Merry Christmas 2011!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

My family and I enjoyed our low key, laid back, Hawaiian Christmas.

I am so proud of Jalen for his performance as the narrator in the Christmas program at church.

He spoke so well, and got many compliments afterwards.

Santa was there to greet the kiddos, which Hallie was not a fan of.

She gave one look up at him, and started crying.

The outfit she has on was extra special. It was picked out by her Daddy, and was mine when I was a little girl.

Christmas Eve morning, we went and had a great brunch at the St Regis Hotel here in Princeville.

It was fun to feel like we were out of town.

We got to sit outside, with a beautiful view of the mountains and the blue ocean.

Little birdies were chirping all around us, and the service was phenomenal.

About half way into our breakfast, Jalen noticed 2 famous guys sitting right next to us.

It was 2 of the Jonas Brothers, a pop band.

I snapped a pic, and they were off...

We enjoyed the buffet, which was filled with fresh Hawaiian fruits, breads, muffins, rice, potatoes, an omelet station, pancake/waffle station, bacon, sausage, and much more!

After the wonderful brunch, we went home and put little Sugar Bear down for a nap.

While she slept, I had to go run and pick up the big present I got for Jalen and Joe.

I headed into the town of Hanalei, where we do most of our shopping and hanging out.

I couldn't believe how busy it was!

There were people everywhere, laughing, conversing, dancing, and just having a good ol' time!

After I picked up the rather large gift, I called Jalen to see if he wanted me to come pick him up so he could come down to Hanalei to hang out.

He did, so I went and got him.

We sat outside, and listened to the Hawaiian band playing, and did a little shopping.

Joe text when Hallie woke up, and they headed down to meet up with us.

Later that evening, we enjoyed a spread of appetizers, and chocolate fondue for dessert.

We let Jalen open 1 gift, as that is a tradition, and he NEVER forgets..

He opened the gift from Kelly, Jamie, Kayla, and Arlie.

It was a dog tag necklace, he liked it a lot.

After setting out milk and cookies for Santa, and water for the reindeer (hehe--Jalens idea), we sent Jalen to bed, and put Hallie Rose down as well.

Joe and I hung out for a while, then we were off to bed.

The next morning, we got a text from Jalen, asking if we were up, and if he could come out of his room.

He, of course, was anxious to see what "Santa" had brought him, and wanted to open the rest of his presents.

He got a surf board, ukulele, 3 prong spear fishing pole, new knife, and more..

Hallie wasn't so into it this year.

She wanted to just play around as we all opened gifts.

She got her very first baby doll, a stuffed doggie purse which we named "Rosie", and a few other little items.

Joe had the kids make me a jewelry box, which I absolutely LOVE!

Jalen made it all himself, glued, sanded and painted it.

Then he had both the kids put their hand prints on the inside.

To go along with the jewelry box, he got me a beautiful pair of earrings. They have a little plumeria flower hanging from them, and are white gold.

I got him and Jalen a mini motorcycle, which is a fixer upper, so it will be a project for them to work on together, as well as have fun riding it up and down our street.

I also got Joe a Go Pro camera, and a pair of reef flip-flops.

I would say we all did pretty well this year:)

After the gift opening, I made cinnamon rolls.

We ate them up, and played around the house.

The Christmas music was on, the sun was shining, and we were thoroughly enjoying our first Christmas in Hawaii, as a family of 4..

Later that evening, we were supposed to have a fish dinner with mashed potatoes and cheesy corn bake.

We decided we were too full, and wanted to wait until the next night to do our dinner.

We headed down to Hanalei Bay beach to hang out and make a fire.

There were a lot of people at the beach, all happy and cheerful.

We wrapped up our night around 8, and headed home to relax and go to bed.

We all feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be living in Hawaii, spend Christmas here as a family, and bond like never before.

We pinch ourselves everyday, and thank God for all the wonderful blessings he has given to our family.