

The five of us got into Tracy’s car and drove to The Old Farmhouse Restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed for the Family Fun Center for a game of miniature golf. After golfing only five holes of the eighteen-hole course, the outside thermometer had already reached into the nineties and the sweaty faces indicated that the final thirteen holes would not be all that fun. So, we went indoors into air-conditioned comfort, climbed around Cactus Jack’s Playhouse and placed a bunch of tokens into a bunch of rides and video games.

Then we stopped at Subway for lunch before heading to Papa and Nana’s house for an afternoon in the pool. After a few hours of swimming and soaking up the hot Hybiscus Street sun, we grilled burgers and hot dogs, then headed off to the movie theater where we each put on a pair of special 3-D glasses and watched the new 3-D release, “G-Force”, an animated suspense thriller about a specially trained squad of guinea pigs who are dispatched to stop a diabolical billionaire from taking over the world.

Then, after a jam-packed twelve hours together, it was time to sleep.

Finally, we hooked up again at church this morning and, following church, Hunter and his crew drove off to Beaverton to spend some time with the Weathersbys.

Hunter said that his favorite breakfast was pancakes. So, at the Old Farmhouse Restaurant, that's what he ordered.

Between breakfast and the miniature golf course, we made a quick stop by the hotel. Hunter and Cody waited in the back seat while Tracy and Emily got some stuff from the hotel room.

Golfers: Hunter, Tracy, Me, Emily & Cody.

Hunter putts while Cody, Emily & Tracy await their turns.

Leaving the outdoor heat behind, we all retreat indoors where Hunter discovers the slide at Cactus Jack's Playhouse.

Trucker Hunter.

Guitar Hero rocking out.

Shooting stuff.

Hunter takes the steering wheel of this vehicle while his brother, Cody, races the car beside him in the background. Note that Hunter has a cast on his right arm and Cody has a cast on his left arm.

Caveman riding a dinosaur.

Cody, Hunter & Emily ascend Cactus Jack's Playhouse.

Cody, Hunter & Emily descend Cactus Jack's Playhouse via the slide.

Emily, Tracy, Hunter, Cody and a dragon find a cool spot in the summer sun. That blue thing on Hunter's arm was purchased at a pharmacy to keep his cast dry while in water.

"Hi, Nana!"

Hunter demonstrates how brave he is by putting his face under water, opening his goggled eyes, and blowing bubbles into the water.

Papa & Hunter.

Emily & Cody.

Cody's turn to use that blue thing on his cast.

Once it became Hunter's nap time, he was given a choice: Rest on a bed in the house or rest on a lounge by the pool. Hunter made his choice.

"Hi, Nana!"

SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE

Six

Five

Four

Three

GONE AND GONE

An incredibly fun weekend has ended, Dean's birthday party was a huge success, and the multitudes have departed.

The Weathersbys are gone. They left Sunday morning, but not without first posing for a family photo.

Judy and Dean are gone. They left Sunday afternoon, but not without first posing for a totem pole picture.

1999 totem pole picture

1992 totem pole picture

1957 totem pole picture

TRIPLE-SIBLING CANNONBALL

Judy, Dean and I all qualify now as senior citizens according to some standards. Nevertheless, we decided to perform a well-choreographed, Olympic-style triple-sibling cannonball yesterday during Dean's birthday party. It just seemed like the wise thing to do.

And now, for an exciting video adventure with sound, click the "play" tab below:

BROTHERLY BIRTHDAY PARTY

Dean hadn't had a birthday party since he turned seven years old a few decades ago. Today he had the second birthday party of his life at our house. At this rate, his next party will be on his 107th birthday and it will be Judy's turn to host it.

Dean came all the way from Hilo to visit Judy and to visit us. It just so happened that his visit coincided with his birthday. Since Dean doesn't have any friends living near the house on Hybiscus , we recruited some friends for him and they joined us in this birthday celebration. And, of course, we also had the Weathersbys join us for the weekend.

Josie, Debra's older daughter, came with her husband, Gordon, and with their three daughters; Baylee, Rylie and Makiah. Tom and Ruth, Gordon's parents, also joined in the festivities.

Following lunch at Wild River Pizza, we all returned home and surprised Dean with a pool full of bright balloons, a stack of party hats and party horns, and a twelve-foot "Happy Birthday" banner strung across the overhang.

The remainder of the day unfolded with tons of food, swimming, hot tubbing, washer tossing, ping pong, guitar playing, singing and, finally, the opening of birthday presents.

Upon arriving to a surprisingly decorated back yard, Dean gets into the proper party mood with a party hat and a party horn and a partying sister.

It was determined earlier in the day that there would be a water gun "battle-of-the-brothers" in which brothers Bruce and Dean would select partners from brothers Silas and Devon. It was also determined that the losing team would be the one in which one of the partners would be the first to cry. Before I ever set foot into the pool, Dean had already declared himself the winner, having inflicted pain into the eyeball of a seven-year old and making that poor little kid cry.

It appears that the poor little kid might have gotten his revenge.

Airborne brothers.

Debra and Judy noodle themselves around the pool.

Dean, in addition to being a talented musician, is also a skilled instrument builder and repairman. Today, he straighted the neck of my guitar, cleaned the fingerboard with a single-edge razor, and replaced the antique strings with new, melodious ones. Upon completion of the project, it felt and sounded like a new guitar.

Judy enjoys a Popsicle while Bethany enjoys her own tongue.

Judy watches Dean finish his project.

With Silas in the foreground, Judy and Dean sing and Dean plays my newly improved guitar.

Dean hands me my guitar, picks up his guitar and we sing "Jambalaya", "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and a few other oldies.

Dean discovers his birthday cake.

"Happy Birthday Dean".

Cake and ice cream are served. Some of the guests include (counterclockwise, starting with Dean) Dean, Silas, Debra, Tim, Judy, Devon, Baylee and Rylie.

From another angle, guests include (facing camera, from left to right) Tom, Rylie, Makiah, Baylee, Ruth, Bethany, and Devon hidden behind Debra's head; (with backs to camera, from left to right) Dean, Silas, Debra, Judy's legs, and Josie walking away.

Dean carefully places a piece of cake into his fifty-something-year-old mouth.

After filling up on ice cream and cake, Rylie and Silas square off in a calorie-burning game of ping pong.

Devon takes on the role of 'Birthday Santa", handing birthday presents to Dean while guests watch, except for Silas and Rylie who do not watch because they have started a game of checkers.

Yeah, that's a game of checkers.

Dean opens another gift handed to him by Devon while Judy and Bethany watch. Two of the guests are still immersed in a game of checkers.

A checkerboard-view of the party shows (clockwise, starting with Dean) Dean, Devon, Naomi, Tim, Josie, Makiah, Ruth, Tom, Baylee, Ashley, Debra's legs and Judy's legs.

Debra, Judy, Bethany and Silas enjoy the party as Dean opens another present. By this time, the game of checkers has ended.

More presents, same people.

Silas and Rylie watch Dean as he reads "A Little Brother Is . . ."

The presents are all opened, the party ends, and the guests go home.