24th Wedding Anniversary

 We are blessed to have made 24 happy years together in marriage. We celebrated by going to the Aulani Disney Resort and Spa for the evening. The weather was perfect, the ambiance was very nice and we shared a delightful evening over cocktails and pupus. We even got the chance to see Nicole at work, she is a employee there. Sunset on the terrace while Teresa Bright sang Hawaiian tunes, strawberry margaritas in hand, what else was there. The Aulani is packed with a lot of things to see and do, the stroll through the property was delightful. The hula show was also well done, we saw Nicole's hula sister, Teresa, dancing with the halau. The pools are the highlight of the resort, they wind all thru the venue. We had a marvelous time and look forward to our next stroll around the resort.....aloha

entrance to the resort playground

the beautiful lagoon at sunset

Happy 24 years to my sweetie.....

Teresa Bright and musicians

the Ewa tower 

headed to the bar and restaurant area

well stock bar

notice the pricing

the Kobe sliders were pretty good

view from the bar area

the show was pretty good

the Diamondhead tower

more entertainment

down the hall (north)

down the hall(south)

leaving the resort

Nicole's grad party

There was quite the party on July 7th at the Freeman-Bauer household, the 2012 grad party for our graduate , Nicole. All of our friends were present to recognize this occasion. There was lots of ono food and then there was lots of hula dancing by Nicole, along with her hula sisters. I can watch them dance any time, I am not saying this because Nicole is my daughter, but because they dance really good. The weather started off really crappy, lots of rain, then as if someone turned off the switch, it stopped. It became one of those picture perfect days of summer in Hawaii. We appreciate the turnout and another chance to fellowship amongst our most dearest of friends. Mahalo for  being a part of "the big picture", which is our lives....aloha

the deck and back yard view

what a cutie....

Warren captured a Jackson chameleon

my favorite dancers....

almost forgot to photograph the cake.....

my two happy ladies....

Hungry Jackson

Was caught off guard to see this Jackson chameleon right in front of me in the trees. I have been in this house almost 20 years and have never seen one in these trees. I had to get my camera and shoot this thing. After further scanning of the tree it was discovered that there are at least 7 of these here. I check them out everyday now. Waiting for the perfect pose. The flick their tongues at prey really quick. I am attempting to document this somehow.....aloha

Welcome home, USS Nimitz

 On a bright, sunny and hot day, there came a very large ship, the USS Nimitz. This aircraft carrier is in town for the 2012 RIMPAC exercises. There are many Pacific countries participating with lots of ships, aircraft and lots of soldiers and sailors. I went to the mouth of Pearl Harbor to await the arrival. Then something unreal happened, mine you, this is only the second time ever, that I have been guilty of this. I didn't have charged batteries in the camera, they were dead as a door nail. Lucky that my backup camera was in the car. What a bonehead thing to do....I will remember the next time...charge the batteries. Anyway, after sweating profusely, the ship was seen passing Waikiki and approaching Pearl Harbor. I made my way through the crowd to get a good vantage point for my shots. When it was near, I was surprised at the speed it was traveling, I guess because of the size I expected it to be moving slower. I think that I got some decent looks, what a hot day....off to the air conditioning in the car.....aloha.

Nicole's hospital tour

What an unplanned turn of events, Nicole is placed in the hospital because of an obscure disorder, Guillian Barre' Syndrome. Thank goodness for the doctors of Kaiser Hospital, I can't say enough about the doctors of the treatment administered by the nurses and other staff. Because of the overall efforts of the entire staff and Nicole's strength and condition, the ordeal had a very successful conclusion. We are all thankful to have this spark in our lives. She is our entire world. This all takes place one day before her planned graduation party, it had to be cancelled until further notice. There was a small gathering in her room that kept us all in good spirits and made the hospital visit and a little more bearable. It turned out to be a good time in the hospital room. All is well now, so, take care......aloha

2012 Lantern Lighting

The day was nice and warm with little trade wind breeze. The parking was heavy, just like Christmas time at Ala Moana Shopping Center. There were more than 40,000 people at the park and we were at the forefront,we had our feet in the water at this time. The shoreline was not visible because of all the bodies crammed in to the space. It was exciting yet very chaotic at the same time. But we were there, smack dab in the middle. What anticipation, I could feel the sweat running down my face, but getting the shot was all that mattered. I wanted Nicole to launch our prayer candle at the appropriate time and photograph all this as it was happening. Did I ever get the shots I wanted, it turned out to be one of the best shooting days I have had in a long time. Our prayers were sent out to our family as well as our friends, that was the main purpose.....job well done Nicole....aloha