Holidays

Christmas seemed to be a really busy season this year. We were thinking that we would have a quiet month with less parties to attend and no family to visit. Man, were we wrong! Between the work and ward parties there were achievement activities for the girls, wrapping and shipping gifts (I had no idea what a process that can be), home school, ward callings (I got a new one as a counselor in the primary), trying to do some service to remember the real reason for the season, and getting out a Christmas card for the first time in our lives, (I hope you enjoyed yours Mindy). There just didn't seem to be enough time for it all. In the end it all turned out nicely though- as it always seems to, and we had a fantastic Christmas.
Justin decided to go all out and gave me a video camera AND and ipod touch- both of which I LOVE!!! I tried to find a wii for him but everyone on the island was out of stock, and believe me..... I checked EVERYWHERE!!! I ended up getting him Guitar Hero- the complete band, because I knew we could find a wii just a few days after Christmas. We got one the Saturday after and we have had a blast rockin' out, punchin' each other, and tryin' out our best backhands.


For New Years Eve we went to the beach and had a bonfire, roasted marshmallows and made s'mores with our friends, the Rasmussen's. We knew that it was illegal to have fires on the beach in most places but we didn't know it was everywhere until an officer showed up and told us we couldn't be there. He was really good about it though and said that once we were done we needed to make sure to soak the fire and scatter the remains. It probably helped that we were all haoli's and "didn't know better". The beach was so beautiful, the sunset perfect, and we even had a sea turtle and a seal checking things out nearby. We finished just as it started getting dark so we packed up and went back to our house for fireworks and more of the wii. The Estes family joined us and we played until midnight when we were more than amazed and overwhelmed by the amount of fireworks going off in the area.

Okay, let me tell you about Hawaii and New Years. I went to Costco right before New Years and almost everyone had one of those huge boxes full of fireworks in their cart. You know, those ones that cost $200 plus? I was thinking, "man, they sure are serious about their fireworks here". For several days before New Years Eve there were fireworks going off now and again. The morning of, there were fireworks going off and I think they pretty much went all day long. Our neighbors were doing fireworks from the time we got home around seven, until past midnight. Now we're not talking screaming bees and ground flowers, even though there are those too, but we're talking more of the big illegal kind that are Stadium of Fire worthy. The air was so thick with smoke that you couldn't see more than twenty feet up in the air, it was a huge fog covering our house and from what I hear, the whole island.
The missionaries came over and told us about a guy they talked to who was a police officer. He would confiscate illegal fireworks and bring them home for his kids to light. That right there describes Hawaii perfectly. Needless to say if you want a good New Year's celebration, Oahu is the place to come.

Busted!

It was Lilly's birthday and my friend Katie (a fantastic photographer)was trying to get Addie to sing Happy Birthday on camera. She had been singing it all morning and then as soon as the camera was on her, and everyone was watching, she clamed up. Thats okay though because she gave us a different kind of footage!

The Happy Birthday Grandma video was taken with her morning look- hence the crazy hairdo. I think Addie is a little confused about all the birthdays coming and going, can you tell? Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

Update

Shelley said I need to update my blog- I know, I couldn't believe it either! LOL
We didn't end up having to eat poi on our Thanksgiving turkey (thank goodness), but Justin and I were worried that the turkey would even turn out. We've only ever cooked one other one and it wasn't the best, (done on the outside, not in the middle). We got a few turkey tips from different sources and decided to use an online recipe, and a tip from our friend Megan to put cut up oranges in the cavity for mois'er meat. It turned out SO good, one of the best turkeys we've ever had, and the meat was incredibly mois'!
We ended up inviting a few families in the ward and some of Justin's co-workers for a total of 23! It was a total blast and we loved every minute of it, but we'd still trade it for being together with our extended families which we miss so much this time of year.
Speaking of family, we decided to use you all for our Christmas tree decorations this year. I was thinking how it would be a fun idea for the girls to have family pictures as ornaments and a few days later Haley said she had an idea to do the same thing. We bought our tree, (fake and prelit- what have we become?) the weekend after Thanksgiving and put only ribbon, popcorn strands, and family pictures on it. It looks amazing and the kids, especially Addie, love to go over to the tree and look at all the pictures of the people they love.
Lilly's birthday was last week and I gave her the option of spending the afternoon with mom or having a regular cake/presents party. She chose to spend the day with me, and we both enjoyed the one on one time. I took her to Build-A-Bear, which is called Hanai Bear out here and let her pick whatever she wanted. She picked a small white (groan) bear and three outfits for it. I'm lucky they only had a few outfits for the small bears or we could have spent way too much on a wardrobe for her new friend. She grinned the whole time and couldn't believe she finally had a Build-A-Bear friend like she's "wanted her whole life!" After that we went to find her a new dress (definitely a need) and then to lunch at Farrels. I told her she could have whatever she wanted on the menu so naturally she picked fries and a shake- wouldn't you? Because it was her birthday, they gave her a free scoop of the ice cream of her choice with any topping she wanted. When they brought it out she had to stand up while they made a bunch of noise and announced to the whole restaurant, "This is Lilly- today is her birthday, she's turning seven years old!" Then they sang Happy Birthday to her. When it was all over she sat down and said, "that was a little bit embarrassing"
When we were finished with lunch we went to Sports Authority to use the gift card from G-ma. Lilly got a new snorkel set and her own boogie board. She told me it was the "best birthday ever!"

The Church building we meet in was burned a couple years ago and is finally about done being rebuilt. Today there's a truck bringing a load of new furniture to be assembled. All the ward members are asked to come help unload the truck and put together the furniture. It seems a little "Extreme Home Makeover" to me. Kinda fun.
Our ward party is Friday and my friend from the ward was saying she and I should show off our Turbo Jam moves there. She is way into exercise and borrowed my DVDs. I'm not sure that would be appropriate since the theme is "the land of Jeruselem" and we're supposed to come dressed up in clothes from the time period of Christ's birth. I'll let you know if the shepherds can "houz it".

Lilly was sitting on my lap the other day and we were talking about how Santa only delivers to the kids that have been good this year. I asked her if she'd been good and she said "hmmmm..... not so much." I was shocked! What kid ever says that? I decided to ask my other kids the same question. Isabelle said, "wellllll..... a little bit good." Haley and Rachel both said no they hadn't! What is the deal? I mean there's honest and then there's insanely honest. I asked them what they could have done better and they all answered with the exact things they needed to work on. It was incredible! I'd never seen kids do that before! I think Santa will give honesty points this year for sure!

Much Ado

We have been busy having too much fun lately! A few weeks ago we went to the Valley of the Temples and walked through the Byodo-In temple there. The grounds were so pretty and it was a good chance to talk to the girls about other religions and what other people believe. We loved feeding the fish in the Koi ponds and watching them jump up to catch the food before the swans could get it. Seeing Budda all big in his glory made me think of Stephen and I wanted to light an incense stick for him and make an offering on his behalf. Unfortunately the matches were all gone. Sorry Steve.
Halloween was a blast too! The girls and I had a home school Halloween party with friends where we made marshmallow ghosts, spider web pizza, Oreo bats, Halloween masks, and bobbed for apples. Since we all have such big mouths, I had to time everyone to see who could do it the fastest. I was thinking Lilly would win but I think her loose tooth slowed her down. Haley got hers in 9 seconds- pretty good! Of course I had to show them who was boss and got mine in 7 seconds. That night we had homemade chili (tradition), and bread sticks and then went to our stake center for trunk or treat. We took 20 lbs of candy with us and ended up taking home 27 lbs!!!! (Yes, we weighed it). My favorite part of the trunk or treat was in the beginning after they told the kids what to do. They started up some music and the first song was Metallica's Neverland ( I think that's what its called). I laughed for five minutes. I'm pretty sure I've never heard Metallica played at the church. We ended the night with doughnuts and cider- also a tradition. It was a great Halloween.
Last weekend, Justin and I got to go to Kauai on a Best Vinyl trip. Justin was excited about the house that we were going to stay at. It was a multimillion dollar house with a 50 ft. water slide and a huge projector screen and an arcade. When I got there, the first thing I noticed was all the fruit trees. There was orange, lime, lemon, pumelo, manelo, avocado, macadamia nut, mango, grapefruit, etc. It was awesome. The first thing I did was go pick fruit and try it. The pumelo I picked was twice the size, at least, of a grapefruit! Andy and I made fresh guacamole for lunch that day-YUM!
Kauai was SO pretty- much prettier than Oahu. Before I got there, Justin went on an 8 mile hike with everyone to see a waterfall and played football on the beach. The day I was there, we went on a breathtaking hike to a cave with a hidden beach inside that housed some sea turtles. Justin had a water volleyball tournament that day too- haole's against locals- guess who won? The white boys!!! We also went and played in some huge waves at a gorgeous beach where Justin got to try out his surfing skills. I can definately see why they call Kauai the garden island. We're going back for sure!
We are now trying to talk ourselves into the fact that the holidays are approaching even though its 85 degrees. It just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving is a week away. We're planning on inviting some of Justin's co-workers over, that don't have family here, to join us. I wonder if we'll have to eat poi on our turkey?