A Hawaiian New Year

We spent our New Year enjoying a little aloha this year. Papa and Grammy took us and our 5 boys to their place in Hawaii to enjoy some sun and FUN! There was a little bit of everything in this trip: swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, bodyboarding, water-sliding, sunset-watching, napping, reading, whale-watching, kite-flying, sunbathing, airport-hustling, airplain ride-enduring, and a little bit of relaxing! The pictures say it all.

(Cole catches a ride and finds a way to rest his tired airport legs)

(The "big boys" enjoy a kayak ride with dad in "A" bay)

(a quick family picture (minus Luke who was napping) before taking the 3 oldest to the Kona Village Luau.)

(aboard the catamaran for our whale-watching tour. The camera girl (wonder who that was?) didn't do so hot catching the humpback whales on film, but they were amazing to see up close. Poor Cade and Ty got seasick and were happy when the boat ride ended though.

(windy afternoons at the beach mean kite-flying time!)

(Sunset from Grammy and Papa's lanai)

(The pool totem)

Luke

Cole

Bo

Tyler

Caden

A huge MAHALO grammy and papa for a truly wonderful vacation!

Scenes of the Season

Selecting a Christmas Tree:

Black Friday shopping - nope. Our day-after-Thanksgiving tradition took us once again to our favorite local Lee Farms for the hunt for this year's Christmas tree. Since we'd be leaving right after Christmas we wanted to have it up for as long as possible to enjoy the sight and smell. Of course we also did the tradition picture in front of some random tree (from the looks of the photo, it seems this is the only one in the lot!). But after looking and searching and the boys becoming more interested in the stray cat the started following us, we settled on one - as imperfect as it was, we still loved it.

Gingerbread house night with all the family:

We gathered up at Grammy and Papas to decorate homemade gingerbread and create one-of-a-kind houses. The creativity this year included Papa's house becoming a church, Andrew's dance floor for the elves, and Santa fitting down a chimney. The night is always full of laughter and a fun memory-maker year after year.

(grammy's homemade gingerbread plus tons of festive holiday candy, and...)

(helpful little hands (kindof :), equals...)

(This year's creative masterpieces! One to keep and one to share.)

A Visit to Santa:

We were able to coordinate everyone's family schedule and go see Santa all together this year! It was a rainy, wet afternoon, but thanks to Bridgeport Village's enclosed gazebo, the wait was dry, warm and even fun! The kids shared their Christmas wishes with Santa, ate their north pole candy cane and topped it off with piping hot cocoa from Tutto Benne. Us moms know that this a short-term tradidtion as the kids grow older, but for now, we soak it in and enjoy the magic of children at Christmas-time. (All 12 grandkids (missing one who didn't want his picture taken) waiting for their turn to see Santa.)(Santa came out to greet the kids - he told them stories about the north pole and answered a BUNCH of eager kids' questions.)

Family Humanitarian Project:

With Papa and Grammy's help and endless generosity, we were able to spend an evening together during the holiday season experiencing the true meaning of Christmas. Grammy purchased supplies and we put together heigene kits and school kits. Our kids helped pack the kits into boxes to be shipped to Salt Lake City to the LDS Humanitarian office where they can be sent on to cities or countries of the world in need. (Bo helps mom put toothbrushes in a heigene kit)(Getting 12 grandkids to perform an orderly assembly line was a lost cause, but we managed and had a lot of fun doing it)

Cole-y turns 2!

Cole has a history (a short one, since he is only 2) of feeling under-the-weather on his birthday. But my family all got together and helped him celebrate anyways (along with grammy and cousin Drew who share the birthday week). We managed to get a few smiles out of our big 2 year old.

He loves animals and books - so this dog book was a hit and has been battered and beaten-up already with heavy use.

If you know Cole - you'll know he has a thing for headbands. He got a new one to add the his collection. It was worn for the remainder of the party.

Happy Birthday Cole! We love you.