Aloha

Jed and I escaped to the little island of Oahu last week. Braving a 5 1/2 hour flight in order to do so. I survived, barely. While there, we felt it necessary to immerse ourselves in the culture of the land, do every activity possible, and eat at all the famous places while getting lost multiple times, even with Jed's girlfriend (the gps and her annoying accent.)

Here is our list of top spots...

Waimea Falls-Tropical, lush, beautiful pool to swim in at the base of the falls. What more could you ask for?

Polynesian Cultural Center: Here Jed and I are paying pilgrimage to the statues of ancient civilization, to ensure a long and productive life.

The night show is what really makes this place worth it. I am now considering a career in fire baton twirling. oooo

Hanauma Bay: A popular snorkeling destination where you will actually see fishies, big, tropical fishies and possibly sharks and that is why I watch from the beach.

Kailua Beach and surrounding islands for the kayak adventurer in all. I figured I could pound the sharks with my paddle, of course they would probably laugh and munch it in two, but I felt considerably less vulnerable due to the fact that I wasn't directly in the water. We were able to see a sea turtle while paddling, he was very friendly and unable to snap my paddle like a toothpick. Have you detected the underlying fear here?


This is what I do, I stop and sniff the hibiscus. Jed is the adventurer I am the observer and shaved ice eater. Is that not the biggest snow cone you have ever witnessed? It was tasty, so tasty.

Board on famous Waikiki beach and the North Shore. Bucket list-check. Isn't he naturally talented and wonderful at everything?

Hike Diamond Head Crater. I'm still trying to catch my breath from this one. The straight up staircase of 50+stairs at the end, before the winding 2 flight staircase, after the previous 50+ flight of stairs just about killed me. We sat at the top for a very long time "admiring the view." (i.e. resuming a normal heart rate.)

Laie, Hawaii temple. Completely serene and beautiful.

Last but not least, Giovanni's Famous Shrimp Shack. With enough garlic and butter piled on your shrimp to allow the gourmet roach coach cuisine to linger in your mouth for days.

Here, Here, and Over There

EVERYWHERE!

That is where I have princess stickers.
The last straw, for some reason, was on the obviously white wall protector behind the door. You know, that unnamed thing that keeps your 4-year-old from throwing the door through the wall. The last sticker-free section of my home, visibly contaminated. Right in my line of vision, staring at me from every piece of furniture I own.
Whyyyy? The uniformity of my beautifully, boring brown wall was broken up my a very large magical pink and purple tiara.
Magical is not my thannng.
Purple and pink is not my thannng(Even when I was a small child programmed by Barbie to like these colors I did not) My childhood bedspread had BROWN cats on it, brown not, gulp, pink!!!
I tolerated, am still tolerating, Ariel and Jasmine smiling at me every time I stomp on them to throw my clothes in the dryer.
I stare at "princess", tattooed upside-down on my counters at least once a week, it's semi-hidden.
I allow for my daughter to express her creativity through adornment of princess stickers on the wall by her bed.
BUT
Princess-tiara-purple-and-pink-plague is being sent for all time, in a wadded up ball, to the trash can, never to resurface and rear its ugly head over my living room again.
The evil queen does not tolerate rivalry.

The Big Day

Jordan and Chelsey 12.30

Weddings are wonderful,

unless you are a two-year-old boy rebelling against your tie and sweater vest,

a time to reflect on your own love

a fairy-tale come true

merging of families


and downright

EXHAUSTING.

Happy Wedding Day!

Resourceful

He's naughty but he's cute.

Jack has been utilizing the step-stool lately to aid in his devious endeavors, like eating cookies for breakfast, and climbing up on the computer desk, naked. (no picture)

I hide the stool, he finds it.

I find the stool in strange places. My closet, the window, my bed wherever he needs it most.

And, as you can tell from the picture, he is quite proud of himself.

Merry Merry

The classic Christmas picture memories.

Best memory:

Jara heard Santa's sleigh bells this Christmas. She promptly kicked me out of her room "Go mommy, I hear him, I have to go to sleep fast, NOW go to your room!!!" and ducked for cover under the blankets. The excitement on her face was priceless.

Best Memory:

The pure joy of opening presents, his favorite being an EXTREMELY noisy car thing, that wasn't even from a grandparent. And...

His first 5 word sentence, "Baby Jesus, Mommy Daddy's ooom" We watched the Nativity in our room (the only room with a DVD player) with the kids a few days before Christmas and ever since he has been requesting multiple screenings.

Family fun

Cousin fun. Aren't they adorable? They have all been playing nicely. Ella is Jara's very cooperative living doll and Jack has stopped biting. Yippee!

Monday FHE with everyone. (Including the three wise men.) A nice way to start the week.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Christmas is a special time of the year. Nice job stating the obvious huh? It's true though. Christmas brings on a rash of memories and feelings. The most hap, happiest time of the year can also be the most stressful. However, due to the fact that I adore even the stress of putting together presents until midnight. Here are a few of my favorite things that are uniquely Christmas.

#1 (I like numerical lists)

My Paraguayan nativity set, complete with rooster. Jed came home off of his mission a few days before Christmas. When he asked me what I wanted him to bring me back for Christmas I had no idea, but the mother to one of my dear friends encouraged me to request a nativity set. This one was handmade by true Paraguayan craftsman. It is one-of-a-kind and the only nativity set I have ever seen with a rooster! My children are not allowed to even breathe on it. I hold it in high esteem, it is truly one of my most treasured gifts Jed has given me. Maybe because it conveys the true meaning of Christmas, maybe because it was accompanied with the gift of Jed returning home, maybe because it kinda reminds me of my great-grandma's Virgin Mary glued to the dashboard of an old Chevy? truck. I can't pin-point it exactly but it is one of my FAVORITE THINGS.

#2

A mini Christmas tree in my room. When I was in college and treeless and pathetic my mom bought me a little tree to adorn my room. It was cheery and festive and made me feel oh so jovial! I kept it through three years of marriage and then one fateful move someone trashed it on the basis that "it was taking up room, old and dusty." I was devastated, due to my strange attachment to inanimate objects. Soooo, this year when I saw an advertisement for a mini-tree in a sales ad I made someone go buy it to replace the original. In the morning when I am roused from my peaceful slumber by someone's spawn I look at my tree and smile knowing I can face the world after looking at a visual reminder that all is meaningful and wonderful in life. The ornaments are family heirlooms, it's okay they're wood, not so breakable. How else do you think they've survived long enough to be handed down?

#3

Christmas musicals. I used to love playing Christmas music in band, orchestra and piano. (NO choir for this frog.) Christmas concerts were my favorite, maybe not for my poor parents who had to sit through the torture, but I always loved an excuse to be melodically noisy (and wear my black dress.) However, now I get to be in charge of the musicale! My piano students, did AMAZING! Twelve of them played their hearts out, from my little first grader, who is practically Jara size, to my big middle-schoolers. Almost all of them memorized their songs, they played with style and no one sang batman smells while being a "good audience." Unfortunately the only picture I have to document this event would be a scary one of me glaring a Miss Viola Swamp glare. Let me explain, I wasn't actually glaring, I was contemplating and I love this little girlie and would never, ever glare at her, but now I kinda worry I'm scary and don't even know it.

#4

Snow fights. This is how we do it in Southern Nevada. No snow, no problem. Bust out the marshmallows and pelt each other. No wet clothes, no numb fingers, no crying=HAPPY kids. Especially Jack, who loves an occasion to throw things at his sister and parents and NOT get in trouble.

#5

Christmas dresses on little girls complete with red tights and gloves. Don't mind Santa's little helper on the left, he wouldn't move, but the elf socks are a nice touch, no?

#6

Our soon-to-be sister-in-law. She's fun AND cute! She's one of us. She's been with my little bro forever, knows our evil ways and still likes us. She even karaokes with Ashley and I, that's true familia love. We are excited for their big day.


#7

Baking. I may shudder at the sight of flour for another couple days due to the overload of holiday cheer and goodwill but I truly love baking tasty treats. Jara is my sous chef, she loves dumping, and Jack is the cookie watcher, he takes his responsibilities very seriously.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The nativity scene is all set up


The stockings are stuffed
We were wondering where all of Jack's trucks had gone.


The tree is decorated complete with a toy hammer, legos and princess beads. Every day I find a new beautiful object adorning the branches.

Notice the decorating job of these two, look along the bottom, ahh now you see. There may or may not have been a little bit of rearranging after they went to bed. Jack really liked the Christmas tree, can you tell?! After he sniffed it a few times and found it safe he really got into the yuletide spirit.

And

We've been playing the "Santa Card"

You know it goes something like this "Santa's watching you, so..."

Well,

Last night in the car, as Jack is melting down we hear...

Jara: Jack, Santa is watching you and if you don't be good he isn't going to bring you any presents. So, quit pouting and throwing a fit. Be nice!

And oh by golly, wouldn't you know, it worked! Thank you Jara, Thank you Santa!