Southern Cal

We had the opportunity to visit Gramdma Sue and Grandpa Wally the week after Christmas while they were in Palm Dessert. It was great to be able to see my parents over Christmas! It's rare since we live so far away.

How could we NOT stop at Disneyland on the way down? The kids met all of the bigwigs at Disney and had fun on the rides. McKenna and Lizzy (10 and 4 at the time) both rode space mountain for the first time. The younger kids grow up so much faster that the older ones:(

Palm Dessert was so fun... it was great to be able to see my parents over Christmas! It's rare since we live so far away.

Christmas 2009

One of our favorite traditions is going into the city on BART loaded with lunches and donated coats/socks for the homeless. We wander the streets of San Francisco looking for those in need. There are always plenty of people ready to accept a meal and a smile. Great memories with friends and a good reminder of how blessed we are.

Other favorite traditions include going to see the lights at "Temple Hill" and doing our own little nativity with the local Jackson clan.

Aloha!!!

CAN I GO BACK???

We had an amazing vacation! Ahh... 9 days in Kona with our friends, the Barratts, from Park City. 5 days later, after being home sick and taking care of sick kids, I just want to go back to Hawaii where life was simple: eat, go the the beach, eat, go back to the house and swim, eat, read, play cards, sleep. Soooo nice... and warm.... and beautiful. And no one was throwing up (except Greg that one night. Chinese food at the Honolulu airport = food poisoning. Who would have thought?)

Here are some highlights:

The kids out picking bananas for morning smoothies.

Meet the Barratts (Shelley, Greg, Grace, Henry, Elsa)

Lizzy

Lizzy found her soul mate in Henry. They share a love for mischief, sugar, and general craziness. Henry kept it no secret that he was going to marry Lizzy. Lizzy thought that would be okay "unless they had more arguments."

This is what Henry was hiding behind his dinner plate one night. Yes, those sugar packets are all empty. It's so Lizzy.

Beautiful Scenery

On Sunday, our one rainy day, we drove to the "wet" side of the island to find some waterfalls and big surf.

Run away!

McKenna was so excited most of the trip that we had a hard time keeping her feet on the ground. Check it out:

Sydney

preferred her pink floatie to a boogie board and loved jumping the waves as they crashed.

Charlotte

Charlotte spent most of the time sandy,

sleep deprived,

very curly (from the humidity,)

and spoiled with mommy and daddy time.