We wish you a Blessed Easter and all the joys of this Celebration of Life
and the Coming of Spring (at least above the Equator)! We are gratefully experiencing
an abundance of these joys and blessings as we proudly announce the birth
of our first grandchild:
PAUL KEKOA JOHNSON
Born Sunday March 7, 2004 at 7:18pm at Presbyterian/St.Lukes Medical Center,
Denver, Colorado
8lbs 10.7oz 20 1/4 inches long
On April 7, he weighed 12lbs 7oz and was 23 1/4 inches long!
Pictures may be viewed at www.paulkekoa.com
Mom Julie and Dad Chris are fine, adjusting well to life with baby and with little sleep! All four grandparents are in "Seventh Heaven" with Uncles, Jason and Eric! Nalu, Sammie, and Manu are re-aligning their noses and beaks and are still very curious about this new little creature who has recently invaded their territory!
We were on Maui from February 21-March 6 and as usual, we did not have enough time to see all our friends. We did appreciate visiting with a few of you either in person or on the phone. We are grateful for your patience and understanding with our schedule or lack thereof! Thank you, Rod, for everything, especially waking up and driving us to the airport at 4:30am for our departure! Unfortunately, we only spent a few hours at The Beach on probably the worst day of the year with all the sand out and a Kona wind blowing sand and surf. We did manage to spend some time on our property at Olowalu visualizing our future family compound there. We spent several days doing work on our Napili Point condos and enjoyed one Monday night Mai Tai Party. The weather was warm but rainy most days. It was rather uncomfortable driving around in our Maui Cruiser Truck in the rain, since it is rusting away around us and the floor and ceiling leak.
On March 6 we flew to Denver (seems like a short hop after our 15 hour flights back and forth to the South Pacific!) arriving at 10pm on Julie's due date. We were settled in for a nice sleep about 1am. Julie went into labor at 2am, (Did he wait for his grandparents to arrive or what?) and woke Chris at 3am and us at 4am. We arrived at the hospital in Denver about 5:30am to begin a roller coaster day. After too many hours of pushing and pain for Julie, Paul Kekoa was delivered by cesarean section at 7:18pm! We could all understand the difficulty, when he pushed the scales at 8lbs 10.7 oz and his head circumference was 14 1/4 inches!!! Everyone was completely thrilled and grateful for a such a healthy beautiful perfect little soul to have chosen Julie and Chris and our family! A beautiful new life! What a joy!
We spent most of the following weeks enjoying Paul, Julie and Chris, visiting with friends and family, and enjoying their new home in the Colorado mountains. We tried to be as supportive to Julie and Chris as possible by cleaning, cooking, washing and taking care of Nalu and the birds. David spent five days in Rochester, New York with his Mom and sister, Marsha, as they were preparing to move into their new home.
As is our norm, we ran out of time and unfortunately, did not have a chance to even visit by phone with many of you. We did mail out our Christmas card letters with photos, so if you did not receive one, please email us and we can forward one to you. Please stay in touch by this email, which will soon become our only means of communication again. Soon, we should also have some pictures on the website: www.peaceandaloha.com. (NO, unfortunately, I did not have any time to update it yet!)
We are presently up to our ears (gunwales) with all the work that we need to do before we leave Mooloolaba after our return on April 1. We are hoping to leave by April 21 to sail to Bundaberg to be hauled out for bottom painting. We need to sell our car, clean out everything, inventory and reprovision for our trip north to Thailand, wash all the linens and bring out blankets and warmer clothes since we are approaching fall here. We need to make flags and covers and accomplish all the boat work that needs to be done by Eric and David on the generator, engine, instruments, mast, shrouds, etc. etc. Our plan is to sail north to Darwin and then to Kupang, Indonesia on a rally July 14, and be in Thailand by December 1. More on all those plans later.
Take care of yourselves and each other. Please stay in touch. Be well. Be safe. We love you and miss you all.
With Love, Peace and Aloha,
Ellen, David, Jason and Eric
S/V PEACE AND ALOHA
Mooloolaba Yacht Club, Queensland, Australia
April 11, 2004