Christmas 2010 Recap...and 2011 Challenge

We had a nice time celebrating our Savior's birth with family in the central part of the state. Good eats, sledding adventures, snowman making, birthday cupcakes for Jesus, and gift exchanging fun was had by all.

Another highlight that I neglected to capture on film was when my dad and I surprised my Uncle Jim on Christmas day at 12:01 a.m. You see, Uncle Jim and I have an annual competition to see who can say "Merry Christmas" to the other first (it started many moons ago when he called around 6:00 a.m. to wish dad a Merry Christmas and I happened to answer the phone). This year, like most others, Yours Truly prevailed. Craziest part was that we actually stayed and visited in the middle of the night until after 1:00 a.m.!

The challenge is on for 2011...until next year Uncle Jim!

Christmas 2010

From our family to yours, may you and your loved ones have a very blessed holiday. Merry Christmas...Happy Birthday Jesus!

Mele Kalikimaka Part 3

For the final update on our Hawaiian excursion we had to share about our zip line adventures. Obviously our Little Miss is too young to go zipping down cables draped high over deep valleys and waterfalls. Instead, her adventure that day involved babysitting Papa and Mimi and taking them to the pool at our resort. I hear she did a good job watching over them. While our girl was being responsible, her parents and the rest of our family were slightly irresponsible.

We headed to the northern rain-forested part of the island on a four hour "Ecoadventures Zip Line Tour". Together my aunt, uncle, brother, SIL, Mr. Wagner and I were hauled in the back of a unimog on a 4x4 adventure to get to the zip line course.

Crazy ride but fun!

Once there we adorned our harnesses and helmets (complete with nicknames for the day). My brother was appropriately named the "Joker".

Anticipating the start of the course

We had a blast. Our tour guides started us off slow on easier lines and worked us through 8 in total. The last line was over 1,047 ft long and was high over a deep valley, complete with a view of the ocean and a waterfall.

My bro, sis-in-law, aunt and Mr. Wagner waiting for my uncle to zip in and making bets on whether or not it will be a "bottoms up" landing...let's just say we all had a good laugh.

Since they build your confidence by starting on the easier lines, it is not even (all that) scary for those fearful of heights. Honestly. I admit that my adrenaline did get pumping a bit on the last line when you had to run and jump off the end of a cliff. All in the name of adventure...and thankfully, good safety harnesses.

(Seriously, we would definitely recommend the zip line tour. Click on the link here to see a short video clip of several of the zip lines).

Mele Kalikimaka Part 2

We are starting to recuperate from the early morning return trip home though we are all still on Hawaiian time (i.e., sleeping in much later than normal). Thought we would share a bit more from our trip...We traveled to and fro' with Papa and Mimi (my dad and stepmom) so the Little Miss was thrilled with the extra attention. My brother and SIL also traveled on the same flight over and the Little Miss enjoyed teasing her "Uncle Toad." My aunt and uncle were already on the island when we arrived and were gracious to host everyone and prepare many of our delicious meals.

Little Miss with Papa & Mimi

We enjoyed several snorkeling excursions (I'll spare you pictures because photos of me in a swimsuit just do not belong on the www). One evening we went to an area where sea turtles ("Honu") like to take refuge at sunset. We saw at least five near shore and one up close on the rocks. So amazing.

Watching the turtles and sunset before dinner at our favorite Kona Brewery

We headed north on the island the second day of our trip and traveled through Waimea and east to Akaka Falls and the town of Hilo. We happened to choose a rainy day to head to the rainier side of the island (what were we thinking?!). Of course just before we got to the falls it started to rain.

Akaka Falls, HI

It was just sprinkling on and off so we still decided to take the short hike to view the falls. Thankfully we managed to spend a few minutes there before getting caught in a torrential downpour. We were completely soaked but the view was worth it!

Mele Kalikimaka Part I

We celebrated Christmas early "Hawaiian style" with a trip to the Big Island with my side of our family. The rain followed us for the first couple of days but the weather turned sunny and warm the rest of the week. We had a blast snorkeling, ziplining, playing at the beach, and hanging out at the pool. Since we didn't get home until 2:00 a.m. this morning I am going to keep this short and sweet and will share more about our trip later. Mele Kalikimaka!

This top was our girl's Christmas dress two years ago when we were last on the Big Island.

'Tis the Season

Photo courtesy of Joani Curtis

I enjoy this time of the year more than I ever have now that I am a mom. I have many wonderful Christmas memories from my own childhood but there is nothing like seeing the joy on your own daughter's face as she experiences the holidays and learns about the birth of our Savior. Each year we have been adding to the family traditions that we share to celebrate and here are some of the special activities we enjoy:

1. Advent Calendar - Counting down the days to Christmas, we have a special advent calendar from Nana. Sweets, stickers, bible verses and promise notes are just some of the secret treasures to be found each day.
2. Dressing Up - As long as my young girl allows, I will enjoy dressing her up in a special Christmas dress. This year was extra special because we got together with friends to take a few pictures of the girls in their dresses. You can read more about it here.
3. Christmas Tea - A new tradition started this year was to take my girl to afternoon tea to welcome the start of the season. I don't think I will ever tire of taking my girl to tea.
4. Storybook Land - We enjoy going as a family to view "Storybook Land" which includes lights and stuffed animal displays of all the fairy tales, fables and Disney stories you can imagine. They also have elaborate toy trains and giant doll houses to view.
5. Giving - One thing I really want to continue to build into our family tradition is giving to a local charity or family in need each year. This year we bought clothes for a young girl.
6. Baking - There are certain treats that are special to bake each holiday season. I'm looking forward to sharing the experience later this month with my girl and her daddy is looking forward to testing the results.
7. Christmas Story - The Little Miss loves hearing about Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. We enjoy reading the Christmas story throughout the month. It's especially fun with our girl at this age because she likes to put a towel on her head and pretend to be Mary. Ahhhh, my heart sings at her childlike faith.

What are some holiday traditions that you enjoy with your family this season?