Busy Santa

Joseph sure scored this year (honestly, when doesn't he?) with all of his presents! He got lots of great clothes, books, toys, and games. It was a Merry Christmas!

Cookie Decorating

We had Chase, one of Joseph's classmates, over to decorate Christmas cookies. I don't know what I was thinking. The boys spent the entire 2 hours running around the house and playing with toys. They did, however, manage to sit down long enough to enjoy the fruits of MY labor.

Merry Christmas

Ummm... How talented is my husband? Don't these look amazing? Breakfast for Christmas morning!

A healthy spread for a busy man. Santa Claus better get his gym time in after eating some of these babies!

Joey, Joseph, and James playing Mario Cart.

Family is awesome.

Today was a pretty laid back day. Mary and I exchanged presents in the morning, then I met the family in down town Port Orchard for a nice lunch at Amy's on the Bay. For dinner we had fresh crab from Seattle's Pike Market with sourdough bread. Yummy! We took a plate of Christmas treats over to Charles and Dorothea and we got our first loaf of Fruit Cake! I didn't think that it was still in circulation but now we have something to give out next year! Ha ha. Just joking. If you're lucky enough to get a loaf from us next year, just disregard this post. We read "The Night Before Christmas," made a plate of cookies a la milk for Santa, left out celery for the reindeer, put on our special Christmas jammies and went straight to bed. Joey went back in his room to retrieve something and our little darling son said, "Is Santa here yet? Merry Christmas, Daddy!" Ah, the greatest joy in life.

The Dollar Tree

There's a phenomenon on the mainland called The Dollar Tree. I am both troubled and intrigued by it. Today, after hitting Joann's Crafts for some last-minute purchases, I moseyed down over after overhearing a conversation between a little girl and her mother. I opened the door and was almost taken down by the odor of lead-laden items straight from China's industrial factories. Perhaps the response was purely psychosomatic, but I was truly distressed, none the less. As I perused the stores inventory, I was taken aback by the comprehensive selection of bips and bobs, odds and ends, and knick knacks. I was looking around for prices and was sent into a panic when I realized that EVERYTHING was just a dollar. How could it be? Granted, there wasn't anything there that I wanted or needed but everything was just a dollar! How could I walk away without buying something? I ended up getting stocking treats like Smarties (no doubt left over from Halloween but doesn't pure sugar have a shelf life of twenty decades?) and Tootsie Rolls.

Zoo Lights in Tacoma

Saturday was a busy day! In the morning, Joseph invited his friend, Chase, over to our house to decorate cookies. Well, Chase wanted nothing to do with it so they just played for a few hours. It was nice to get to know another family that lives in Port Orchard.

Later, I went over to Mary's house to bake cookies and bars for our staff at Jackson Park and Bangor school-age care. It was just fun to get together in a non-work place and do something as fun as make cookies. Mary has a lovely house and the drive over to Bainbridge Island was peaceful.

At night, Joseph, Joe, and I accompanied Brandon, Meghan, Amiya, and Brandon's parents to the Point Defiance Zoo where there was a light exhibit. It was a tad cold and wet but we were appropriately dressed and prepared with several umbrellas.

After the zoo, we met Brandon and his family at their house for hot cocoa and Christmas cookies. Since I had spent the day making cookies (and tasting here and there) I wanted nothing to do with the treats. The company, on the other hand, was a pleasure, as always!

I have one more week left until this class is over! It blows my mind that I only have two more classes left until the program is over! Thank goodness! I'm going a little crazy being a mother, having a full-time job, being a full-time graduate student, AND being the ombudsman for Joey's command. Life is getting a little hectic and it's sometimes hard to stop and smell the roses.

Santa Claus

Yesterday we went to visit Santa at the Kitsap Mall. Joseph knew exactly what he was going to ask Santa for- a camera. When we were in line, Joseph spotted his new friend, Warrick, from school. Joseph and I went to say hello and invite them to our cookie party on Saturday. I asked Warrick what he was going to tell Santa he wanted as soon as he said, "hot wheels track," Joseph told me that he was also going to ask for a hot wheels track. I'm sure that Santa was a little put off because he had already told the elves in his workshop to make a camera for Joseph. After we saw Santa we went to Clear Creek Nursery in Silverdale to see the reindeer. They smelled putrid! The odor coming from that beast was quite offensive. Joseph wasn't at all bothered as you can see from the pictures.

School Town

Joseph used to say that he wanted to be a teacher just like me. Recently, I caught Joseph playing what he calls, "school town." He lined up every single one of his stuffed animals, put a chair up and the front, and read his students a book. I hope he ends up doing what makes him happiest in his career.

Tree Lighting in Port Orchard

Nothing was getting this young man's spirit down!

(I'm behind him, hands in pockets, ready to take refuge in the car)

Not the most flattering picture of me but in all fairness it's the coldest I've been in a very long time.

Joe's friend, Brandon, invited us to the Tree Lighting Ceremony in downtown Port Orchard. Joe wanted to go so much so I thought it was a good opportunity to meet some of Joe's co-workers who live in our area as well as participate in what could become an annual tradition. Brandon's wife, Megan, is very lovely. They have a beautiful little 16 month-old daughter named Amiya. They were obviously much more prepared than we were since they had her all bundled up in fluffy, winter garb. We saw the dog parade which was totally cute because all the dogs were dressed up in Christmas costumes! My favorites were the bull dogs dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus. We then went to the marina where the boats are decorated. It was entertaining to watch Joseph's excitement at all of the lights. Finally, we followed the crowd to City Hall where, at the stroke of 6, the massive tree was illuminated with thousands of lights and ornaments. It made me feel a surge of camaraderie that I thought was unique to Hawaii.

Being born and raised in Hawaii affords you membership to a community of people that can't be acquired through any other means. My mother has lived in Hawaii her entire adult life- certainly longer than I've been alive but she STILL isn't a member of this community. She didn't grow up in our school system, catch the bus down to Kahala Mall after school to buy crack seed from Longs. She didn't attend A-plus, go to Camp Erdman for band or leadership camp in middle and high school. She didn't have a Kupuna come to her class every week and tell Hawaiian legends, make crafts, teach Ulu Maika, and songs. No matter how 'Hawaiian' people think they can get by living in Hawaii, they'll never, ever be able to acquire these unique experiences through any other capacity. No matter how much they try it can never happen.

Even though this is true, it's interesting that it is also the case in every other geographic area. I didn't grow up in Port Orchard but I understand why people think that living there for a while is the same as being raised there. Since I know that is not the case, I'll be careful about the way that I interpret my own experiences.

Experiencing the Tree Lighting also brought me back 100 years in time. I'm sure that this is something that families enjoyed even back then. It made me cognizant that I am creating traditions for my family that my son may replicate in his own experience as an adult with a family. It's exciting and yet I feel the weight of future generations on my shoulders.

Oh! Christmas Tree

Looking for just the right spot

Showing us his how "beautiful" the sound from the bells is.

His Rocket ornament from last year. This year he chose the Cars one with McQueen and Mater.

Joey went out in 12 degree weather from this shot!

This year we're celebrating the holidays differently than previous years because we're living in Washington now. We had a beautiful fall with all the colors of autumn displaying a vast array of browns, oranges, and yellows. Our winter appears to be in full bloom despite what the calendar says. This morning it was an ugly 17 degrees, but the day was truly spectacular with the sun burning the clouds out of sight. The weather is certainly helping us feel the presence of Christmas. In Hawaii we hung our stockings from our air-conditioner. Here in Washington, we're afraid to hang our stockings up because they might actually catch on fire! We can wear coats, gloves, scarfs, hats and boots and run around until we're ready to take shelter in our warm house with hot chocolate. We're so fortunate to be so happy where we are!

Utopia

Check out those mountains!

The perfect specimen

One of us is not wearing weather-appropriate shoes. Boy did I learn my lesson!

Washington is utterly gorgeous under a specific set of conditions. Basically, when it's not raining, it's absolutely perfect. When it is raining it's still beautiful but a little messy. We've been delaying the selection of our Christmas tree because Joey wanted to go to a Christmas tree farm to chop our OWN tree down. Well, it had just snowed the night before and there was a light dusting of white powder littering the cold soil. The temperature was cold enough to sustain the snow (about mid 20s) and we could certainly feel it. We selected the right one and Joseph and I took shelter in the heated truck while Joe sawed away. Since this was our first year, we didn't realize that people usually bring chainsaws so Joey was sawing away for a good 10 minutes freezing his cute butt off. When he just got to the end of the trunk, he moved to the other side to complete the cut and the tree fell on top of him. My face hurts from grinning even as I type this. It was a great day!

Silver City

Joseph took this one! He's getting really good at taking pictures.

On their way from Minnesota to Oregon, Nana and Poppy visited us in Washington. We made sure to take them to Silver City Brewery for delicious food and a lively atmosphere. Unfortunately, what accompanied the food and environment was an hour and half wait. We spent some time at Kohls and Macys and that made it a little better. The food was fantastic, as usual and we left with bellies full and big smiles.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving we were able to make it over to Nana and Poppy's in Oregon. It was a long drive but well worth the trip! In addition to seeing Nana and Poppy, we saw our cousins, uncles and aunts, and great Nana! Aunt Lyn, Uncle Paul, Matthew, and Bobby came from San Jose, Uncle Ron and Joan came from Los Angeles, and Nana came from the next town over.

Dinner was so delicious! Nana made the juiciest turkey, gravy, and stuffing, aunt Lyn made silky mashed potatoes, and great Nana made homemade pie and the best yams in the world! We all ate until we could hardly breath! It was perfect!

I think the best part about it was getting to know my cousins Matthew and Bobby. Those two night owls kept me up crazy hours talking about all kinds of things! I didn't realize how much we had in common even though there is a slight age difference (greater than I would like to admit- gosh I'm getting old!)

Another totally awesome thing was playing cool games with the family. We played Apples to Apples and Cranium. Bobby remains the Apples to Apples champion while Bobby, Joey and I took the title for Cranium because of my mad Japanese skills.

Thanksgiving was pretty terrific this year! I am really excited that we live so much closer to lots of family members.