Signing Off

Hello Friends,
We've been back in Wisconsin for a month now and I've been itching to give you all a final update from our adventures on Kauai.  Many thanks to our friends there who helped in so many ways to get us packed up and on the plane.  Shannon, Mindy, Yvette, Kim, and Chandra, you guys rock!  Thank you to you and your families for all of your support, so grateful to have you all in our lives.

I want to just post a few photos from our last month on Kauai and tell a bit more of our story.  What an amazing ride!  Was it all a dream?  It's so hard to tell looking out the window here at the cottonwoods and maple trees.  We've had a couple cold viruses travel through our family in our first few weeks here, so we are a bit slow to get on our feet and be out in the world and in communication.  Please forgive us as we slowly catch up.

So, my last post mentioned that Jonathan and I were planning to renew our vows on the Anahola mountains.  We did, indeed, manage that feat.  And I've got a few photos to share from the day.  The tall peak below is Kalalea, we made it up to the backside of the saddle in the middle there.

After several hours of hiking/bushwacking, we found just the spot for our ceremony.  This is a Despacho offering we put together with ti leaves, poi, fresh ahi, flowers the girls picked for us, and several different kinds of seeds for the new future.

We bundled this all up inside the ti leaves and left it tucked into a nook in the mountain.

Our friend Teo made the leis and headdresses for us and here Jonathan is putting his gift of a beautiful necklace on me.

Sealed with a kiss...and then the hike back down the mountain.  Such an epic journey, so many lessons along the way.  Even the way home we of course said to ourselves, "Oh, this should be easy now, let's take this shortcut."  But alas, we found ourselves lost and bushwacking through major thorns for two hours.  Finally, after an exasperated and courageous push through the cat's cradle, we stumbled back to the stream and the trail.  Never been so thankful to see a spot I recognized.  And there's nothing like sprinting up the trail to get to the trailhead before darkness falls on a new moon.  

Since we didn't bring the girls up the mountain with us, we celebrated with them the next morning at home.

Everybody wanted a turn with the headdresses.

And then, there was Kalalau.  For those of you who have not been there, it is hard to describe in words the immense beauty and power of this valley.  As most of you know, Jonathan and I met on the epic 11 mile trail to this remote place, only accessible on foot or by boat.  I have had a recurring nightmare for years that we are on Kauai and I realize in horror that our flight leaves soon and we didn't make it back to visit Kalalau.  So, you can imagine that it was a high priority to miraculously find a way to get our whole family back there for a visit before we flew back to Minneapolis.  The miracle came from an old friend of Jonathan's from Alaska, David Lakota, who you see pictured below on the boat with us.  He lives back in Kalalau for long stretches, stewarding the valley and helping visitors come and go.  A "guardian of aloha" you could say.  David got us in touch with Captain Burt, who was the most dependable of the boat captains, and we were able to boat the whole family out for a week in the enchanted Kalalau.  Oh, did I mention the waves are big enough that boats cannot land on shore, so we all had to jump out into the ocean and swim to shore?  Yeah.  The girls were pretty brave about it, but they may need some therapy later.  And our gear was triple bagged in plastic contractor bags and tossed overboard to float to shore.

Here's the girls and I watching the sunrise from the boat.  That's David behind me.  Scarlet had a death grip around my shoulders the whole ride.

After landing, several friends of David's helped carry all of our gear about a mile to an amazing camp spot at the base of the Kalalau River.  This is Maya and Maggie with our friend Nasstasia.

At our blessed camp spot.  The girls spent hours doing this.  Playing in the river, looking for stones.

Here's Maya in her true Mermaid form.

The view up valley from our water hole.  That's the heiau up on the right.

Our humble abode for the week.

A view of the whales jumping.

Scarlet and I

Jonathan in the kitchen

Keepin' their skirts dry on a river crossing.

Maya and Maggie discovered peridot embedded in all the lava rock up on the point above our campsite, and set up a crystal shop.  Most stones cost a handful or so of naupaka leaves.

Jonathan made Scarlet a pair of shoes from a yoga mat we found.  

She got a couple wounds on the bottom of her feet and was complaining about walking around, but we hadn't brought any shoes for her with us.  Jonathan to the rescue.

Maggie in her fairy world

The day before the boat was coming to pick us up again, we all hiked up to the heiau to give thanks and say a prayer for calm waves the next day. 

A pinch of tobacco

Those peaks behind me are the elders looking down on the valley.

 

And our last supper on the beach in Kalalau...

I am so so thankful to have had the opportunity to be there with my family.  The girls truly blossomed that week.  Jonathan was gifted to me 8 years ago by the ocean and this magical place.  I am so humbled by all that spirit is asking me to become. 

After our trip, we had 5 days to wrap everything else up and pack the last boxes.  Here's a couple last photos of our camp.

Wherever I live, my kitchen is my vortex of chaos and creativity.

 And here's a few last shots of the girls and I at Hanalei Bay.

Here's where I was going to say "and signing of for now from Kauai"...

but I just received some scary news and want to ask for your support.  Our friends the Kirk's just had an emergency cesarean birth last night and their 2 lb 11 oz son is on Oahu with Matt in the NICU while Kim is in recovery on Kauai.  These are the same friends that lost their full-term baby in childbirth a year and a half ago, 5 days before we moved to Kauai.  They have a 7 year old daughter as well.  Please pray for them.  They have a long and difficult road ahead of them, and are in a desperate financial situation.  If you are in a position to help them at all with any of the expensive travel bills between hospitals, please consider sending them something to their paypal account at info@artsoutloud.com or to their postal address:
       PO Box 223425
       Princeville, HI 96722

These are friends that supported us through so many difficult places in our journey on Kauai.  I wish I was there now to help.

Not much really matters in life but our family and friends.  I am so thankful to have the support of you all. 

Signing off for now, but you'll hear from me again soon.  Possibly from a new blog as we write the next chapter of our life.  I'll keep you posted.

Much love to you all,
Heidi and family