Graduate School Here We Come!

In October 2006 I heard the talk "Rise Up, O Men of God" given by President Gordon B. Hinkley. At the time I was newly married and contemplating my educational goals. I was more interested in getting the "paper"(diploma) as fast as I could and getting out of school. Then these words, I felt, were directed to me:

"Approximately 61 percent of young men enroll in college immediately following high school, compared to 72 percent of young women.

Women have earned more bachelor's degrees than men every year since 1982, and more master degrees since 1986.

It is plainly evident from these statistics that young women are exceeding young men in pursuing educational programs. And so I say to you young men, rise up and discipline yourselves to take advantage of educational opportunities. Do you wish to marry a girl whose education has been far superior to your own? We speak of being "equally yoked." That applies, I think, to the matter of education."

Most who know me would assume that my motivation was based on pride, and the desire to not allow any girl to be better than me. That assumption, fortunately, is wrong. I left that conference feeling lazy. At the time I was thinking about studying Travel and Tourism, mostly because it is a great way to get me home to Hawaii, and also because there are only 45 credits required for graduation (I could have graduated in December 2007).

I guess I felt bad for trying to find a quick way out. I hate being called lazy (though history would affirm that such is the case). So I set forth to find an area of study that I would enjoy, regardless of the time required for graduation. Shortly after I was introduced to the Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation major and, as you’ve seen from earlier posts, I am enjoying it quite thoroughly.

Almost immediately I realized that graduate research and education would help me(us) be more competitive when the job search arrives. This semester I wrote a proposal with one of my professors to do research of desert bighorn sheep in southern Utah. At the end of October we were told that the proposal had been approved. In November Dr. Smith (Tom), Eva, Naia, and I took a trip down to the study area. Tom and I both got to fly through the study area and help to survey the sheep population. So, basically barring any extreme circumstances, my graduate research should begin in January 2009. I will get a great head-start on my graduate degree (I should finish my undergraduate degree in April 2009). We’re a little sad that we will be away from Hawaii for so long, but this will ultimately help us get there (without living with parents or having Eva work). Here are a few pictures of our trip.

I got to fly in a helicopter for the first time in 10 years. I got a little nauseous. Those things are smaller than I remember.

This is Dr. Smith. He's pretty new at BYU, and prior to being a professor there he was a research biologist in Alaska. He has a couple of current polar bear and brown bear studies that I would like to help with.

This is a pretty good looking ram that my boss Justin found while surveying another area.

Naia figured out what the camera is for and began posing. She was pretty happy to be at the hotel room after the 3 hour drive from Provo to Moab.

It was nice of Tom to let me bring my family, even though it was only an over night trip.

This is Dead Horse Point, part of the study area.

Eva's First Loaves of Bread

Pretty self explanatory. Our friend, Kimberley, helped Eva make her first loaves of bread. Kimberley has a Bosch mixer, so that is now on our list. Needless to say, I am addicted. I think I'll buy Eva some bread pans for her birthday. Good idea?

GREEN HALLOWEEN 2008

"THE SPROUTS"

This year we decided to play on our last name and dressed up as Jolly Green Giant Family. Naia was "Little Sprout," Jolly Green Giants sidekick. The costumes were well worth it and very homemade. Naia actually did pretty well in her costume considering she could of plucked all the leaves off. Needless to say we won 1st prize for our costumes at our ward Halloween party and it was probably because of Naia's cute little face and Kanalu's tight sexy green stockings.

"Sad Little Sprout"

"Fussy Little Sprout"

All together Halloween was great. We had fun at both Halloween parties we attended. Naia will probably never remember her first Halloween, but she doesn't need to worry about that because pictures will remind of how fun and tough it was to be Jolly Green Giants sidekick.

The Crazy Things She Does

Here's a few photos of Naia in all of her craziness. She always keeps us laughing.

Gagging Herself
Working On Her Abs

Showing Off Them Pearly Pinks

Cruisin' w/Mom

BYU FOOTBALL!!

We're not the craziest BYU fans or anything, but we do enjoy cheering the school on. We got to take Naia up to Logan to watch the BYU vs Utah State game. Kubi goes to Utah State so Naia got to see her aunty and uncle again. Here's some pics of the occasion.

To Crawl or Not To Crawl

Naia is not yet 6 months old, not quite crawling, but she sure wants to. I have been babysitting and we think that Naia is jealous of all the other kids' abilities to move freely. We try to discourage accelerated development (as Kanalu showed in the video) but she is too determined.

O Canada!

My sister, Moani, got married a couple of weeks ago. Her husband is from Canada, and so most of my family made the trek to Cardston, Alberta to attend. My mom, with my 3 brothers came up from the Big Island. The plan was for them to come to Salt Lake City, check out Temple Square, and then begin our 14 hour drive up to Canada. On the way we would pick up my other sister, Kubi, and her husband, Ala, in Logan. Well, after all sorts of hell, my family in Hawaii ended up on a flight straight to Edmonton, and the rest of us were left driving. Here are some photos of our adventure.

From left to right: Kanalu, Kaua, Kea, Ala, Hana(the little one), Kyle and Moani Armsworthy, Sandy (Mom), Naia, Eva, Kubi.

This temple is very similar to the Laie Temple (same architect) and is equally as beautiful. Our Papa was able to come up and perform the sealing. Kubi and Ala had just gotten their endowments out, and so they were able to witness the ceremony. While on that subject, Eva and I almost missed that session because our recommends had expired one day before. Blessedly, we were able to contact both the 1st counselor in the Bishopric and the 2nd counselor in the Stake Presidency the night before their endowment ceremony. We had one of our interviews preformed in the front seat of a pick-up truck in the mall parking lot. Good thing we didn't end up in Canada without the renewed recommends!!!

Kalena, Kubi, and Eva. Fresh leis in Canada. Bella, the flower girl, intially didn't get a lei. She pouted and said, "I want to be princess, too." She eventually got her lei, but she's a little too young for any prince to be showing up.

Papa and Grandma.

Naia with Grandma.

Naia with Great-grandma.

Thank goodness the party is over.

Hana was so excited to see Naia. When she was first born he wrote her a "Happy Hana Naia" letter. Don't ask me what that means.

Naia was the life of the party, though. Everywhere we went people would stop us and ask things about her. She was "fought" over on more than one occasion.

On our last day in Canada we went to Waterton National Park. This park borders Glacier National Park in Montana. Kyle's uncle was nice enough to take us out on his boat. We went all the way to the Montana border. This place is beautiful. The water was really cold (I did jump in but do not have the pictures) because the lake is directly fed by glaciers. We are planning a return visit for next year.

Some one will call CPS.

This waterfall is really pretty. Again, all runoff from glaciers.

To top it off we saw a bear. It was already dusk so it was difficult to get a good picture. Her cubs are off to the side.

Welcome home!. We drove through Montana and Idaho on our way back to Utah. It was a great trip. Obviously, the best part was spending time with our family, meeting the new extended family, and having Naia meet a lot of important people.

Just One More Job Pic

Kubi took this picture, so the quality is much better.

My Job

I have been working on a research project involving bighorn sheep for the last year and a half. Before beginning this job I didn't really appreciate Utah. The job has allowed me to enjoy the wildlife, the back country, and more. Here are few images of those adventures.
This hike was bad. We went from 5ooo ft to 8000 ft in about 2 hours (thats too fast for me) and we ran out of water at about 2:00pm. I think, though, that this view of American Fork Canyon with Mount Timponogos in the background made it worthwhile.
Ah, yes. The fruits of our labors. Unfortunately, my job description has been more about finding dead sheep rather than studying living ones. You can't see it, but the snake just crapped itself.My really good images are inaccessible at the moment. But this girl is always fun to find. She some times travels between American Fork Canyon and Provo Canyon (something like 15 miles) in one day. Here she was trying to kick rocks at us.

Boating with the Takasaki's

Our family went boating with the Takasaki's. It was very fun for all of us. Naia enjoyed it as well. Don't worry, we made sure that she was protected from the sun.