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.

Wedding bells are ringing!

My baby sister is getting married next month! I'm so excited for her. She's excited too as the picture attests.

The man of her dreams gave her this beautiful ring. I still haven't met the man but I hear from the family that he's a keeper.

We threw her a bridal shower. Those fortune cookies were handmade by my amazing sister-in-law, Melinda. They contained some of the funniest fortunes I've ever heard. My aunt's fortune read, "Your future will be embarrassing." Love it!

I enjoyed meeting some of Julie's close friends and spending time with family that I don't get to see often. I administered a multiple choice test all about Kurt and Julie's courtship. It was great fun to invent make-believe scenarios about their courtship. It was fun to see which people were really in the know on Julie's life!

Another birthday

I had a very happy birthday. My family made me feel very special that day. My mom made me a delicious zucchini cake. The zucchinis were grown in my dad's garden and the walnuts were grown on my grandpa's tree. Lily and Carter helped mom frost the cake. They love licking the beaters!

Dad was so sweet and thoughtful. He sent me off to get "that thing done to your feet." My first pedicure ever. Isn't that so thoughtful for a dad to come up with?! We had dinner at a restaurant that I love. It's called Neapolitan. It's delicious italian food.

As you can see, for Aaron it was more work than pleasure. He sure did give me a break by wrestling Carter that evening. He also made me crepes for breakfast that morning. What a dear.

Growing up my mom put a special table cloth on the table for our birthdays. To me, it's the epitome of birthday. You put that on the table and the whole house feels birthday-y. She was so sweet to bring it with her and put it on my table for my birthday.

Thank you, Aaron, Lily, Carter, Mom and Dad for a wonderful birthday!

Halloween spookables!

My mom and dad came to visit for Halloween! We're so happy to have them here!


We made our yummy sugar cookies. Grandpa got pretty fancy with the frosting.

Carving pumpkins was a lot of fun. Lily drew the cutest face with star eyes. Carter requested moon-shaped eyes.

Left to right: Carter & Jill's, Lily's, Grandpa's, Aaron's.

Lily dressed up as Tinkerbell when she was born. If you have a little girl, you probably know that Tink was not born an infant.

Ah! A witchy and a princess! That's the sweetest witch I know! Lily designed this costume for me. As I was hurriedly finishing sewing the kids' trick-or-treat bags, she came to me with this outfit and said it was my princess costume. It ended up winning the "cutest adult costume" at our church's trunk-or-treat activity. Way to go, Lily!

Our un-traditional Halloween dinner. I used to make pumpkin stew. But seeing as how Aaron and the kids don't like it, I've quite making it.

Look at those Halloween spookables! Carter did not like Grandpa's costume one bit. He didn't want to go anywhere near him. Hence, the crying. Lily wasn't too impressed with his costume either! I can't understand why.

Tinkerbell and Peter Pan! Carter loved being Peter Pan. After his bedtime bath he insisted on wearing his Peter Pan costume to bed. He was the cutest little Peter Pan!

Boo!