Waves on the West Side

I woke up this morning to a roar outside and realized that the big waves were here! The water level was so high in the canal during high tide that it was almost level with our grass. I woke Matt up (at 6:30) to see the waves coming down the canal and a few crashed up on the grass. It was pretty cool (as long as it doesn't kill the grass) and the forecast says it should get bigger this week..yeah! We walked down the beach later on and watched some surfers braving the waves.

Furlough Friday #5

Another Furlough Friday...Matt and I ventured off to Kahala Mall and had lunch at Whole Foods. It is like a whole other world out there. We hiked Diamond Head to get a little exercise and take in some scenery. It was another great way to spend the day not getting paid:)

Girls' Christmas Parties

Last night was the annual Girls' Christmas party. Trish and Sarah were fabulous hostesses and it was a great evening!

We have been fortunate to have such an amazing group of friends in Hawaii that have become our family out here since we are all so far away from our real families. Since 2002 the girls have had some sort of Christmas party but it didn't really start getting serious until 2006..or at least that is when we have the first pictures of the whole group.

2009


2008


2007


2006

Kids Christmas Card

Here is the final (thanks Claudia) Christmas card from the photo shoot at the beach a couple of weeks back. At least the card looks good even if we barely got the kids to look at the camera let alone smile:)

Almost 1 year

We are 2 weeks away from Abby's 1st birthday. I can't believe how fast it has gone as cliche as it sounds. I have been looking through her baby pictures and picking out some of my favorites. We are getting ready for her birthday part at the Hidewaway that we are doing with Gavin too. I am looking forward to celebrating a great year!



I made this from Abby's first month..she was so tiny!

North Shore

There is just something about the North Shore that makes me feel like I am really in Hawaii. I just love it up there! It has been so long since we have made it up to see the big waves during the winter months. We packed up a picnic on Saturday and headed up to Pipeline for the day. The waves were pretty big and there were tons of surfers and beachgoers.

Trimming the Tree

I got up on Black Friday for the first round of shopping at 3:30 for the first time ever to make it to Target for the opening at 5 a.m. and scored a new TV and a few other "must haves". I made it home before Abby or Matt woke up at 6 and then we had breakfast. I decided to go out for a second round but I wasn't as productive the second time around. While I was out Matt put up the tree and we decorated it after dinner.

Abby getting ready to decorate


"Helping" trim the tree