Scuba Diving Honduras Bay Islands

Hola!  (note: fun video highlight at the end -- if you don't have time to read this whole thing, at least go to the end :) )

Frank and I just got back from a really cool week of scuba diving.  It was good weather and warm water.  Well mostly it was good weather.  We did get rained on some, but it was mostly at night or first thing in the morning.  The last night, we had SUCH a lightning and thunderstorm night--it shook the bungalo and there was NO time between the lightning and thunder.  I usually count, to see how many seconds/miles away the lightning is.  It was SOOOO loud!

I haven't put pictures on this blog for a long time.  I'll see if I can put a video here.  It's a flounder on the sandy bottom.

I'm going through all the photos and it kind of takes awhile.  I love it, but it does take time.  Here are some more...

lionfish

trumpetfish

bcds and tanks

butterfly fish

It's hard to smile with a regulator in your mouth...?

reaching up for the bottom of the boat!

parrot fish

We had a small group, which made it even better: instead of the 40 they can hold during the prime season, there were just 13 of us.  It is fun to get to know people, and see the many, varied backgrounds people have, when we all have one common interest: scuba diving.

butterfly fish

It was a "package deal," specifically for scuba diving.  7 nights, housing in a bungalo w/a dock out into the water.  3 meals plus snacks in the afternoon, in their dining hall. 2 dives in the morning, 1 dive in the afternoon each day, plus 2 of the nights they did a night dive for those interested.

So I think my sister Kim can hold on to that title of "the only one in the family who has been to Honduras!"  Because we really spent our entire time on Utila, one of the Bay Islands, off of the mainland of Honduras.

I am posting some of the fish and other creatures close-up.  Our "underwater camera" worked well for the first few days, then it died!  Sad, sad.  We haven't had the best luck finding a camera that is actually water-tight, like it advertises.

it must be a Caribbean thing:
a towel/blanket elephant!

we saw a school of 7 squid!

flamingo tongue

One true highlight was to be able to snorkel with a real, live Whale Shark, as he was feeding.  They only eat little tiny fish, and you can see, from the surface, when they are creating a whirlpool down below to get the fish all together to eat them.  Because the birds up on top, follow the whale shark around, and dive down to eat the bigger fish who eat those little fish the whale shark is gathering.  We heard from some other boats, that they had sighted a whale shark.  So we headed that direction.

one of my favorites, the photo doesn't do it justice: spotted drum

You cannot scuba dive (legally--they are protected, I guess) around a whale shark.  But you can put on a snorkel and mask, and get in the water close to them.  We sighted some crowds of birds, diving down and feeding on bigger fish, so we slowly drove the boat closeby.  Then the divemaster said, "It's right by the side of the boat--get in! GO! GO!"  So we jumped in, hoping to catch a glimpse of the whale shark as it swam away.  That's usually the best you can hope for, we had heard.

OK--HERE's the AMAZING part.  We jumped in...and he was RIGHT THERE.  I mean we almost jumped on TOP of him!  A TWENTY to TWENTY-FIVE FOOT whale shark, simply trying to eat his little fish dinner, and there we were, bothering him.  Of course, by that time our camera was no longer with us.  But others on the trip had their cameras, so we were able to download a few shots from their cameras.  He hung out at the top with us for almost a minute, I would guess.  Then he went all the way down, far out of our sight.  But then he came back up, doing the same thing, TWO more times.  It was very surreal.  Like in the movies or something, but he was really right in front of us.

with Tony, another friend on our boat

Frank is on the right, blue rash guard and blue swim trunks

If this video works: Frank is on the left at about :28 seconds.  I show up on the right about :43 seconds (pink shorts, light blue rashguard).

Here are some photos.  3 people had GoPros in our group.

(It's been a week now, so my ears are back to normal.)

Have a great week!  Kari

Summer Starts

Ciao, la mia famglia!

This month has been a whirlwind, and it's time to post a few things, before it becomes July!  I'll just include some highlights, as they come into my brain.  There will be no guarantees on "smooth flow."

DAVID'S MISSION HAS BEGUN. This is probably the freshest thing on my mind, as we just took him to the airport 2 days ago.  Mission prep included many, many things, but here's a picture of the "final haircut" the night before.  I've been cutting his hair for 18 years! Hope he knows this cut won't last the full 2 years.

GRANDPARENTS.  Also to celebrate David's mission, and to be here for some really neat family events, we had 3 grandparents here with us.  So glad they could be here!  Mom came over from Tucson, and was happy to be in non-100-degree weather for a bit.  Grammie D & Poppa Dave came from Florida.  David spoke in church two Sundays ago, and so did I, actually.  My topic was service, and his topic was the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  (His was a little heavier: volumes have been written on his topic, and he only had 12-15 minutes! Ha.)

We went to dinner while all the grandparents were here, and mini golfing.  The rest of the meals were prepared by David's Grammie D, which was much appreciated by all.  I was happy to have a few minutes to do OTHER things, besides cook!

MULCH.  With the arrival of summer, we had a big pile of mulch dumped in the driveway!  It's not gone yet, but the yard looks much nicer.

TURKEYS.  A wild turkey and her seven little "poults" were walking around the neighborhood for a few days.  Frank took some pictures.  At one point, the neighbor's dog started barking a little ways away, and all the little poults flew up into nearby tree branches!  Yes, little turkeys can fly.

END of SCHOOL.  Teresa and Kara are happy to finally have school wrapped up for the year! Teresa is officially a "high school senior" and Kara has finished her days at the Middle School.  They'll both be at the high school this fall!  Young Women's Camp is coming up now, and multiple summer activities.  So far they've each had a couple of beach days and pool days.

DAVID MISSION BLOG.  I have started a blog for David while he is on his mission.  I posted once, and the rest will come from him (I HOPE!!).  The Stake President reminded him to write to us, even though he doesn't usually talk much, and we sent him with a camera, even though he is not a picture-taker.  I have no idea what kind of communication, if any, we will get from him!?!?!?

At any rate, the blog address is elderwhitesell.blogspot.com   You can "subscribe" to it in the left column, and I hope I can add things as he writes.

Have a great week!  Kari

Memorial Day weekend already!

Hello, and Happy Long Weekend!

LAST MAY WEEKEND.  Wow, I can't really believe it, but it's Memorial Day weekend.  That's the official start of summer!  Kara has been playing soccer, in a tournament on the Cape.  She played Saturday, then we came back so three of us could teach lessons in church for different classes.  But her team played 2 games and won them both!  So tomorrow they play 2 more games.  We'll drive in the morning so Kara can play those last 2 games.

 It has been trying really hard, to be spring!  We've had rain, and slightly warmer temps.  We still feel like the weather is about a month late with everything.

OK, maybe not quite David's style

I think the men wear pants on their missions

CLOTHES SHOPPING.  We have been shopping for mission clothes, trying to get David set up for his departure the end of June.  He needs 2 suits and a couple of extra pairs of pants, too.  Socks, ties, white shirts.  The mission travel lady called and gave us the date of the appointment she set up for David to go in to the Boston Consolate in a couple of weeks.

GOOD READ.  I'm reading a great book about Abraham Lincoln and the correlation between his presidency, the Civil War, and prophecies in the Book of Mormon.  It is really interesting.

SOLDIERS WHO SACRIFICED.  Hopefully you had a chance to think some about those we honor on Memorial Day.  The Middle School has a relationship with a family whose son died in service to our country, and they are coming to speak this Friday to the 8th graders.  I think I will go to it.  They set up a foundation after their son died, and I read his story.  It really makes you think, these are real people with real families who loved them so much.

His name is Matthew Pucino.  Here's the link, I loved reading "about Uncle Matt."  Knowing about their lives and families makes the soldiers become so real.

SUMMER GUEST.  Angela finished school and has a couple of jobs for the summer, too.  Her parents have moved back to Taiwan and she's living with her sister Peggy in Natick, the next town over.  In 5 weeks, Peggy is moving closer to Boston, and her work, in July. That would make Angela's commute quite a bit longer.  So, since David will vacate his room when he goes into the MTC the end of June, we'll have Angela stay in his room after he leaves, for July and August, the rest of the summer.

I need to go to bed!  I'll let you know how Kara does in the final games of this tournament.

Happy Memorial Day!  Kari

May has arrived!

Hola!

Well the accomplishment of the week is that WE MADE IT TO MAY! :) :) Happy times all around.  While spring has a lot of rain here in New England, I must say that May and October are my very favorite months in Massachusetts.

My neighbor has a great magnolia tree, with blossoms that are out right now. The forsythia bushes in so many yards are bright with hundreds of yellow flowers.  And our trees out front have new leaves coming out. Things are fresh, green, and colorful. It's a beautiful season.

 

We have had a busy 2 weeks, so I have been delinquent on the blog.  Here are some highlights:

DAVID COMES HOME. Yippee! And there was much rejoicing.  He finished finals at BYU, and now we have him home for 8 weeks, until he leaves for the Mission Training Center in Provo.  He flew to Boston on the super reeeeeeddddd eeeeeyyyyyyeeeee flight, leaving at something like 2a.m. our time, layover from 6-7:30, and getting in about 11:30a.m. Brutal.

It was so fun to see him, and since the girls were still on April Break, they were home from school, too.

They jumped on the trampoline and played games. Of course I had to take pictures.

MORMON PROM.  They have regular school prom in a couple of weeks. But last weekend they had what they call "Mormon Prom," where the kids can dress up in formalwear for a regional dance.  There were five "stakes" involved, which means people were coming from New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Luckily for us, it was in our building so the driving was not too painful.

Teresa had a friend who wanted to do her hair and makeup, and she went with Ben. It was a fun night! And of course I had to take pictures.

Now my allotted time for updating the blog is up!  But it is still spring, or should I say it is FINALLY spring?!  It has been a long time coming!

Have a great weekend :)

Kari

Happy Easter today

Hello and Happy Easter!

I need to put some Easter eggs on the title photo of the blog or something.  We have had some sunshine today and yesterday, so when you look out the window, you think it's spring!  The wind can still be cold.  But it LOOKS like spring.

WEDDING. Last week I went to Rachelle's wedding in Arizona, it was very beautiful.  She and Shad got married in the Snowflake LDS Temple, in northern Arizona.  He's from California. He and his family are really nice.

Posed by Jessica.

Jessica took pictures, and the rest of us got to enjoy :)  Well Kim (Rachelle's mom) was a little more busy, with 10,000 details to keep track of.  But things went very well, and according to plan.  They got married in the morning, and then had a reception at the church that evening.

Jessica shoots a LOT of pictures!

Kay and Kids! We don't get together TOO often...

HORSES. Then some of us went back to the Tucson area, and went on a horseback ride Monday.  It was a beautiful day for us. Not too hot. Of course, at this point in the year, I'm ready for hot.

It was a quick trip, it felt like, but it's good to see people.  And I couldn't get away without a photo with Grandma. :)

Grandma and Kari

DAVID. David is taking finals at BYU this week.  Ugh!  He will come home on Thursday, and we are happy about that.  He flies in to Providence, Rhode Island.

Feels a little rushed, since I need to get to bed.  We're thinking of going to Lexington bright and early in the morning.  Tomorrow is Patriot's Day, and they'll re-enact the Revolutionary Battle of the Shot Heard Round the World.  Also tomorrow is the Boston Marathon.

Have a great week!
Kari

March Marches On

Salve! (practicing: Italian Lesson #1.)

Just checking in...we had a couple of warm days this week, and now we're back to "winter."  Brrrr!  The sun fools us into thinking that spring is close.  Then you walk outside and the wind hits you.  Ugh!

Here are some highlights of the week:

GUN CLUB.  Frank was given some rifles that his dad and grandfather owned.  He is officially "licensed," now, to have them in Massachusetts!  He found a gun club in a neighboring town that had reasonable hours and fees.  We went to check it out yesterday.  It's still snowy and slushy and muddy out!  But Teresa, Frank and I shot at some targets at their range yesterday.  I think it will be a good place to practice in the future.

D.C. TRIP.  The 8th graders around here take a trip to Washington D.C. in the spring.  It's a fabulous trip, with monuments, U.S. government buildings, and museums.  The 8th grade curriculum is filled to the brim with history, U.S. law and constitution, and studies of the Revolutionary War.  This D.C. trip in April will be the culminating event of the year, tying all these studies together for the students.  They take a train down, pack in a ridiculous number of historic attractions and activities into 3 days, stay in hotels and eat food court food.

EARNING MONEY. While it's a great trip, it is also expensive.  We have basically required each of our kids to make half of the money to go to D.C.  So David went during our first year here in Massachusetts.  We had house projects up to our eyeballs that year, and every door inside the house needed to be painted.  Twice.  That was his "D.C. project."  Teresa was also earning money for Peru that year, so she earned for both trips, and she made loaves of zucchini bread and sold them (many. many. loaves) to neighbors, friends, people at church...lots of zucchini bread.  So...we don't have house projects going on right now (Thank You, Thank You--so tired of those).  What could Kara do?

PERSONAL CHEF.  Kara actually likes to cook, including baking of course.  Her friends at school know that on their birthday, they can request what kind of treat they want at school, and Kara will make it and bring it in to the lunch room! (Public schools now don't allow food in the classroom, and there are allergies galore, but as far as we know, the students can still bring food into the lunchroom.)

So I have hired Kara to cook meals for our family! I find recipes online, get the ingredients, and she makes the food for us.  I stay within earshot for questions, but I read, work on the computer, etc. while she makes dinner!  She has prepared:

Salmon & Zucchini Skewers & Couscous
Pork Fajitas w/Pepper & Onion
Chicken Picatta
Crispy Panko Cod with Kale & Mango Salad
Rosemary Chicken Lasagna
Gnocci w/Spinach Salad
Crispy Shrimp w/Canellini & Kale

and lots more!  It's perfect for me.  I'm afraid I'll be sad when she's earned all of her money for the trip.

Time to move to the next thing, getting ready for the week!  Hope it's springtime where you are.  Thursday is the BIG DAY: 1st day of spring, officially!  I'll keep telling myself that, anyway.  Even tho our temps are far from spring-like.

Happy Monday tomorrow!  Kari

Exciting News for David

Hola!

Except now I will be using a different greeting, to help me with my Italian: I have discovered there are 3 possible greetings I can use with you.

“Ciao” is absolutely informal.
-“Salve!” is quite informal, but more friendly and polite than “Ciao”.
-“Buongiorno” is a formal polite manner to salute in a friendly and respectful way.

There is your Italian lesson for the day.  I love the Internet.  Really :)

In our church, the college-aged kids are encouraged to serve a "mission."  Boys and girls are encouraged to serve and help in different areas of the world.  It's a 2-year time commitment (18 months for girls).  It's a time of service and gospel study, a chance to focus on others, to be a part of something bigger and outside of yourself, and to solidify your own knowledge of scriptures and the teachings of Jesus Christ.


There are 400 missions worldwide.  The missionaries work closely helping the local church leadership, and church members in that area.  They also participate in community service X number of hours a week.

They teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those searching for more meaning or purpose in their lives.

Frank went to southern Spain in the 80's.  I didn't serve a mission then, but now I really see the benefit of going.  We hoped that David would want to go. And he did decide to go!  In the last couple of months, he went through all the steps of applying and interviewing, getting physical and dental forms in, and even having his wisdom teeth removed last month.  (Well that would have happened anyway.  But they do want the missionaries to be able to "focus" for 2 years on the mission, not worry about their teeth or other problems.)

So timing for the missionaries can vary.  The oldest you can go on a mission as a single person is 25.  The youngest is 18 for boys, 19 for girls.  They also have missions for adult couples, but that happens usually after all of their kids are grown, and they can somehow leave their job and house for an extended period of time.

David has decided that he will serve a mission for our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after he completes his freshman year of college the end of this April.  People cannot choose their location; instead, they are assigned.  He completed the application and received his "mission call" -- assignment -- this week.  He's going to the Italy Milan Mission, and leaves June 25!

So, that's the reason I am now interested in Italian: David will be learning the Italian language and culture, and also much about himself and others when he goes to northern Italy this summer, and for the next 2 years.

There are 2 missions in Italy: Milan (northern), and Rome (the southern 2/3 of the country).  The Milan Mission includes Venice, Milan, and a tiny bit of Switzerland. It is the "top" part of the country:  if you put flowers in the tall boot of Italy, he'd be where the flowers are sticking up out of the top.  Not Rome!  That's another mission.  But they are building a temple, visitor's center, meeting house, and patron housing (dorms or hotel rooms) in Rome right now, to be completed in 2015.

My friend did send along a news article about Pope Francis.  He was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year!  It's a neat article, actually.  I learned some things; it's a quick and easy read if you have 5 minutes: here is the link.

We are excited for his new adventure!  He received the mission assignment packet in the mail on Wednesday.  Thursday he skyped, and we watched while he opened it.  David doesn't show much emotion usually, but when he got to the "location" part of the letter, he paused and got this big smile on his face. "Italy Milan Mission," he read.  We were all surprised.  It was a fun Skype call!

We'll be learning along with him.  A new adventure!

Have a great week, Kari