Christmas Break- Oh how we love thee.

I've been waiting for the New Year to get here so I could post all of these fun pictures at once.

Beginning with the night of Christmas... We decided to watch a movie as a family and be all cuddly and cozy on the couch together. It was working until the daddy passed the white chocolate covered pretzels in Kolea's direction. Do you see that FACE? She stuffed about 3 in her little mouth so I had to grab the camera, and paper towels, and wipes!!! And yes, that is a partial piece on the couch. She totally got caught red handed!

The next morning was Boxing Day!! Very heavily celebrated in England, which most of you know is where I served my mission. We couldn't just sit around, so we went hiking! I don't even know what this hike is called, but we thought it was going to be a quick, short, half hour hike for the kiddos...
So we walked, and walked, and walked. At one point I even sang the "Pioneer Children" song. Ha! These are our friends, Jeremiah and Michelle with their baby Ellah. Just to Ryan's right is the beach. We were hiking to a specific beach, but it was funny to be hiking along this beautiful coastline the whole time on our way to "the" beach.
We're here! No, not really. This is just a stop along the way b/c we've been walking for over an hour and everyone's feet hurt! Guess we wore the wrong shoes. So that is us headed to the water for a little refresher before we got on our way again.
We are still walking along the trail at this point and it's been two hours! Hello! Little kids here!! But interestingly enough there on the side of the trail were protected breeding grounds for the Albatross. (Anyone seen The Rescuers Down Under?) Anyhow, these birds are pretty dang big!
Yay! We've really, finally made it! To this rocky little beach. Kolea was VERY excited to be out of her backpack. This beach doesn't look like much in this picture. But you haven't seen the cool part yet!
See how good you are at spotting hidden pictures... We were just getting ready to hike back (seeing as we still wanted it to be light for the long walk back) when two Monk Seals came into the little tide pools and surprised us by inching closer and closer to the beach. Can you spot both of them in this picture?? We were thinking that it was mother and baby.
That baby was BRAVE! This was a big hill and it shimmied itself right to the top! At one point, Hunter got a little too close and it totally barked at him! Well, we took the long hike back and then went to a little touristy town called Haleiwa for some sweet refreshment- dinner!

As it turned out, our little hike was SIX miles round trip. Hunter walked the whole thing (minus a 3 minute piggy back ride on me.) Gabriella got big blisters from her shoes on the hike in and got a piggy back ride (on me) the entire way back- except for Hunter's little stint. It was quite the long hike for our little troupers. =)

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We were so worn out after Boxing Day that we were grateful for the Sabbath the next day. In fact, it was THE BEST Sunday we've had in a very long time. Kolea fell asleep on the way home from church (around 1:30 pm). Then Ryan and I made an early dinner and had it all cleaned up by 2:30 pm. Since Kolea was still sleeping we put on a little movie for Hunter and Gabriella and took a Sunday Siesta... for TWO whole hours! It was sooooo refreshing. That's right, Kolea didn't wake up until 4:30 pm. Oh yeah.

The next morning we went out to a new beach called Castles. We were trying to meet up with some friends there and try surfing for the first time since we got here. Unfortunately our friends never made it-- but we did bring our boogie boards! Hunter was not a huge fan, but with practice we think he'll come to love it. I on the other hand caught a few fun waves before we had to pack up and go home. After all, it was Monday morning and Ryan still has to work.

None of the kids would look at me for this picture. Which is typical when they're feeling a little out of sorts. BTW- this is how Kolea hangs out at the beach. I let her sit on a beach chair with a toy and she's totally content! She's still not sure how she feels about the sand. It's a love/hate relationship at this point.

On Tuesday, we went paddle boarding at home, on our own beach. We live in this little bay where the water breaks further out and is very calm by the time it reaches our shores. I'm on the board here with Kolea sitting in between my knees and Gabriella on the back. This is the first time Kolea has been on the board. I wanted to try it with her- and now she's hooked! She will lean over to the side and dip her fingers in the water and then suck on them! She kept doing this over and over. Funny girl!

Normally on the paddle board you would stand up and paddle, but in the interest of keeping us all on the board, and dry, I knelt down to keep us steady.
Here's a better picture of what we girls look like on the paddle board. It was a lot of fun! All of you who say I've gotten so tan- I really haven't. I'm still super white! This is my BLING picture. The sun caught my rings just right. =)
We spent most of Wednesday at our friends the Hannemann's. We had a blast just hanging out and eating a yummy dinner followed up with my favorite, rootbeer floats!

And then we get to Thursday, New Year's Eve!!! Ryan and I thought that with this being our first here and away from home that we should do something totally different. So we packed up the kids and headed to Waikiki! We got a hotel room at the Marriott Beach Resort on the 20th floor, complete with an ocean view.

On our way down we stopped at 7 Eleven to get the kids some mood boosting Slurpees! Who doesn't love a slurpee?
We went to the Cheesecake Factory for some yummy grub- yes we truly were all smiles...

Say "Cheese!"

And then we hit the strip. Well, that's what I called it. It felt a little like Vegas. It was SUPER busy and there were people out handing out random leaflets and street performers, the whole nine yards. It was a feast for the eyes! Not a dull moment. =)

I put the last bit of my cash (about a dollar in change) into this guy's money barrel and he let us take a couple of pictures with him. Gabriella had been begging us ALL night to "go see the Pirate." And when we finally got there she chickened out! She was hysterical! But he would stand there perfectly still and when someone got a little too close he'd suddenly reach out his hand to shake their hand or blow into a little whistle that he had in his mouth. Basically it would really freak out the person who got a little too close.
Hunter was finally brave enough to get close to him. Can you see the gold gun he's got pointed at Hunter?? The only words I hear him speak the entire time. "Hands Up!" It was really entertaining to say the least!
After some coercing (on my part) to Gabriella that this next guy was a REAL statue and he wasn't going to scare her like the other dude, she finally came up and sat with us for a picture. Although, she still doesn't believe me. Do you see her checking him out?
This is the amount of up close fireworks our kids got to see. Hunter is the little guy there facing away from the action for a moment. We'd already gone back to our room, put our left over food away, gone swimming, taken showers and headed back OUT for more street time! Whew! So Hunter is in some little Buzz Lightyear p.j.'s and Kolea is dead to the world in my arms. This is on the beach just across the street from our hotel. None of the Waikiki hotels are actually sitting ON the beach. They are all across the main drag.
Thought I'd take a little rest myself! Gabriella was so tired that she had commandeered the stroller for herself and shortly thereafter, fallen asleep. So I wound up holding the lighter of the two. =) But could I blame her? It was nearly 10:30 pm. We were trying to be "fun" parents. Ha! Right after this picture was taken, we crossed the street and went back to our room. Within 15 minutes we had 3 sleeping children.

I think we succeeded in being "fun" parents for the night. Even though the kids didn't last until the new year. They had a blast and got to do something totally out of the ordinary... Was is too much to expect that they might possibly make it to midnight? That is a resounding YES. They are 1, 4, and 6! Of course they can't last that long. But we didn't put any restrictions on them and we went into it knowing they would be cranky the next day- and they didn't disappoint. =)
Ryan and I rang in the new year on the balcony of our hotel room together watching the thunderous fireworks flash across the sky. Three beautiful children in blissful sleep at our backs. We were "together" as a family and that had been our goal.

Happy New Year Everyone! May you stretch yourself a little further, reach a little higher, be a little better this year. I mentioned to my brother this evening that I wanted to sit down with Ryan and write out some "resolutions" for the new year. Joe laughed at me and said, "Ryan will love that!" I responded simply, "actually I think he will! That's how we accomplish so much together! How can we ever improve or reach our lofty goals if we don't ever sit down and set them?" I guess that is our M.O. We actually LIKE setting goals and then working through the rough spots to accomplish them. It brings joy to our lives and we wish the same for you! Love to all of our family and friends near and far!!