Christmas included a few concerts. The songs they sing at school are "Hawaiianized," and Zachary's class sang the "12 Days of Christmas--Hawaii Style." It included 5 big, fat pigs, 4 flower leis, 3 dried squid, 2 coconuts and a myna bird in one papaya tree. It also included 10 rainbow shave ice, and Zac was assigned to make himself into a shave ice. Isn't this creative? It's all his idea and execution. (Also his execution--the non-mate socks with holes.)
We've had a lot of December playdates at the house and just as many at the beach.
You can tell it's December because our island is PACKED. Can you find my kid? He's riding the wave.
My favorite part of this shot is his board flying above the whitewater. He loves to try riding the waves on his knees and that sometimes flops on him.
Zachary with his new buddy Caleb:
Another flying board, with Caleb to the right.
Balance beam at the beach. Kate is scared of the waves here and has to be bribed to try them. All that will change in the coming years.
The first day after school got out, we met at the Kukui'ula harbor with David and JoJo's families. It was so cold but the kids still played in the water and for the second time since moving here, I went tide pooling with the kids.
Kate didn't hesitate to leap off the landing.
Owen loves his jammies so much and refused to change out of them that morning.
Zachary claimed that this was his favorite time ever with the friends he's had since Kindergarten.
Owen and Kate loved making snow while I wrapped gifts. Three cleans later, I'm still picking up pieces of this rubbish, but it was totally worth it.
Zachary spent hours helping Brady at the house and Kate and Owen came caroling with me at Hale Kapuna with a bunch of friends from school.
Christmas sugar cookies on "Christmas Eve Eve."
Kate dressed up in the Live Nativity and we visited Santa Lane.
Christmas Eve on Sunday was perfect. We went to church for an hour--singing carols and listening to inspiring messages about reaching outside ourselves with love and service. We had all this extra time in the day and went to Poipu for a beautiful, relaxing mid-morning.
I loved the moments and I treasure the photos.
We came home and made two batches of lasagne. The highlight of the afternoon was talking to every person in my family on Zoom, including my sister Janece on her mission in the Philippines. I loved listening to her speak the language and describe some of her experiences there. I loved hearing my siblings talk about Christmases past when we were kids.
We went straight to Heidi's for a Christmas Eve celebration, including a nativity re-enactment with 2 Mary's (a true Mormon Christmas, eh?). Owen laid in their laps as baby Jesus for a solid 10 minutes.
Jake the angel.
Thanks to GAP, our jammies arrived very late this Christmas, so this is the only shot I have of the kids together in them. Owen was a cooperative Jesus but wanted nothing to do with photos.
The kids left messages and notes to the Elves, Rudolf, Santa and Mrs. Claus. We were so happy to see Mrs. Claus included in the action with no suggestions or hints!
Kate made the elves beds and found them like this in the morning:
Christmas morning! We ushered the kids into our room at 6:30am, sang our "Christmas comes but once a year" tune, and walked out to see what Santa brought.
Rudolf Trail Mix
Beach ball
"Frozen" legos
A much-anticipated Chess set.
Zachary was the king of expressions yet again this year.
Elsa coronation gown
Robot
Owen got a new scooter and a Star Wars helmet.
We had a quick breakfast, cleaned up and opened the remaining gifts. Zac was asking all week if he should have asked Santa for the Ferrari F40 lego set instead of his other requests. He was worried he might not get it for his birthday. The very first present he opened put his mind at ease.
Fragrant beads
This was hands-down Owen's favorite gift--a Little People Bus and Airplane.
Throughout December, the kids used up gobs of paper wrapping gifts to each other that they were ready to retire. I thought it was adorable and also not, depending on the thought they put into it. Zachary also started off a trend of buying gifts with his own money, and purchased a special necklace for Kate and a truck for Owen. Kate reciprocated, spending her own money for a Guinness World Record book for Zac. It was so sweet observing their thoughtfulness and then we opened this little gem from them on Christmas Day: a homemade frame of a family picture. Brady says it was his favorite gift of the day.
Zac's gift to Owen:
Kate's recycled gift to Owen, notably wrapped in an apple container and Christmas paper.
Slippers to each kid were my favorite gift to give. The yeti slippers--HA! The best part is hearing the little squeaks they make when Owen walks around in them.
Keeping the toes toasty on 57 degree mornings.
Another recycled gift: Minnie Mouse shades from Kate to Owen. Haha!
Light up footballs from Grandma and Grandpa Edwards should work well on the golf course after sunset!
Grandma and Grandpa Nufer gifted books--the Beyonders series for Zachary and Little House series for Kate.
Another fabulous Zac reaction:
The kids spent hours working on legos while Brady slept the edge off his yucky cold and I hit the gym. Then we all went and spent several beautiful hours at Kalipaki beach, playing in the sand, making sandmen, surfing itty bitty waves, and paddle boarding.
The kids had their legos assembled within the next 24 hours.
The Stebbins and Clarks joined us and Mahjinka tried paddle boarding for the first time.
Perfect Christmas! I love surfing on Christmas--any wave is a good wave on a holiday. I love living on this island and celebrating in the sunshine. The kids were enamored with the season--serving with us each day to "Light the World" and thrilled by all things elves and Santa. We never visited Santa this year but the kids didn't seem concerned. Next year! The kids are already planning to ski in Utah next year although we've made no plans. We all miss cousins, grandparents, and family. Mele Kalikimaka!
