Mele Kalikimaka!

My parents traveled to Hawaii to celebrate their 25th anniversary last year. Needless to say, they fell in love with the islands. My parents adore flowers and while in Hawaii, my mom was smitten with the exotic Protea flower. My sweet dad surprised my mom on Christmas Eve with a fresh arrangement of Protea flowers sent from Hawaii.

When my mom dressed for the day she put on her Hawaiian dress and shell laie. I wondered if she knew what would be arriving at our house, so I asked her why she decided to wear her Hawaiian dress and laie. She responded, "I just love them and wanted to wear them." She had no clue, but it fit my dad's plan perfectly!

They were both excited and she was so surprised! I loved watching them. It was sweet to see my parents like this together.

Since there was one Hawaiian gift on Christmas Eve, we went ahead and opened a Hawaiian themed gift my parents brought back for our family.

Jewelry for the girls, presented in gift boxes made of sea shells.

The boys got t-shirts. Carter was not impressed with a t-shirt and my mom could tell. Earlier in the visit, Carter noticed a zipper pull on my mom's purse that had their cruise ship floating in it. Carter loved it when he saw it. My mom had my dad stealthily run and get the zipper pull for Carter. When he received it, his face lit up and he said, "It matches Grandma's!" He still doesn't know that it is Grandma's!

My favorite thing in the package was a book my mom made that detailed their cruise and excursions. The pictures were beautiful.

It was fun to have a Hawaiian gift on Christmas Eve.

Christmas baking

I love Christmas treats and foods. My very favorites are english toffee, gingerbread, and eggnog. Mmmm.

It was super duper fun having Mom and Dad here for the festivities. I have to say, I love seeing the cookies my dad decorates. They turn out so funky!

Hazel likes gingerbread too!

We made my Aunt Lynn's delicious butterhorn rolls. They're so buttery and yummy that I only make them once or twice a year.

My little baker.

Cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.

No pictures of the toffee, bummer. And I don't make my own eggnog. Well, I did once when I lived in France and there was none to be found. Yes, I used raw eggs. Yes, it was delicious.

Until next Christmas, my delicious baked ones.

Our Christmas celebrations were wonderful. They started out with a package from Grandma and Grandpa Ford.

It was full of nativities,

advents,

homemade suckers, and crafts.

Shortly after the package arrived, my mom arrived in person! Just in time for Lily's school Christmas program and her class Christmas party. It's a treat to have Grandma here for Lily's school activities.

Lily's party was so much fun! The classroom was mayhem! Which is wonderful because normally they are calm, quiet, and very well-behaved in class. It was fun to watch the kids run, play, shout, and just have fun!

They made carameled apples. The kids loved dumping sprinkles, m&ms, and crushed candies on their apples.

These pictures cracks me up! This is her crush. And it's reciprocated. Although they've got a thing for each other, they were sooo uncomfortable standing by each other for a photo. Lily told me one day, "I'm so scared of Sean cause he loves me!" I think it's really cute. I pray that she will always talk to me about the boys she likes!

Lily was so happy to see her teacher excited about the gift cards the class gave her.

We have a hard time keeping our house tidy. The kids throw things every which way and don't give them another look. Now, how ironic is it that Lily keeps her desk organized spic and span?? If only she'd do the same thing at home!

Her neighbor's desk in contrast. Lol.

How do you? round 2

First a little update: We attended a nice funeral service for Dean and his mom last week. God is a God of miracles, Dean's little brother is recovering very well.


Here's another "How do you?" post:

How do you store extra bags and purses when not in use?

and

What do you eat for breakfast on Christmas morning and at what point in the festivities do you eat it?

Ummm, adorable.

My heart goes pitter-pat when Carter wears that hat! Lily couldn't believe that little Hazel could stand with their help. It was cute to see Lily so excited for her baby sis.

Santa's elves dropped these snuggly jammies off at our house this weekend. The kids were so excited to find presents on our doorstep! Carter was amazed that the elves dropped them off unseen. He wants to find the elves that are stationed around our house, watching to see if the kids should be on the GB&G (Good Boy & Girl) list. He wonders where they're hiding.

I looked over at Lily after they had unwrapped their jammies. She was looking at me knowingly, so I winked at her. She winked right back, then mouthed "thank you!" to me. I don't know why, but it touched me and brought tears to my eyes. I'm realizing that my little girl is growing up.

These little guys make life bright!

Merry Christmas!
May our hearts be full of love for one another and our Savior.

Great start!

I can't even say how excited I am to have Lily home from school for two weeks! Aaron only works two days next week. We are going to have so much fun together! We started our Christmas break off great! We played at the park, then ate dinner at Culvers (kids' choice), then drove around to see Christmas lights.

My beautiful girl. When Lily gets home from school she changes out of her uniform into regular clothes. I love to see her choices. Today it was an orange shirt, a turquoise skirt, and a brown sequined vest tied together with her native american shirt tie. Luckily it sort of blended in with the turquoisy sequins and skirt. :)

We love teeter-totters. Uh, I think Carter and I make a pretty balanced pair, don't you?

Aaron makes everything so much fun. The kids can't get enough of him.

Carter played with Harold the helicopter in the sand almost the whole time at the park. He used to not like the sand because it was dirty...but now he loves it!

My honey. He's the greatest husband in the world.

Ummmm, yes, I still have six weeks left.

The not-so-great part of our break, which I won't even mention, includes being up with Lily for an hour in the night cause she didn't feel real well and some exciting times with Carter's diapers. I'll say no more.

Aaron is such a dream boat. He let me sleep in until 8:00!!! I don't know when that last happened. When I got up he had made pancakes for us all.

Carter got a train pancake. He thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Lily got a butterfly. Notice her lovely lipstick.

My dreamboat, right there.

More fun pancakes: a snowflake, a saguaro cactus, a circle, and a swirl.

My special pancake was baby Hazel all swaddled up tight.

After breakfast we worked our tails off to clean up the kitchen and family room. See, what a great start to our Christmas break!