Waded and swam in the water...
looked at coral reefs, fish, and even a sea turtle...
With lots of other folks...
enjoyed a beautiful day...
and ate cake! Not bad. 
Olivia yelling at me because she guessed it was a lava lamp about a week ago and I swore it wasn't! HOW did she guess that? I didn't even think she had ever seen a lava lamp!
Santa brought Emily a "fur real" kitty. This cat is SO real (including purring, meowing, and licking.) Next best thing when your sister is allergic I guess!
Santa also brought new scooters! Emily's is solid pink with streamers of course!
The look on her face coming down the stairs in the morning!
Christmas Eve...the girls!
Emily at school getting ready to sing Jolly Old St. Nicholas for her adoring fans
Olivia's new scooter...motorized for a top speed of 15 mph. THIS is cool!
I had to do something about her being a Redskins fan!!
Christmas Dinner
All worn out!
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. Happy Birthday today to our cousin Nick, can't believe you are 13! Emily turns 5 tomorrow, that is even harder to believe. We are taking her out on a boat in Kaneohe Bay to the sandbar for a picnic in the ocean. Don't worry...on Wednesday we head to the salon with her peeps for a makeover, dress up gig complete with glitter hair and nails! Pictures to follow (with my new SLR camera if I can find 5 minutes to learn how to use it!)
Seems I am the only one with no snow this week! I am happy to report we picked up my Mom on Tuesday night and have been jutting around in our shorts and t-shirts ever since! It's been a busy week of Christmas programs, cookie baking, shopping, wrapping, and touring. I have a ton of photos to share so I will make a slide show later and let you see some shots of the girls in their shows and our great tour of the Arizona Memorial. Olivia also graduated from her Starbase Atlantis program last week and the ceremony concluded with a rocket launch on Ford Island. Here is a short video of Olivia's Ukulele concert at her school. I couldn't get a great shot of her (she is in the middle row - very hard to see) but I was really impressed with their playing after only a few months!
Emily is going at mach 10 with excitement... Christmas and a birthday. She may just explode!
We are gearing up for Emma to come visit and both the girls have holiday programs at school next week
I hosted a neighborhood coffee on Tuesday and the girls were invited to a gingerbread house decorating party yesterday. 
So, basically it's all good. Except when it isn't. When it's stressful and there are boxes and tissue papers all over the house, pine needles everywhere, mid-terms looming, and Emily plays "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" for the 100th time. Then I look around and don't see Olivia. I look out the window and find her where? On top of the carport of course with a cool drink and a book. Looks like a good time out spot huh? I may have to steal it!
Emily's school celebrates birthdays once a month and on your month you are considered a "star keiki" (keiki is the Hawaiian word for child). Emily was honored as a star today during the flag ceremony (you know, where they say the "pledge of the legions") She was very excited and Daddy even got to attend which made it even better!!
This is Emily's house, clearly she is going for the minimalist look. No windows, no doors, no excessive trim...way to go Em...just like your Mama. What does the inside of Emily's house look like you ask? Is it full of fine Ethan Allen furniture, happy Mom's with aprons in the kitchen making delicious meals, toys galore? Nope. Not Em's house. Hers is full of....
Makeup. Yup, that's all, just makeup. This is a girl who knows what is important and is sticking with it!Usually after a busy weekend I am ready to get everyone out of the house on Monday and back to school and work but I am sad to see this one go. We had a great traditional meal on Thursday, went sailing on Friday and Saturday (Friday was just David and I and Saturday was the whole family), got tons of household chores done, braved Toys R Us on Black Friday (at 5 pm...not am) ate more than I care to write about and drove to the North Shore for our annual Christmas card shoot. Although that photo opp is usually my least favorite part about Christmas we had fun and maybe even got some usable shots. I've shared a few below but you will have to wait for your card to see the winners!
Here is a medley of random images from the weekend and a few more I hadn't shared yet (including my new kitchen cabinets!)
