Going on Deployment to Asia

Matthew and I have known for a long, long time that he would be going on a four and half month deployment come the beginning of the year. Most of the time I look forward to the holiday season, but it was a bit difficult this year since we knew that Matthew would be leaving shortly after.

Before the ship set sail, we said some good byes in the ward room

and then some more good byes out on the flight deck.

After a lot of hugs and a few tears, the other junior officer wives and I stood out on the pier waving goodbye to our husbands. It sure was nice to have some good friends from the ship to be with during this time.

It takes a while for the ship to make it all the way from the pier out to the ocean so Emma, Erika and I headed out to the dog beach on Hickam Air Force Base to get one last glimpse of the USS Reuben James as it heads out to sea.

We were close enough to the ship that we could see all the sailors in their dress whites manning the rails. They all looked so handsome.

Matthew is out to sea and will hopefully have many wonderful adventures thoughout the Pacific.

Emma, baby girl and I can't wait for him to be home soon.

The Reuben James will be Back with a Vengeance!

Christmas Wishes

Matthew, Amy, and Baby Girl Felton would like to wish all of our family and friends a very Mele Kalikimaka all the way from chilly Honolulu.

A lot has happened with our family over the past year. This time last year we were still getting settled into our new home in Hawaii and working on making new friends. Hawaii was quite a culture shock from what we were used to in the Pacific Northwest, but we are so glad to be here in paradise.

At the beginning of this year I started a job as a part-time teller at First Hawaiian Bank. Apparently in Hawaii you have to have way more education or experience than on the mainland and my 7+ years in the banking industry didn't really help me find anything I was happy with. So, we decided I should quit my job and go back to school. I am currently working on earning my bachelors degree in dental hygiene at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Matthew has had a very busy year at work and we don't see much of an end in sight to the business in the near future. Matt attended quite a few schools over the year including a ton of training to become a Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure Officer for his ship the USS Reuben James. Matt was also gone for three weeks in November to attend a Surface Warfare Officer school in Newport, Rhode Island. I wasn't able to accompany him to Rhode Island because of my school schedule. Matt's ship has been extremely busy the past month working seven days a week preparing for the big Navy INSURV inspection. It was a very tiring month for the sailors and families especially with the holidays around the corner, but Matt's ship passed the inspection and now they are getting ready for a deployment coming up at the beginning of the year.

Our most exciting news of the year is that we found out in August that we are expecting our first baby. We are so very thrilled to start a family. We found out that we are expecing a baby girl earlier this month and we can't wait to hold her! We are getting ready for her big debut on April 24th, 2010!

We miss all of our family and friends that we are away from for the holidays and we wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Vacation in Hawaii

After a year living away from home in Hawaii, my parents came to visit right before the Christmas holiday. I was so glad to have them visit even if it was only for a week. We had a busy agenda and a lot of fun to squeeze into seven days. After their flight landed we headed home to settle in. We went on a short walk around the neighborhood with Emma and then we all took a short nap. By the time Matt was home from work we were ready to eat some delicious hawaiian style pizza so we got Big Kahuna Pizza and Stuffs on the phone ASAP. Dinner was yummy!

Thursday was the first full day of our vacation and probably the busiest! We started bright and early and we headed over the H-3 freeway to Kailua to check out Crepes No Ka Oi. I had a delicious crepe filled with bananas, strawberries, and nutella. It was the perfect start to the day!

                                                                            

Then we headed over to the famous Kailua Beach Park for our first beach visit of the day. This one was my mom's favorite. She decided to do get her toes wet and my dad prefered to take in the sights from the sand.

                                                                                

Following our visit to Kailua we headed on a full day drive up the Windward coast and around the Northshore. We stopped at Kualoa Beach Park to check out Chinaman Hat Island and to snap a few pictures

                                                                                

Our next stop of the day was Waimea Bay Beach. The famous Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau at Waimea Bay competition was held here earlier in the week and the beach was boasting 50 foot waves. While we visited Waimea Bay the waves weren't quite as big, but only experienced surfers and bodyboarders were allowed in the water. We really enjoyed watching all the action that was out on the water.

      

While we were in the Waimea Bay area we decided to also visit Waimea Valley and check out one of Hawaii's many beautiful waterfalls. This was a new experience for me too, as Matt and I hadn't visited this park yet.                                                                                                      

                                                                                          

We were starting to get pretty hungry by this time so we thought we best head over to Haleiwa Town for dinner, but we had to stop at Laniakea beach to see the sea turtles. We were in luck and a 225 lb. female turtle was out sun bathing!

                                                                            

Finally we made it to Haleiwa Town. We were craving some hawaiian shave ice from the famous Matsumoto Grocery so we had dessert first. After the shave ice we decided to do a little shopping around the town and then we headed to one of my favorite places. To get fresh Kahuku shrimp from a shrimp truck, kinda like the taco trucks some of you are used to seeing in Washington. After a long, long day seeing the island we headed home and slept well that night

             

One of our families favorite things about the holiday season is Christmas Lights! The Navy's MWR program arranges a tour of the Honolulu City Lights that the city puts on every year for Christmas. The best part about the tour is that it is in an open air trolley! So much fun.

            

We were pretty busy most of the week and Emma wasn't getting as much attentioned as she likes, so we decided to go to the neighborhood dog park one day and let her play off leash. She had a fantastic time making friends with some of the other dogs and lying around in the soft grass. She decided to pose for a photo shoot here.

                                                                            

Yes, we did spend plenty of time playing in the water. We spent two days playing in the beautiful white sands of Waimanalo Beach. This one is my favorite. This isn't a popular beach for tourists, because it isn't very close to anything else touristy and would be difficult to reach by bus, so there is always plenty of beach and never crowded.            

 

After our visit at Waimanalo Beach we drove home along the south coast of the island and stopped at some scenic vistas. This is Sandy beach below.

Don't think we didn't spend some time in Waikiki. Of course we did. We had a wonderful evening eating at Duke's Canoe Club and then walking the beach after sunset on friday night. We came back to Waikiki saturday morning to watch Santa arrive via outrigger canoe but unfortunately we missed it. That was alright because we enjoyed people watching and a cup of coffee

Finally the end of the week arrived and we had enough time for one more activity before we had to head to the airport. We drove to the top of tantalus mountain to take in the scenic views of Diamond Head, Waikiki, Honolulu, and Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately when we got to the top we realized it was a pretty voggy day and the visibility wasn't spectacular. (Vog is similar to fog, but it is caused by southern winds blowing volcanic ash from the Big Island towards the other islands)

Well, all good things must come to an end and I am looking forward to our next visitors here in paradise. Will you be our next guests? The guest room is always ready!

One Fabulous Year in Hawaii

On November 7th we celebrated our one year anniversary on Oahu, Hawaii. Here are some pictures of all the fun we've had since we've been here.

Sunset photo taken the day we arrived in paradise

My first Mai Tai. It was a bit bigger than I had anticipated

Unfortunately shortly after we arrived Matt flew out to meet up with his ship, the USS Reuben James, in Saipan. The ship returned to port a week before Christmas and all the men and women aboard looked so very handsome in their working whites and orchid leis.

A few snap shots of our favorite hike to Keana Point. The first picture of Matt standing in the sand you can see both the Northshore and Waianae coasts of the island at the same time. It's a really beautiful hike that makes you feel like you are at the very end of the world.

We've gone to the Honolulu Zoo a few times. Matt's favorite animal is the elephant, I like the giraffes.

We went to Maui over my birthday weekend last March. The beach on the left is beautiful Napili Bay where we stayed. On the left is us at the summit of extinct volcano Haleakala at 10,023 feet above sea level.

Sheila, who I worked with at WECU, visited me in April. Unfortunately it rained quite a bit while she was here, but we were able to hit the beach on a couple of nice days.

We love hitting up the Northshore for a much needed break from school and work. We like eating at Haleiwa Joes, on the left. We ordered another unexpectedly large drink once again, it must be a Hawaiian thing. Of course no trip to the Northshore is complete without a stop at Matsumoto's for some delicious Hawaiian shave ice. Matt likes his with ice cream at the bottom. Matt's enjoying his shave ice with our good friend Luis.

Another beautiful location of Oahu is the Pali Lookout. Here you can see beautiful views of the windward side of the island, including the charming town of Kailua. The photo of the road was the old Pali highway, it is now a short trail you can take a leisurely stroll on.

Over the summer we went on a short hike to Manoa falls. It started out really nice, but about half way up the rain started pouring down like it only can in Hawaii. By the time we got to the top Matt, Emma, and I were completely soaking wet through and through and covered in mud. It was quite an adventure.

We visited the Laie Temple in Laie near the Northshore. It was under renovation so we weren't able to tour the inside of the temple, but the temple exterior and grounds were unbelievably gorgeous.

Hickam Air Force Base recently hosted 'Wings over the Pacific', an airshow featuring The Thunderbirds. Here we are posing with a MiG 17.

Matt and I attended our first Navy Birthday Ball. It was held at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. It was a lot of fun to get all dressed up for an evening.

Of course we can't forget one of our favorite members of our family, Emma. She's not as big a fan of the beach as Matt and I, but she especially loves the dog park in our neighborhood. As Matt says, "The world would be a better place if everyone had an Emma."

Finally I'll leave you with some pictures of a few of the beautiful beaches we have had the privilege to visit during our stay in Hawaii so far.

Waimea Bay Beach Park

Turtle Bay Resort

Kualoa Regional Park with a view of Chinaman's Hat Island.

Bellows Beach Air Force Recreational Area

Mokuleia

Finally, world famous Waikiki beach.

Living in Hawaii has been an unbelievable experience for us. It must be the closest you can get to living in a different country without leaving the U.S. We are looking forward to moving back to the mainland in the future, but we will definitely miss the islands when it comes time to leave.