Family History

It's quiet around here with Craig at Scout Camp, the girls all working, and McKay mostly swimming with friends.  

So, I've spent some time with my ancestors...

Look at this name!  It doesn't even fit in an iPhone screenshot.

Here's what it looks like on the Mac...

Amazing!  Here's what that note says: 
The full name of Kauwe was Kauwe-a-Kanoa-akaka-wale-no-Haleakala-ka-uwe-kekini-o-Koolau. Kauwe means "the cry." The full name comes from the story of a much-loved queen who died on Maui. Many who loved her mourned her death, and their cries were so loud that they were heard all the way from Mount Haleakala on Maui to the Koolau range on the island of Oahu. (Kona Historical Society) BIRTH: "Genealogy of Tutu Kauwe", paper by Beryl Blackshear Walter et al., 1967. The notes under the picture of Kauwe in "The Shipmans of East Hawaii" by Emmett Cahill, p.147 says that Kauwe was born about 1780 and lived to the age of 104. This information credited to the Kona Historical Society. She lived the last part of her life in a grass house at the foot of the homestead. The homestead is right in the back of Richard Smart's home of Puapelu near Waimea. The land is still owned by the Paris/Hind family.

The more time I spend doing family history, the more I feel very small in this ever-growing tree of people.  And I also feel like a pretty vital part.  A lot of their temple work has been done, but there is so much still to do.  I love this hunt for names and relatives.  Some of them I recognize, and some I've never even heard of.  I love finding out tiny little pieces of their lives and seeing their connection to me.  And I love knowing that because of all of these people, I have the opportunity to be here, in this family, in this church, and living at this time.