West Jordan was out for a few days .....

Well, we weren't snow bound either - we took Uncle from Altadena someplace warm. I took a plunge on a compact digital better than my cell phone (finally) and we shot over 650 frames, so we would bore everyone past tears by trying to post more than a sample of them ....
Here is the major stuff just for a sample .....

Oahu - Honolulu - Pearl Harbor





USS Arizona Memorial -----------------------------------------------------Battleship Missouri


Oahu - North Shore (Laie)

Polynesian Cultural Center ------------------------------------------- BYU Hawaii

Turtle Bay Resort ---------------------------------------------------------- Laie Hawaii Temple

Hotel: Pretty views and lots of serenity.... Temple: Even more serene and has lots of nice islanders in it.

At this temple we did ordinances for yet another revered Gates person - Freeman Egbert Gates (Uncle Freeman)

How's this for a seascape? (east coast of Oahu between Koko Head and Kaneohe)

Also on Oahu - Honolulu -- Hawaii State Capitol building, Iolani Palace

Then a trip to the Big Island ....

Hawaii - Hilo -- Ken's House of Pancakes, Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut farm, lots of rain, Akaka Falls, more rain, Waipio Canyon, lots of coastline, lots of driving around. We went almost all the way round the coast road by the time we got done, Hilo Bay Cafe for one meal, WalMart, church services at the Ainaola Ward in Hilo on Sunday, Hawaii Volcano National Park, Kiluea Caldera, on our way over to.... Kailua Kona

and a visit to the other temple in the state of Hawaii

Kona Hawaii Temple (like it says on the sign) and more of our island friends

Hawaii - Kailua-Kona -- Quinn's Almost by the Sea Pub (for some Ono fish and chips), Kona Beach Hotel, Kona Hawaii Temple, more drives along the coast, and back to Kona to catch our plane to ...

Oahu - Honolulu -- Byodo-In Buddhist shrine (in Kaneohe actually ), Foster Botanical Gardens, Diamond Head (inside the crater), Sunset on the beach below Diamond Head, Duke's at the Waikiki Outrigger Hotel for great fresh fish (mahi-mahi)
Back to LA by air, drop off a very pleased Uncle Nick, overnight near airport and home.
That's it.

Our Other Blogspot

Hi there fellow Clarkies!

We hope you're all doing well and enjoying all that snow. I can't say that we're jealous, because I sure enjoy my walks and going to the park with the boys, but it might be fun to build another snowman. German still talks about "Unkie James" and his snowman boots whenever he reads the snowman book or sees a picture of the snowman they built together.

Please don't feel neglected, but rather than post the same pictures in two places, I'll just direct you to our other blog page for some current photos. All you have to do is click on the link here at the left and wah-bam you're there!

We love you all and miss you. By the way, wish us luck - we've officially started the process for buying a house! We'll see!

Hi Everyone...

German built this all by himself! He told me that this was a "church" and then he said it was a "temple". What a cute boy - I guess he is learning something. Now if we can just get him to enjoy nursery.

We thought this was a nice photo of the family. Thanks again to all of you for coming to Eli's blessing. We know it was a sacrifice and we appreciate your effort.

Click on our other blog to see some more photos of our Christmas vacation. Love to you all!

Eli Britain Clark has Joined Our Family

So here's the scoop: On Thursday afternoon after about an hour of painful contractions, which were about 7-8 minutes apart, I told Joshua we were going to the hospital to get checked. Turns out I was dialated to a 6+ and Eli was so good and obedient that he came out about an hour and a half later. All told, labor was about 5 hours start to finish and went very smoothly - much to our satisfaction! Eli was born at 5:43 pm on Thursday 12/13/07. He weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 in. long. He seems to be a very alert little guy and is always hungry! He ate more his first night than German ate his first week of life. We were a little afraid of how German would react to little Eli, but it seems that German loves his little brother very much. Eli has received many kisses, high fives, and burping pats from his brother. I think they'll be good pals. Joshua is doing well and seems to be losing all of his weight rather quickly. I'm also hanging in there and trying to take my recovery slowly.

Thanksgiving

It was great to see all of you over the holiday break. We really enjoyed the cheesy movies ("Leftovers"), conversation, food, but mostly the company. We really get to missing our family. There's not much to report about the last week, except that #2 is taking his time coming into the world! We also arranged to fly into SLC for Christmas and then drive to Boise, so in other words, we should be good to go to have the baby's blessing on Sunday, the 23rd. We'd love to have you all there, but we also understand that you all have lives and obligations, so we will understand if things don't work out. Here are a couple of pictures from our trip - enjoy!