It's the most wonderful time of the year . .

I really love Christmas. The music, the decorations, the anticipation, the meaning of it all. When I was a little girl I would lie down close to the Christmas tree in the darkened living room and get lost in the lights on the tree. The anticipation on Christmas Eve was so intense for me that I (more than once) snuck in to see what Santa had brought early Christmas morning, hours before anyone else was awake. I think one year I even unwrapped some presents, but we won't talk about that. There was no way I could sleep when the thrill of Christmas was so close. I dreaded the day after Christmas because it was painful to deal with the reality of 364 more days until Christmas again. Bailey has taken over this role for me now. She spent all of December on a "Christmas high" and the days afterward in a sour mood because it was over.

Christmas as a Mom is a lot more work and less fun - I cannot lie. So much to do and prepare and the ever-present whisper of guilt reminding me that it needs to be "magical" for the family, no matter how tired I am. Some years this can be overwhelming. This year, I cut out some things we usually do. Dan is still reeling from the fact that we didn't do neighbor/friend gifts for hardly anyone, even though we were showered with gifts. I didn't care.

What did we do? Read Christmas stories, attend everyone's Christmas play/performance, find people to serve, decorate the house, make some treats (but not as many as usual), drive around and look at lights.

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For the first time in years, I opened up ALL the boxes of Christmas decorations and set out more than we have used since we moved here. I found some decorations which were way overdue to be sent to the DI pile and pruned our collection to things we cherish. For the first time in at least ten years,I am truly sad to put away the decorations. Usually a few days after Christmas I'm itching to unclutter and get back to normal, but not this year. I like the warmth, the coziness, the colors, the lights, the memories.

The kids decorated the tree, with only a little help from me. They did a great job.

Joseph sat on Santa's lap after his preschool program. He wouldn't actually make eye contact, but was proud of himself for speaking to Santa in a whisper.

Joseph sang and danced his little heart out at his preschool program. He refused to wear any of his red or green clothes on this particular day. He is a man who knows what he wants to wear, and cannot be persuaded.

Okay, so we didn't actually make our Christmas cookies until Christmas Eve Day, but it was still fun.

The cast for our Christmas play this year: Joseph as Joseph (the superhero version), Aubrey as the angel (who recited the angel's proclamation from memory), Bailey as Mary (a little taller than her husband), and Brandon the shepherd (who declared "this is the last year I am doing this.)

After we read and acted out the Christmas story, everyone opened their gift (pjs, of course) and a new Christmas book for the family.Bailey had requested footie pajamas for Christmas (apparently they are quite the thing with the middle school crowd). I truly thought she might like these pink bunny pjs. But, just in case, I bought another type of footies, with a matching set for Aubrey. It turns out I was very wrong, and Bailey was mortified to even try on the bunny footies. We forced her to take a photo in them. She is not allowed to delete this picture from my blog (do you hear me, Bailey??)

Joseph, in his "Awesomeness Prime" (Optimus Prime from Transformers) costume, earnestly wrote a very sweet letter to Santa. First he dictated the words to me, then he signed his name and drew a picture. The girls also wrote beautiful letters to Santa. As always, Santa answered all the kid's letters with very funny response. Santa's sense of humor reminds me a lot of Dan's gift for humor.

The kids dragged their mattresses into the bonus room and slept there on Christmas Eve. As is tradition, they watched Christmas shows until they fell asleep. We had told them to not wake us any earlier than 7 a.m. (we are so mean), but I heard them giggling and talking at 6 a.m., and then I couldn't go back to sleep. The excitement was contagious! In the picture above, we had them wait at the top of the stairs while we checked to see if Santa had arrived.We start with the youngest and then take turns opening one present at a time. Joseph was really cute about it this year. He understood that he had to wait for his turn, so he would put a gift on his lap and wait patiently. But, he was so excited that he would literally bounce up and down like a Mexican jumping bean while he waited. As soon as his turn rolled around, he would tear into the present with gusto.
Christmas Day was delightfully relaxed. I took a marvelous three hour nap. Everyone else played with new toys. No one got out of their pajamas. In fact, when we had our Christmas dinner (ham and all the fixings), we drank sparkling grape juice out of crystal glasses wearing our pajamas. Awesome! This night will also go down as the night that Joseph finally tried a bite of mashed potatoes. More about this topic in another post . . .

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All in all, we had a really wonderful Christmas season. We are so grateful for all of our blessings, but especially for our Savior and our family.

And more Hawaii (almost done, I promise!)

After we landed at the airport, we drove straight to a Costco and bought all the necessary Thanksgiving food and other food for our week-long stay. The day after we arrived in Hawaii we celebrated Thanksgiving. We had a very nice meal, despite the somewhat limited cooking capacity of our rental home.

Joseph is not pictured here. I'm pretty sure he was in time out at the time!

One of the main things Brandon had put on his Christmas list was a ukelele. While in Hawaii we bought it for him, but on Christmas Day he will need to act surprised when he unwraps the ukelele package!

Bailey throwing a spear in Tonga in the Cultural Center.

One of the dancers in Fiji.

Learning the hula in the Hawaii section of the Cultural Center. We really loved the Polynesian Cultural Center. We felt like we learned much about the different Polynesian islands, and we liked interacting with the BYU Hawaii students who are the employees at the Center.

More Hawaii Memories

Dan and the girls snorkeling and Brandon taking Joseph for a fun ride.

Looking down at the remains of the U.S.S. Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

Isn't the color of the water breathtaking?

Brandon thinking, on Sunset Beach.

We stopped at Sunset Beach, on the North Shore of Oahu, one day on a drive. The waves on this side of the island are huge, which is why surfing competitions are held there all winter long. We didn't have swimsuits, but had to play in the waves a little anyway. Aubrey got more than a little wet. It was a long drive home in her wet jeans!

I just loved this picture because of the expressions on everyone's faces. We had so much fun together during this vacation. I will always remember laughing together, playing in the waves, and riding in the van, all singing at the top of our lungs. Brandon put together a very cool "Hawaii playlist" for his ipod. All the songs were singable and fun.

I seriously did not know how pineapples grow. I vaguely thought. . . maybe on a tree??

The beautiful view from the top of the Pali Lookout. Which is VERY windy, as evidenced by the wacky picture below!

Brandon was called up on stage during the Samoa show at the Polynesian Cultural Center. He drank Coconut juice (not milk - we learned that the milk is made when the coconut meat is squeezed.) It was a funny show, and so fun that he was part of it!

The Buddhist Temple at Valley of the Temples. This is a replica of an ancient temple from Japan. It was beautiful. The building and the grounds surrounding it made me feel like we were actually in Japan!

Surfin' Dudes and other Hawaii stories

Okay, Dan may not be happy that I am sharing this story, but I can't resist. One of Brandon's Hawaii dreams has been to take a surfing lesson. Dan felt like he should do it too, but was overwhelmingly nervous about sharks. The thought of surfing tapped into deep-seated fears that apparently began when he watched Jaws as an impressionable child.

We signed up Brandon and Dan for a lesson on a beach near Waikiki. It was a hot day, and we rushed over right after spending the morning walking around the Swap Meet at Aloha Stadium (to find our Hawaii souvenirs) and then eating a big Pizza Hut buffet lunch. Maybe not the smartest way to begin an intensely physical exercise.

Dan and Brandon and their surfer dude instructer (who fit every surfer dude stereotype, from his "surfer-isms" sprinkled throughout his conversation to his laid-back approach to life) unloaded their surfboards and prepared to carry them down the hill to the beach. The other kids and I followed behind, but we were way behind. It took me about half an hour to convince Joseph that he really needed to walk, not be carried, the entire way.
By the time we reached the beach, we couldn't tell where they had "launched" and which surfers way out in the water were our guys, so we set up our stuff on the beach and played in the water while we waited. About half an hour later I saw the instructor and Brandon walking toward us from down the beach. Dan was not with them. Our first thought was "Oh no - a shark ate Dan!" Then we realized that Brandon and the instructor were talking and laughing, and it didn't seem likely that they would be so jovial if Dan had just been a shark's lunch.

They told me that halfway through the lesson Dan had felt nauseous and weak. He thought he might pass out. The instructor and Brandon towed him back to shore, and they set him up in the shade to cool off. They came to find me to get him a water bottle.

(Dan would want me to make it clear that surfing is a much more physical sport than we would imagine. And he was dehydrated and overheated and swallowed a lot of salt water. And he did great for half the lesson. And he is sure that if he was 17 years old like Brandon, he would have also been a super successful surfer. Okay. We believe him, right?)

I ran down to find my poor husband, who was, shall we say, not doing well. It was not possible for him to finish the lesson, so instead he recuperated and cooled off. Once the instructor was assured that I would take responsibility for Dan's welfare, he took Brandon back out for the rest of the lesson.

Brandon discovered that he LOVES surfing. The instructor said he was a natural and progressed amazingly fast for a first lesson. He caught some good waves and had a blast. We're worried that he may decide to blow off college and become a surfer dude for a living.
Brandon is on the left.
Joseph tries out Dan's surfboard while we played nursemaid on the beach.

Other random Hawaii thoughts for today . . .our GPS was our best friend in Hawaii. Everything about the islands is so laid back. Including the streets. They are particularly confusing to navigate. Our GPS is named "Agnes," and Agnes treated us well as we drove all over every corner of Oahu. We saw so many fascinating places and really loved the island (maybe not the hectic big city of Honolulu, but we loved everything else).
One of the great tips our friends gave us was to check out a little Portuguese bakery in Kailua to eat "malasadas," which is a cross between a scone and a donut. Oh, so delicious.

Hawaii

Ever since we have returned from our trip to Hawaii, I have wanted to take a minute to journal/blog about some impressions and favorite memories. But, it feels so overwhelming. It was such a fun, action-packed week. Where to begin? I decided today to give a quick overview and then just choose a day and talk about it.

We visited Kailua, Oahu, which is on the east side of the island. We have good friends who used to live in Kailua, so they gave us "the scoop" about everything from the best restaurants, best shave ice, best beaches, best sites to see, etc. That was immensely helpful!

We rented a home (with a pool) for a really great price - as much as it would be to get a hotel room big enough for our family. Kailua is a truly lovely place. It is not touristy at all and it has two fantastic beaches - Kailua and Lanikai. It is very green and lovely on this side of the island, with towering, uniquely carved mountain peaks.
The weather was great almost all the time. There was some rain, but we Washingtonians can handle a bit of rain. The locals thought it was a "bit chilly." We thought the 70 - 75 degree weather was perfect.

Our last day in Kailua we were scheduled to check out and leave for the airport by 11. We just couldn't leave without going to "our" beach one more time. We packed up the night before and then drove to Lanikai Beach shortly after sunrise. This beach has the softest sand I have ever squished between my toes. It feels like talcum powder. The variegated shades of blue and aquamarine of the water are indescribable. The waves roll in very gently on Lanikai and the water is quite shallow, so it is perfect for kids to play in.
After spending the morning at the beach we quickly showered and then went to our FAVORITE shave ice shop for one last time - Island Snow, right off Kailua Beach. We will never enjoy a normal snow cone the same again. The ice was so smooth and the flavors were incredible. My favorite combo was passion fruit/snozzberry/mango. Yum! As we drove to the airport we enjoyed our last few bites of Hawaii heaven.