Another Christmas has come and gone, and with it goes another year into oblivion. Overall this year was a fantastic one...the main event of course being the birth of our daughter, Ryah. I had a chance to spend time with my mom while waiting for her to be born, and to top it all off Mike was home most of the year, too. The boys have all done wonderful things, and are getting so big, I can hardly believe it!
We sure miss family around this time of year, it felt so strange to have just our little family and no one else. But it was nice to have Mike home for the holiday!
The boys got a few presents from mom and dad, and some from Santa as well. They got giftcards too, which they absolutely loved, because they were able to pick out exactly what they wanted from the store.
Thanks to my mother and Ib, we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner of maple roasted ham, baked macaroni and cheese, honey roasted red potatoes, sweet corn, homemade honey wheat rolls, and homemade apple pie. Moscato wine for the adults and sparkling white grape juice for the kids. I even garnished their glasses with a pineapple wedge and a cherry!
Christmas in Hawaii is definitely an experience! It's so hot outside, and it's weird not to see the seasons change. I miss the cooler weather and snow...being all cozy in a nice warm house while the wind blows outside. Here it's been averaging about 75-80 degrees, and though the rain has increased, it's been fairly sunny too.
A week or so before Christmas we took a boat tour around Pearl Harbor to see the ships which were decorated. It was a fun little trip, and at one point in the harbor the tour guide made the boat do doughnuts in the water, lol! The boys enjoyed it, Ryah was a little scared at first of the loud Christmas music blaring through the speakers.
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| Ford Island. The Navy people live there! |
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| Crossroads of the Pacific |
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| Mikey's got a boat ticket! |
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| The boys are excited for their first boat ride! |
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| Poor Ryah didn't exactly like the loud music...she calmed down after a few minutes |
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| Buh-bye! |
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| The actual memorial over the USS Arizona |
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| Navy ships |
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| Submarine! |
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| Navy ships |
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| Ship's ahoy! |
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| A submarine! Well, part of one. |
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| Leaving land! |
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| Mikey checking out the rendition of the USS Arizona |
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| The Crossroads of The Pacific |
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| Boys with their boat tickets! |
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| A view of Ford Island |
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| One of the tour boats |
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| My boys! |
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| JoJo and Mikey in the courtyard of the Pacific Memorial Center |
Christmas Cookies! We made some cut-out cookies that the boys enjoyed decorating (and eating!), and I tried to make my Aunt Maria's almond crescents! Besides reading the recipe wrong and adding WAY too many almonds, it came out pretty good!
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| I'm not sure what happened to my living room floor...it's missing! |
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| Yay!! We get to go shopping! |
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| Mikey got a garbage truck and some bubble gum with his gift card! |
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| JoJo decided on Beyblades, a toy trick bike, and a candy bar! |
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| Brandon got a Nerf gun, and some parts for his mini skate park! |
