Mele Kalikimaka 2011

Christmas lasted extra-long this year. We started the decorations the day after Thanksgiving because we were leaving for Utah on Dec 16th. From then on, it was non-stop parties, crafts, advent calendars, and songs about Jesus and Santa. Unlike Halloween, I completely embrace the one-day holiday that has become a full season.

Kate's December was a little rough. I remember looking at babies before I ever had one and thinking that my child would never be the one with snot hanging out of her nose. Ew, and clearly bad parenting leaving a nose un-wiped. Sadly, my poor baby had a faucet runny nose for all of December. Lick, lick, lick.

Kauai had a gorgeous December. We spent a ton of time on the green belt, checking out whales, fish, and rocks, and playing canal tag.







Zachary knew what we wanted for Christmas since October. It made Santa's job easy, especially since the gifts were easily transported via suitcase.

Besides all the parties, we did get down the business and finished learning the alphabet just before our trip. Zachary is a little shaky with lower case letters, but confident with upper case.

I love co-op preschool. I love the preparation, the crafts, and the contagious enthusiasm of 3 and 4-year-olds. Our field trip with the kids was to sing carols at a nursing home. One grandma took the kids back to her bedroom and opened up a bag of cookies. Zac had 2, and I told him he was done. She told him that grandmas come first and he should definitely eat more. Ha! I couldn't argue with an 89-year-old.

When Zachary gets excited, he turns into the most affectionate little boy. We made a gingerbread house one night, and we heard, "Mom, I love you so much!" and "Dad, you are such a nice, nice boy," about 50 times throughout, of course accompanied by a hug and kiss. It made the hours-long process completely worth it!



We took the house to the work Christmas party, where it won for the "Most Traditional." I wish we had a better picture of the houses--there were some sweet Hawaiian gingerbread houses, as well as a clever Rapunzel house.
Love this Santa picture. I remember Zac crying just like Kate, and it seems like a blink ago. Zachary very eagerly told Santa (the 3 Santas he saw this year--I know, excessive!) about his sock monkey and dinosaur requests.

The Saturday before we left, we went up for the swell at Hanalei. The waves were rough and choppy--not at all good for surfing. Check out the lady below, er, Brady.
Pretty walks and sunsets.
Brady took a bunch of family pictures for people this year. Most of them turned out really well. One night, I asked if we could get a few snapped of us as well. Z was not very cooperative, so we didn't get much.

Dawn took one as we were getting up to leave, and it's my favorite:

Brady also took some pics of the kiddos.



White Christmas--no--Utah Christmas post coming up soon.