December Haps

December was busy. I know it's to be expected with Christmas and all, but in addition to the holiday, there was a lot happening around here.

First and foremost,

Christmas!

We had kind of a hodge podge of get-togethers with my side of the family. Trying to work around all the work schedules and other family plans kind of threw a kink in planning anything "traditional," but we got to see everyone eventually, so it all worked out.


We opened presents with Michael (and my mom and Sarah, who I have ZERO pictures of), on Christmas Eve afternoon,






then spent that evening with Brett's side of the family.

Highlight of the night? The white elephant gift exchange.


Mike thoroughly (or not so thoroughly), explained the rules.


Austin scored finger hooks and hand soap,


and Devre actually liked the ugly unique ornament we brought.


We then moved onto opening gifts. Macy loved her Hello Kitty makeup kit.


Coleman did not love having to share his present with Haidyn.


(Apparently, Ryan still wants to be considered one of the kids.)

Christmas morning started early. We decided to wake the kids up so we would have enough time to open presents and make it to church by 9am. Sarah and Tory even set their alarms so they could be at our house to see the kids open everything. Talk about dedication!






Just in case you're wondering, we did actually make it to church on time. Man, we are goooood...

As mentioned, many other non-Christmas related things went on too.


Miss Macy had her first dance recital.


I had to be backstage with my class, so this is the best picture I could get of her actual "performance." That girl did not stop smiling from the time she went on the stage until she took her costume off that night. She had a blast.


We celebrated Mom and Sarah's birthdays one night,


and little Miss Haidyn's the next. (Macy is all about Hello Kitty now, but was still thrilled that it was a princess party. Any excuse to wear princess apparel out of the house!)


We finally managed to get a decent picture for our Christmas cards.


I should have just gone with this one we had taken in September, but OCD me couldn't get past the fact that Coleman wasn't looking at the camera, Macy's hair was still long and my hair was still blond. Lame, I know.


Coleman perfected the art of saying "cheese" for the camera. Now every time the camera comes out, he is either making a face like this one, or running toward the camera causing a major blur effect.


Which explains why pictures of little C have been few and far between lately.


Macy has become very interested in taking pictures, which has been kind of nice, because it means every once in awhile we get a good one like this.


It also means that I have to spend upwards of 30 minutes at night deleting pictures like these off of our camera.


We also finally got around to replacing our garage door that got disfigured by the crazy windstorm about a month ago.

What a month. And what a year! I can't believe we're about to welcome in 2012. Here's to hoping that next year is just as good...and better than 2011. Happy New Year!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

We {Heart} Maui

If Brett and I ever go up and missing, you might want to look for us in Maui.


We are far from world travelers, but of all the places we've been, Maui takes the cake. It is the one vacation spot that really lives up to all the hype and would probably be home if we didn't have this thing about having our kids grow up near their grandparents.

Now, we're by no means experts on Maui, but if you're planning a trip there, may we suggest...

...checking out the beaches.








Attending a Luau.

We went to the one at the Wailea Marriott. Not the best food, but great entertainment.





Driving the road to Hana.

Never thought I would suggest this after our first attempt on our last trip. I got so carsick last time that we didn't even make it halfway before turning around. We got a tip that Bonine and bananas were the key to making it through all those winding roads, so Breanne and I both gave it a try. Not sure if it was the medicine or the fruit, but we both made it without any barfing.

Experiencing Haleakala National Park.

In the park there is a 4 mile round trip hike that is incredible (and easy-Brett and I both did it in flip-flops). It has a massive banyan tree,


a bamboo forest,


and ends with an amazing 400 ft. waterfall.


Be sure to check out the trail that leads to the seven sacred pools too.

Taking a guided kayak/snorkeling tour.

Ours went out of Makena Landing. Very cool. We had a great guide who would dove down and brought up random things for us to see and hold. He even found a smallish octopus, which he stuck to each of us. (Freaky...but the weird thing was that you couldn't feel it while it was on you, but pulling it off hurt like crazy.)

Eating at Fred's.

Hands down, the best Mexican food. Ever.

Going whale watching.




And don't forget to take your motion sickness meds, or you might end up spending the last half of the trip trying to keep lunch down (live and learn, Amanda).


Also, get a good zoom lens for your camera. Otherwise your pictures look kind of lame (see above).

Taking us with you.

Please?

And last but not least, mucho love and thanks goes out to the many people who made this trip possible...

Our friends the Lymans.
Thanks for agreeing to the child care swap and taking our kids for five days. We can't wait to watch your five girls in February.

My Sis Sarah

Thanks for taking an entire day off of work, dealing with all chaos with the windstorm and letting our kids invade your house when ours was without power. (Tell Tory thanks too!)

Mumsie

Thanks for making the drive from Idaho, watching the kiddos for 2.5 days and for picking us up from the airport. We love you.

Shannon and Mike

Thanks for letting us tag along on yet another wonderful vacation with you. Thanks for making us laugh and giving us enough funny stories/memories to last us at least through February. Love you guys!