The Hale Koa, China Town & an Octopus

It seems that our group of friends will all be leaving by the end of summer. Most will be gone as soon as school ends. How sad for us but especially the kids. What will they do without the Reyes and Harrington kids to play with everyday? Those kids are here so often that they consider this a second home. I will miss them all and I am already feeling the loss. This past weekend we went to Haunama Bay, mostly because I wanted to snorkel. The day was windy and the sun played hide and seek in the clouds. The Reyes family met us there. On the way in they had signs posted for a jellyfish warning so the kids weren't really into water fun and since the day wasn't the best we decided to leave and move the bunch to the Hale Koa. Our thinking was if we had to be outside in the "cold" we might as well enjoy it with frozen tropical drinks on the lanai and a pool free of jellyfish for the kids. We had so much fun we were able to get a room for the night and we stayed. The discovery of our increasing ages also became apparent when after dinner we all went to bed early even though we had a babysitter. How sad is that? Downtown Waikiki with a babysitter and happy kids and we were in bed by 9:30.
This past weekend was also the big celebration for the Chinese New Year. Saturday after Tara's cheer leading clinic we loaded up cars and headed to China Town. The place was crazy. Melissa was in charge of finding us parking since she frequents China Town for shopping trips. We left late but we still found parking, walked over to the parade area and still had great "seats". This is the Year of the Boar so pigs were a big part of the decorating scheme for the costumes and the town. We had never been to a parade for the Chinese New Year and the Lion dancers were fabulous and so vibrant in color. I had actually always thought they were dragons but the kids corrected me since they had learned all this stuff in school. The lions came down the street and performed their dances from side to side and everyone (mostly kids) was holding out dollars. I want to read up on this for the meaning of it all, but the lions would open their mouths and people would stuff their dollars in before the lion closed and moved on to the next group. It was pretty amazing to watch how the people under the lion costume could all synchronize their movements. There were some that were just little kids. Tyler thought they were neat till the first one opened it's mouth. From that point on when he saw one he would run and hide behind Dad's back. When the parade was over we continued to walk around and occasionally one of the lions would be performing on a corner. Tyler asked Dad for a dollar and bravely stood with his arm outstretched. The lion came to him and opened and Tyler stuck his arm in the mouth. The lions hold that position for about 10 sec before they close and move away. Just before I could snap a picture and the lion could close his mouth, Tyler's new found courage faded and he ran for Dad!! So close!!! It was so much fun I can't wait for next year!
Today after getting Tara off to school and finishing up with Big Guy's speech we noticed something different in the canal under the bridge. The canal feeds into the ocean so their are usually fish or crabs and Tyler likes to stop and watch. I thought there was a hat or something in the water but I thought it looked like tentacles but I couldn't imagine an octopus in a canal! I threw in a rock and the tentacles began moving. A teacher was walking up that had been informed of the odd visitor by her students, so we all stood there watching this octopus in the canal under the bridge next to the school. I snorkel here a lot. An octopus is one of those things you always look for along with turtles and rays and just cool stuff you don't see everyday. I went home and grabbed my camera so I hope you can see it in the pictures.
My mother has finally set new dates for her visit. She will be here Mar 6 and Dad will join her Apr 3 and they will both stay until the 11th. We can't wait for them to get here. Another excuse to show off our island!!

Peggy

George, Grandaddy, Daddy, Jo, Gramma and Peggy

If you hadn't noticed by now, when I haven't posted in a while it's simply because their is craziness going on somewhere or somehow in our lives. This particular month Baby Trey has been sick, I have had surgery and my dear Aunt Peggy is dying. Trey has had a fever and not been himself and has required lots of coddeling. I had surgery and that required pre-op appointments. Usually it would have been one pre-op appointment but the procedure had to be put off for several days so I spent extra time at Tripler because we had to do the pre-op stuff twice. I won't bore you with the details but the procedure was done so that I could comfortably jump on the trampoline after having three kids after the age of 30. Not medically necessary, but I wanted it done and it has taken a few months now to make it happen.
My dear Aunt is lying in Lake Taylor Hospital actively dying. It seems for some reason people in our family never die peacefully in their sleep. My great-grandfather and both of my fathers parents were all in the hospital clinging to life before they passed and went, to what I believe, must certainly be heaven. Now my Aunt Peggy is doing the same. This is where I find strength and pride in the family. We may not see each other every Sunday or even once a month but when someone is in the hospital you discover individual strengths that you may not have realized were there before. My family is there everyday holding vigil by her bedside. They may laugh occasionally and they may cry but they are there for each other. My Aunt Jo is now on her way from Georgia and Uncle George is coming in from Texas. I am stuck in Hawaii. I don't think I can make the trip with the 3 kids and Kevin has to fly to Africa so there is no leaving them here with him. I am struggling with this because there is no where I would rather be than there at the hospital. Not that I could do any more than anyone else, it is just the being there that is important. My Aunt has worked hard all of her life and seemed to retire just in time to take care of my grandmother when her health was failing. Peggy lived around the corner from my Gramma and saw her everyday, usually twice a day. She had breakfast with her, took her to the doctor, the bank, the grocery store and in general, made Gramma's life easier. I envied the time she spent with Gramma and we will all be eternally grateful for the care and comfort she provided. Shortly after Gramma died Peggy was told she had breast cancer. She has battled with cancer and had her ups and downs but recently she developed an infection from which she couldn't recover. So this is where we are. I should pick up the phone and get my morning report but she was so fragile yesterday I am scared to make the call. When life ends too soon it always seems so unfair. It was Peggy's turn to sit back and enjoy retirement and finally worry about nothing but herself. I recently went home for a super quick visit and we made time to stop in at Peggy's house to say hello. I thank God every day that we took the time to make that visit. Peggy was always happy to see you and always had a smile on her face. I will miss you Peggy and you will always be in my heart!! I guess it is time to make that call.......

Rest and relaxation

Kevin and I spent a lovely couple of nights in Waikiki. Thanks Mike and Judy!! Kevin had to go to school/work Fri during the day so I spent the day walking, exploring and basking in the sun. The Hale Koa is the military resort on the beach so I spent most of my time there. The beach is nicer, the bar is close and everything is cheaper (major bonus!). Kevin joined me on the beach around 2 and there we stayed until the sun dipped into the sea. Pictures have been posted. We had a fabulous dinner at Keonies! and then strolled through the carnival that the streets become after dark. We watched bands, artists, guys painted silver that didn't move much and all sorts of weirdo's looking to make a buck. It was interesting. Saturday morning we checked out early and went to Hanauma Bay. By ourselves. With no children. WOW!!! We swam and snorkeled without care or concern. It was amazing. When we decided to leave we grabbed one bag and 2 towels and we were outta there. That was a huge change from the usual amount of junk we have to haul in and out of there. How glorious! The beach was so nice when we got home we dragged Judy and the kids back to the beach we have on base. Kevin had Judy out snorkeling and the kids were just glad to be there. They didn't care if they were in the water or on the sand, they were just happy to be there. Tomorrow we head out on the boat to float around Kaneohe Bay. Ahhhhh! Just another day in paradise! Aloha!

Mike and Judy are here!!

Mike and Judy have been visiting with us since the 16th. The children have had a grand time playing with their grandparents and Trey will even let them touch him now. (He was playing "hard to get"!) Judy and Kevin went out on a fishing trip. They caught lots of fish (the pictures are posted) but they both said the ocean reminded them of The Perfect Storm. The swells were pretty high but we ate well. We have been to the beach and we took them to the north shore to Turtle Beach too. I wasn't sure if there would be any turtles because as you know, the north shore swells can be huge in the winter time. When we first arrived they were hiding from us but eventually 4 or 5 showed up to play. Even Grandpa Mike was on the beach and caught a glimpse of my favorite island visitors. We stayed for a while and then headed down the coast to have another of my favorites- a shrimp truck plate lunch! We had scampi, hot and spicy and boiled with lemon. I tried to stay away from the scampi (all the butter is bad for my diet) but I did sample a little of the rice encrusted with huge chunks of garlic and seasonings. Yum yum! We have done some requested shopping and we are going out on the boat this Sunday. Mostly M & J have been around the house enjoying the kids and being a part of their "everyday". Kevin and I are staying in Waikiki for a couple nights and Judy is fully in charge!! She may leave sooner than planned!! We are staying at the Ohana Beachcomber right next to The International Market Place and have a beautiful view of the ocean and of the city at night. I am going to end this here so that I can head over to the beach. Can't you just feel the heat of the sun, hear the lapping sound of the waves and feel the warm sand between your toes?? I guess if it's cold and snowy that was pretty mean- tee hee hee!! Aloha!

Brrrr! The house is cold!

My a/c works!! I was able to turn off the window units, get rid of the fans and every room is cool and comfortable! Yeeaahh! Of course I had to go knocking on Forest City's door and ask why I had not heard from them since they had given me the estimated date of repair as 1/08. Amazingly enough they gave me a repair date for the next day. Now if I had inquired the day before I wonder if it could have been fixed the day prior? And if so, they should have been on the phone calling me to let me know that the parts had arrived and asking when they could perform the repair for me. Very poor customer service. Anyway I have a brand new unit and it is working nicely. Now I just have to return all the fans and a/c units we have borrowed.
Tara had opening day ceremonies for cheer leading again today but we are now into b-ball instead of f-ball. The performance was very cute minus a few technical difficulties with the music. They had a game later in the day that Kev went to while I napped so I could come in to work. He said they need to get used to cheering inside from the bleachers instead of outside behind the lines of the football field. The coaches always neglect the first game when preparing for opening ceremony so it will get better. Tara loves coach Angela and she is great with the girls. She likes to bribe them with stickers and, occasionally, candy. It works! Kevin was glad I was going to work tonight so they could eat pasta and bread. They have been eating healthy right along with me. I'm down 7 #s. My mother is coming to stay for a month in mid Feb and she is having an entire NS order sent here so we can do it together. Kev laughed and said she hopes she can sleep with it cause we are out of room! LOL! (Don't worry, Mom, he's just teasing!) Did I happen to mention to anyone that Tara decided she didn't like a piece of hair that was hanging in her face so she cut it off? Yep, right in the front and she cut it close to the scalp. Now it is growing out but we call her spike. She hates it! I have actually caught her with the gel trying to get it to lay down but it is just at a perfect length to stick straight up and it does! We are hoping she learned her lesson. I think I remember doing something like that as a child? Hope you had a great day and I have some videos I'll post tomorrow when I get home. Aloha!

Camping

The tent was our original idea. The cabin was our reality.

Camping! Rustic camping! The great outdoors, family bonding, hikes through the woods, s'mores, - torrential downpour? That wasn't supposed to be part of our trip! LOL! But, oh, the rain came down in buckets. The day started off grey but there was no delaying this trip for the kids. No way! Off to Bellows we went. Bellows is a beautiful beach just south of us with cabins and campgrounds and we were going to take the kids on the their first camping trip and strart a great family tradition. When we arrived the tent was set-up without a hitch. The kids ran around and everything was off to a great start. We rented a bicycle built for five, played at the playground, ran around the beach and then the sprinkle began. Thunder (it rarely thunders here) rumbled in the distance followed by more rain. We all jumped into the tent. It began to rain so hard that the bottom of the tent felt like a waterbed. We had a cooler full of food but I was having thoughts of jumping into the car and driving away to a nice restaurant for dinner to wait out the storm. That's not part of the outdoor experience so I stayed quiet. What I did do was make Kevin go to the office and rent a camper cabin. (I waited for the rain to turn into a drizzel so he wouldn't float away!) The camper cabin is a little log cabin with a queen size bed and a bunk bed. That's it- no tv, no kitchen, no couch. That's still pretty rustic in my book. In all actuality it turned out to be a great time. We had a porch so we had protection from the rain and we were able to get dinner together. The rain stopped and the stars and moon were even showing through the clouds. We cooked kabobs and hot dogs with campfire beans and a great big tin full of veggies. The kids were able to do s'mores and when Trey was sleeping soundly inside, we played a game of Sorry! on the front porch. The next morning we all played on the beach and the kids had a wonderful experience. That's what it is all about!! Our next camping trip will be after the rainy season...

Think warm thoughts!

Kevin is on his way to Alaska. Adak, Alaska, which is the little island that 3 or 4 people live on. I'm not sure of the spelling or the amount of people but I know it is basically considered uninhabited. Hawaii to Alaska in the dead of winter. I get the shivers just typing the thought! He was leaving at 2AM. The dilemma that I am building to here is that the KC Chiefs have their play-off game tomorrow at 11:30am our time. By his calculations he should be there by game time. But.....will the uninhabited island have a TV? Cable? Satellite dish with reception in a snow storm?? He is frantic!! LOL!!! Poor Kevin! I just hope there is a TV with the game cause if not his cell phone will be roaming for 3 hours. But maybe that won't get a signal either!! LOL!! I better set the DVR. (Cross your fingers and say a small prayer for him!)
So, Kevin is gone and won't return till Sunday late afternoon. Sunday is the day we go camping. Of course my dear husband will swoop in when the tent is set up and camp is complete and probably get there just in time for dinner. Luckily, our neighbors are going to go with, so Rey can do all the guy stuff. Tomorrow we need to get all the supplies ready but the kids say the only things we need are the ingredients to make s'mores. Speaking of kids, they saw Happy Feet tonight so they were dancin' around the house till we forced them to their rooms. The wondrous glory of childhood!
BTW, nutrisystem rocks!! And remember, think warm thoughts and TVs!! :)

Thank you Emily!!!!

My dog is so happy! She is laying very comfortably on the couch getting cozy in a blanket. Do you know why?? My dear friend Emily found 2 window unit air conditioners for us today. We have one upstairs and one downstairs and the house is cooling off nicely. At this rate by morning there will be icicles hanging from the ceiling. Fabulous!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

New Years Resolutions

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and a New Year in moderation. Oops! I know a bunch of us who forgot about the moderation part!! Glad that's over.... Of course the kids are on break here and since Christmas we have been letting them enjoy all their presents and each other. New Years Eve I woke up after working the night before, and the kids were jumping up and down (literally) because they wanted to go hiking. Also before I drifted off to dream land, we were going to have a nice quiet Eve with the kids and watch the ball drop. On our way to Manoa Falls (Kevin missed this one the first time around and I knew it would be an hour round trip) Kevin tells me that every one's plans had changed and they were all coming over. Yiipppeee! The hike is always a good one and the kids discovered the use of a walking stick. I thought the hike was going to be over before it started. Big Guy, on the way to the trail head, took a big spill on the pavement. Scraped his elbow and there was blood and everything. Luckily five steps away kind people had left walking sticks leaning against the fence next to the trail head. Good distraction technique!! Every other time he fell I would hold my breath until I heard the familiar "I'm okay!". A little family event was a good start to our evening. Several hours later we were ringing in the new year with sparklers and small fireworks. We played several rounds of 3 man, broke in the new blinko/drinko game and pretty much acted as if we thought we were 21 again. Problem is when I was 21 I didn't have to wake with the baby the next morning. The only casualty we had was the trampoline. As we were throwing firecrackers in the air one fell on the tramp. Pete made heroic efforts at trying to retrieve it before it did any damage but it did make several small holes. The children may call for a mutiny over this one!! Yesterday we loaded up the car and went to the beach over on Bellows. Bellows has an incredible powder sand beach and the waves break a little ways out making it perfect for boogie boards. Tara, Tyler and Kev had a great time in the water and I was kicking myself for forgetting my camera. Baby Trey was picture perfect as he dragged a boogie board around by it's leash. Too cute!! I sat on the beach freezing while everyone else was playing in the water. I have gotten so acclimated to my hot house (Yes, the idiots of Forest City have still not fixed my air) that the slightest bit of coolness gives me the shivers. While we were there we made a reservation to go back next Sun/Mon and camp. We shall see how that event unfolds. I know I missed some birthdays too so happy birthday to Barb and Kelly! Hope you had a good one!! I titled this new years resolutions so let me share mine here. I was most pleased with my weight after having baby Trey and managed to keep it off for the 10 months that I nursed him. Since then it has been creeping back. So I have decided to get skinny. Don't laugh! I'm serious!! I joined Nutri System and am now waiting for the arrival of my meals. Hopefully, in a few months, I'll be complaining because my clothes don't fit any more!! Wish me luck and I hope all of your resolutions come true too!!!

Merry Christmas Birthday!!

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Honolulu City Lights and Nativity

We did it! We finally snapped a picture of Trey somewhere close to Santa!! Santa was perusing around the grounds of the Honolulu Hale where they had the City Lights display. Trey caught a glimpse of the man in the red suit so if you look closely he is about to wail. There were lots of Christmas displays including Santa and Mrs. Claus waving the shaka, penguins, sleighs full of toys, Christmas trees and wreaths and nativities. In the heart of Manoa, we ventured over to watch a living nativity complete with 3 kings, shepherds and sheep, a drummer boy, 2 angels, goats, a donkey and a horse and of course the family for which this season honors. The children all watched intently and all fell sound asleep as we left the lights of downtown and headed home! Of course there are more pictures added to my sets.....

Is it over yet?

Tyler went to the doctor Thursday for his 4 year old check up. My little boy has moved up in the world- literally. He is no longer in the 50th percentile for height and weight! He jumped up to 70th for weight and 75th for height! Yeahhh Big Guy!
The Christmas madness has settled in and kicked me in the butt. Tuesday I baked. All day I baked pumpkin rolls (I finally used Pam's recipe and it was awesome!), cheese balls, cookies and sausage balls. From these culinary, sweet creations I made little trays of goodies for the kids teachers and our work. My mother laughed and said the genetic flaw has surfaced. Work has been crazy, packages have been sent, received and wrapped, Tyler's birthday is today and the kids are acting as if they are on a strict diet of raw sugar. Yesterday our air conditioner went out with a 50/50 chance of being repaired before next week. I am at work dreading the idea of trying to sleep in the house during the heat of the day. I wonder what the rest of this day will bring?

The Nutcracker

I have fond memories of seeing the Nutcracker and I have been waiting for years to take Tara. I think it is just part of the holiday season and one of those things your just supposed to do. Tara got to wear her fancy black dress (finally) so she didn't really care where we were going. She was pretty impressed with the symphony and she was very excited to point out the instruments that she recognized. When the ballet began she ooohed and ahhhed over costumes and only once did she say very loudly "It would still be better if they talked, mom!". She enjoyed act I but by the end of act II she was bored. She didn't admit it but she got squirmy and she just wanted to unwrap the Christmas ornament of the ballerina she hooked me into buying at intermission. She did very well though. She was quiet, attentive and clapped appropriately. I occasionally had to be narrator because the story wasn't quite the same as Barbie and the Nutcracker. We had dinner after and did some shopping and I believe our Mommy-Daughter date was a success! Uuum...maybe next year I can take Big Guy? Nah! What am I thinking???

Billy Joel

"Sing us a song, you're the piano man. Sing us a song tonight. 'Cause we're all in the mood for a melody and you've got us feelin' all right". Can't you just hear it? This is the part where the harmonica comes in.....Wow! I hadn't been to a concert in years. I am not a huge Billy Joel fan either and on the way to the show I kept thinking to myself , "Am I going to know any of these songs?" He put on an incredible performance and I think out of the whole show there were maybe 2 songs that I didn't know every word. It wasn't just him though. He had a band! Trumpet, multiple saxes, trombone, drums and percussion, keyboards, flute, guitars and of course the piano. They all had solos and the sound was so inviting it was hard to stay in your seat. He was also comical. He came out and introduced himself as Billy Joel's dad. He's balding and even his goatee is gray but he banged on the piano with the fire of a much younger man and his voice had a richness I think is getting better with age! His piano was on a revolving platform and he joked that everyone would get a look at his bad side. At the end of the show, when the crowd was clapping and stomping and yelling for an encore, I learned something new. There used to be a time when everyone held their lighters up high as they swayed back and forth begging for an encore that they knew wouldn't be refused. Not anymore!! Lighters have been replaced by the soft blue glow of open cell phones. Got to love technology! The audience was mixed in age from 18 to old, so there were still some lighters in the crowd. Anyway we were richly rewarded when the band came back on stage. We heard "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", "You may be right" "Only the good die young" and a very suitable ending was "The Piano man". It was an absolutely great show!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Last week we went to the Marine Corps Holiday Party. I showed you all pictures of the kids playing in the snow. We were supposed to keep a low profile because we were Navy infiltrating into a USMC party. (We really were invited!) I guess the kids were having too good of a time and it was obvious to all, especially the photographers. I did several interviews answering questions about the kids. This weeks edition of the base paper, The Hawaii Marine, came out and Big Guy's very intent face heaving a snowball is on page B3. He's so cute who could resist? Here's the link.
http://www.mcbh.usmc.mil/news/Dec15B6.pdf

Bad Day Ends Okay!

My Wednesday didn't start well. When I jumped in the van to take Tyler to school I noticed a paper sent home from cheer leading practice about a cupcake exchange for Thursday. Instant panic mode set in. I called coach Angela when I got home to find out how many cupcakes I would have to make and her first question was "Where were you on Sunday?". I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. To make a long, sad story short, I had the dates confused about Tara's end of season gala party and she missed it. The invitation has been hanging on the fridge for 2 weeks and Kev and I both thought the party was the 16th. That's the date written on the calendar and in our minds it was set in stone. The mommy guilt set in and I was miserable all day. To make amends, I got on-line and ordered tickets for the Nutcracker so she could still wear her oh-so-fancy dress.

Tara got home and I tearfully gave her a hug and apologized. My dear sweet child looked into my eyes and said "It's okay mom" and that made it even worse.

Shortly after I got the bad news, I got another call. The cheerleaders had been invited to an impromptu performance by the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders at Hickam. Well of course we had to go. The show was the closing performance for their USO event they had been performing in the desert for our military. It was actually pretty awesome and the girls were entranced. The show was about an hour and a half. Certain girls were selected from each base to go up on stage and place a lei on the Colt girls as part of their finale. The coaches chose Tara since she missed the party. She talked non-stop on the way home and she caught a t-shirt and got all the girls autographs. I got major cool points for this one. I am now mommy guilt free!

We got Tyler and Trey's pictures in yesterday too. Tyler got a t-shirt with all three poses on the front. He slept in it last night and insisted on wearing it to school today. The pictures were great and I have posted them under More Photos Here. The USO show pics are there too!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Judy!

http://www.vidiLife.com/index.cfm?f=media.play&vchrMediaProgramIDCryp=6D2A50F2-F05F-4373-BCAC-5

Thanksgiving- Revisited

Our fire on a cold night

My neighbor Rey is in the USMC. He is married to Melissa and is the father of Asia, Cassidy and Rey Rey. He had a temporary duty assignment in Vietnam. His job was to actually go to various sites that the US had gained information about to look for any fragments/pieces/scrap metal etc of MIA soldiers. The story is pretty interesting. Hopefully their work will give some families some long deserved answers. He worked hard, lived wretchedly and missed his family greatly. When he returned, Melissa decided to cook him Thanksgiving dinner since he missed out on the self-imposed turkey gluttony. She created this feast on Sunday and being the good neighbor that she is, she included her neighbors and even brought the entire dinner here. She fixed a fabulous meal! She made a Jiffy cornbread stuffing that was wonderful and my personal favorite is her pumpkin roll. Kevin and Rey ate pumpkin roll till they were orange. All the kids thought it was wonderful to have such a fabulous feast and when we eat here, we put the kids in the kitchen while the adults enjoy some peace on the lanai. Rey brought over his fire pit so we had dinner by the fire side. It was actually 68* and breezy so we truly needed it! That's cold!! Thanks Melissa for another great meal and I can't wait to make Tamales at Christmas.

My friend Kelly's (Richmond Kelly as opposed to Florida Kelly) daughter recently tried out for all district band- and made it! She plays the french horn (along with piano and sax) and made 4th chair! Congrats Lexi!

Just for a laugh......Mike Furey saw Tara's pic on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was on his way out to buy a few copies! I told him not to bother because I had bought them all so he wouldn't be able to find any!!

LOL!

One more pic from our breakfast with Santa!

16 Days Till Christmas!

16 days till Christmas! Wow! We have seen the tree lighting ceremony on base, Saw Santa at Tyler's school, Santa was at the tree lighting, Santa was at the holiday party where we played in the snow and we had breakfast with Santa too! How many times will we see Santa this year? Really! Tyler is now convinced that Santa got rid of the sleigh and lost all of his reindeer. Why does he think this? Last year Santa showed up at Kevin's work in a leer jet. This year he keeps riding up in the fire truck with sirens screaming and horns blowing and lights flashing. Every time we ride past the fire station he wants to stop so he can go visit Santa. Makes sense to me. If he always arrives on the fire truck he must live at the fire station. Right? Poor kid. The best part of the Christmas season is the threat of toy deprivation based on behavior. "You better be good because Santa's watching you" really works. Although as soon as the sentence is spoken Tyler looks over both shoulders and up in the air as if he might actually catch Santa watching.
I was able to drag Kevin out shopping twice this week. He has done more shopping in the past few days than the entire time he has spent on the island. He really needs to leave the base more. He never has a clue where we are or how we got there. I think the holiday madness is beginning to take it's toll on him though. Every time he comes home from work he talks about a new det he might have to go on. I believe it's wishful thinking.
Tara has upcoming parties and she's getting very excited for her month break. She is already asking if we can do more hiking and go to the beach and go snorkeling etc etc. She has a fancy black sequined dress for her (oh so fancy!) cheering end of season party and she made the cover of Sports Illustrated. You can view the photos under links.
You may notice a lack of pictures of Trey. He doesn't want anything to do with the bearded fat man in the red suit. That will change next year I'm sure!

Snow in Hawaii???

What? Snow in Hawaii? Yes!! That's right! You're not looking at a picture from KC or Colorado. That's the basketball court across from Ft Hasse beach covered in two giant snow mounds. The Marines used their re-con know how and produced snow, even in Hawaii. The kids had a wonderful time throwing snowballs and sliding down the ice hills. Baby Trey just couldn't muster up the courage to jump right in so he enjoyed the fun from the sidelines. Those Marines can do anything!