Merry Christmas!

 

Below are some larger images of the pictures from this year's Christmas card with brief explanations of them.

 

In March we traveled to Florida to watch a rocket launch at Kennedy Space Center.  A SpaceX rocket launched the NROL-69 payload.  We spent most of the day out at the launch viewing area.

 

In July, Preston and Jordan got engaged at the cabin in West Virginia.  This picture was taken in Hawai'i Volcanoes Park in September.

 

At the end of September, we all traveled to the Big Island of Hawai'i.  David and Kanoa were celebrating their 30th anniversary.  The background of the front side of the card is sunset from the Royal Kona Hotel's oceanfront restaurant, where we stayed a couple of nights at the beginning of the 10-day trip.

David and I visited Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, a place of refuge and royal grounds.  While there I found some kanoa, which are bowls carved into rock.  These may have been used to dye kapa (bark cloth), to tan fishing nets, or to pound 'awa root.  Here I am posing with them.

We attended the obligatory luau at the Hilton in Waikoloa.  After a miscommunication about the time which led to a wait in the reception area, it was a nice time with good food and an entertaining show.
 

 

On September 29 we visited Hawai'i Volcanoes Park and were rewarded with volcanic activity at Kilauea.

 

On October 1 we traveled to Maunakea.  All of us went to the visitor's center (at 9,200 feet above sea level), and later the guys drove up to the summit, which is over 13,000 feet above sea level, and attended a star talk at the visitor's center.  Maunkea is home to several telescopes.

 

For the bulk of our trip we stayed at Castle Resorts' Hali'i Kai at Waikoloa.

We spent many mornings and evenings at the oceanfront pool and restaurant, where there was a nightly sunset ceremony. 

 The background picture on the back of the card is sunset on our last night at Hali'i Kai.

 

After checking out of Hali'i Kai, David and I drove north from Waikoloa to Kapa'au in search of the famous statue of King Kamehameha I which is in front of the North Kohala Civic Center.  We continued to drive the whole way around the island, stopping in Waimea for lunch, and then continuing to Hilo to walk in the Lili'uokalani Gardens before returning to Kona to spend one more night at the Royal Kona.

 We enjoyed many other things on the big island such as touring a coffee farm, trekking to South Point, stopping at a local chocolate factory store, stumbling across a local farm store, and finding a great local beach to watch a final sunset.

We enjoyed many good meals.  We enjoyed fine dining at Merriman's and a couple of local spots: Hawaiian Style Cafe (just down the road from Merriman's) and K's Drive-In near Hilo, and many types of restaurants in between.

In the fall Ian moved back to Virginia from Maryland and is currently working at a bakery in Warrenton.  There were many other good times and fun events throughout the year, too many to include in a quick recap.