Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I've come

Spencer and Shana came to visit.  They didn't get to stay long enough, and Jillyn would have been disappointed in their lack of desire to take, or pose for pictures ;) hee hee But I think they had fun!  Spencer said of all his trips to Hawaii this was the very best one!

Of course our first stop was Waimea. When the mot beautiful beach in the world is just down the hill, why wouldn't it be? Spencer and Shana watching the many people jump off of the rock. 

The boys do it every time, despite the warning sign! It really is quite safe.

Spence tried it too. 

  Our favorite hole in the wall.

 
 
 Spencer is saying to George- You just jump?  In there? Is it safe? It doesn't look safe.

  He did it.  The water was really high that day, and it was harder to maneuver through, but once he did it, he wanted to do it again.  It is not as bad as it sounds with the water crashing against the rocks, and when he saw me throw Matty in to Kyle he figured it must be safer than it looks too.
 
Safe and sound out on the other side.
 

 Matty had a fun time playing with Uncle Mason and Aunt "what's your name again?"

She has had a hard time keeping everyone straight with all our visitors.  

(This week she is calling Aunt Ashley- Aunt Shana)
Spence got to swim with out cute little turtle friend that swims laps at Waimea.  He was the only turtle we saw there that day, he is my favorite though, all the others are massive and a little intimidating, despite their docile nature. This little guy just acts like he wants to play.
  I never get tired of this beach because this is what the bottom looks like for miles.  No surprises down there (except our turtle friend every now and again), just rippling soft sand as far as the eye can see, except for a big rock here and there.

 Kyle taught Spencer how to run rocks, Kyle learned this little activity from watching some military
guys run across the bottom of the ocean at about 8 feet deep and then come up for air, dive back down and pick up their rock where they dropped it and see how far then can run again.  Today they decided  to stack their rocks.

 They worked on their Ebenezer for hours it seems like.  The kids joined in. They can all hold their breath for much longer than I can.  Spencer was really into the rock running, unfortunately that day I forgot my underwater camera so I have no proof that he contributed, but we were all packed up ready to head back to the car and Spencer was missing.  We spotted him halfway down the beach lugging a huge rock into the water...just one more...
 


 
 It really got quite big, I think they used every rock on the ocean floor and the beach.  You can see it really well from the beach and Evan said that some fish were already swimming through it, maybe one day that turtle will stop and nibble on the algae that will grow there. Thanks for helping Spencer.
 
 I thought it was a trifle thing, calling it an ebenezer, but when I looked up that line in the song I realized it really was quite significant.  It is nice to leave our mark-a monument to the trip that we only got to take after a lot of trials and through the love and grace of our Savior.
Hither by His help we've come.