Christmas Eve 2010!

Merry Christmas Eve!

First present, Pajamas and our Advent calendar.

Christmas Eve in Maui. This is our fourth Christmas in Maui. It is always a little different celebrating a winter holiday on a tropical island and that is why we try to usually go to the beach to celebrate where we are. Christmas Eve felt a little rushed, I have the blessing and curse of wanting to do everything special and mark everything and some of those things have to wait until Christmas Eve. We went to the beach in the morning, watched "Miracle on 34th Street" in the afternoon, had yummy soup for dinner, went to church, held our first annual Christmas pageant, and had advent time and Andrew and I only stayed up until 2:00 am!

One of things we continue to do as a family is celebrate Advent. It is a really special time each evening to read from our advent book. As I mentioned we did a advent play. We drew our roles and then took a minute to put on costumes from around the house (my beach sarongs) and with no dress rehearsal, we were in Bethlehem. As we discussed our roles, Deveraux said, "dada, you should be Glory to God". So our play will always have the part, Glory to God.

Christmas Week 2010

A wonderful night of singing carols with dear friends Lance and Catherine and my dad. and of course...more cookies!!! Deveraux loves to decorate! Also a special night that Papa spent with Deveraux complete with crafts, treats, and presents!

Our third annual Keiki (children) Christmas party with the moms group. A fun tradition with food, stories, songs, and a book exchange.

This was our putting all the beds together to make one huge family bed, very fun!!

As a family we took a quick trip to Oahu for Andrew to have a medical procedure and to check out the big city. It was nice to have a change of scenery and walk the city streets. As Deveraux said on the roof top of the hotel, as she looked around, "mom, the city among us." Well said!

I was talking to Drew about how city life is so different, even traffic and seeing so many cars, our kiddos just aren't exposed to all of that. So many shops and so many people. On one hand I like them seeing the city life and it's fast pace and many different people. Yet, with the runner on my hands (Anderson) it sometimes felt we had no where to go, no empty spaces for him to run free. As much as I miss the mainland at times, Maui is a good place for less exposure to many things. Life is simpler. I just wish it weren't so far away....

Chrstimas Preparations 2011

Getting the Tree...My favorite so far!

Home party we hosted at our house, moms brought their wonderful handmade gifts to sell.

Lots of Baking!!

Lots of Christmas fun...story time, our annual tree lighting at the Ritz, Christmas baking (lots of toffee, thanks Heather), Home Party where Deveraux made $32.00 on toffee and muffins!, Anderson's first sugar cookie decorating, decorating the tree, gingerbread house, and Anderson crying and Deveraux scared when they first laid eyes on Santa (it did get better the more Santa's we saw). We had a full month and it still felt like we didn't get it all in...there is always next year!

Giving Thanks!

Giving Thanks....for memories For Love

For Good Food!

and for sharing and being together!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our new home! Complete with good food, wonderful company, and a hula performance to end the evening! We gave thanks!

She is 5!

Our First Born turned 5 on November 27th. She decided she did not want a big party and instead we hosted a small "High School Musical" dinner party at our house and celebrated with Aunt Heather in Wailea (the other side of the island) at a hotel. Deveraux has usually had a big party and I think has felt a little overwhelmed. Plus, she is a resort girl... We love our Deveraux.. she is bright, curious, expressive, sensitive, creative, imaginative, nurturing, energetic, and loving. We could not be more blessed!