The only time Ella isn't tearing around the house at full speed....
Dear Grandma & Granddad,
Thank you for my cute Christmas pajamas. Can you believe I'm tall enough to wear them - 4T imagine that! And thank you for my Barbie "Guitar Hero" as I call it. Now I can rock out with Daddy. I can't wait to wear my new gymnastics leotards too.
I hope you had a good Christmas.
Love,
Ella
We headed into Honolulu for the city of lights tour. The giant Santa and Mrs. Claus basking with their feet in the fountain were a big hit with Ella. We walked around the Iolani Palace and through city hall where they have a Christmas tree display.
It cleared up enough for Ella to try out her new scooter yesterday afternoon. She wouldn't leave it alone all morning but once we went outside and had the whole street to ourselves she was totally disinterested - go figure. We did manage to get a photo or two after much encouragement. Gotta love a toddler's ability to focus: "I love my scoo...oh look! a rock/stick/blade of grass..."
Santa was much to good to Ella, along with her grandparents! The play kitchen from Santa, the scooter from Papa and the gymnastics outfit and princess guitar from Grandma and Granddad where quite the hit.
We spent a few hours at Hickam Beach with Papa... gotta love Christmas Eve day in Hawaii!
Ella will snatch up your camera if you leave it in reach and will take pictures of everything... including her blanket.
Papa arrived late Monday night after a 3-day ordeal and a night or two sleeping at the Vancouver airport. All the snow in Vancouver has thrown holiday travel into chaos, canceling flights, delaying flights for days, etc. We're just happy he is here and ready to enjoy the holiday. Ella is ecstatic to see him and had been looking forward to his arrival for days.
Note on Ella's development, she has never been interested in dressing herself, just allows us to do it, no fuss, no inclination. It's the reason Ella has been well coordinated and properly dressed at all times.
In just the last few weeks, she has become totally independent of us and refuses any help when getting dressed. Yesterday was also the first time she wanted to pick her own clothes as we were getting ready to go to Costco. I think it's adorable and as long as she's decent, I could care less what she wants to wear shopping...Ron was a little skeptical when she put on her bumble bee costume, complete with pink shoes. How can you not be so proud as people oohed and awwed at her as we walked through Costco. Too cute!!
Me: "Ella, why did you put your pajamas on?" (it's the middle of the afternoon)
Ella: "Cause I got hiccups."
Me: "Ella, did you take a sugar cookie?"
Ella: "Yes, it's in my belly, I lost it."
Christina and I had a baby shower for our friend Sara today. I've known Sara since shortly after we moved here and she has been a wonderful friend. Sara and her husband are leaving next month for the mainland (sniff*sniff) and we are going to miss them!!!
Ella adores Sara and pretends to talk to Sara on her toy phone: "Sara, go for coffee?" Sara, baby Wyatt, Ella and I often go for coffee at Starbucks, often enough that when Ella even sees a Starbucks she will ask, "Go for coffee with Aunt Sara?"
Last week the UPS lady knocked on the door with the box in hand and said to me: "I don't think you're supposed to see this, but sign here please." Ron had bought me the KitchenAid stand mixer I've been wanting for years. Merry Christmas to me! Amazon did not box it, they just put the shipping label on the KitchenAid box and sent it out, oh well, at least I get to really enjoy my Christmas baking this year!
Today was Joey's last day on the island. We headed to Hickam Beach this afternoon but as luck would have it, the beach was closed due to storm drainage and debris in the water. The waters are red and murky and the health department is advising people stay out of the water until it's cleared. This is pretty consistent around the island. Bummer.
We headed into Waikiki for dinner at Duke's Canoe Club before dropping Joey off at the airport. Ella will be so sad to not have her companion when she wakes up. As we were leaving the airport, Ella said: "Oh no! Joey gone. Ella no see Joey anymore." It was cute. (Photo note: This is Ella's smile when she knows there is a flash coming.)
Dear Daddy,
Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoyed your day even though you had to go to work. Mommy and I miss you when you aren't with us and we are very lucky you take such good care of us. Thank you for everything you do for us, and for being the best Daddy in the world. I love you!
Love Ella xoxo
Dear Ron,
I wish you a very Happy Birthday and thank you for always being there for us. Life is wonderful with you by my side, and I wish you many more years of love and happiness. Happy Birthday, my love. xoxo
After managing a couple hours at Ko Olina on Friday under overcast skies, it began to rain again in the evening. We've had torrential down pours off and on since Joey arrived. Yesterday, Ron and Joey headed out and climbed
Diamond Head Crater but had to forgo
Hanauma Bay because of looming storm clouds. It proceeded to monsoon and rained steadily into last night.
Late this morning we headed to Kailua and stopped to view Hanauma Bay. After being stuck in traffic for over 2 hours (Honolulu marathon we didn't know was still going) and bypassing all the big surf beaches, we made it to Kailua just in time for another bout of torrential rain. Yeah, Hawaii! Needless to say, today was another bust. Our fingers are crossed that we can at least enjoy Joey's last day tomorrow with some semblance of a tropical island. Here are some pics of the surfer beaches (and the short-lived good weather)as we continued on our quest to Kailua...
We did brave the rain and managed to drag Uncle Joey to Lukas' birthday party last night:
The weather has been crazy. A severe storm came through Wednesday night into Thursday and the torrential rains have closed roads from mudslides. We stayed in most the day yesterday and once it cleared, we ventured out the North Shore, only to get rained on again. So instead of the beach we stopped at the Dole Plantation for some pineapple ice cream.
Today started out much better and Joey, Ella and I headed out to Ko Olina (Ron had to work again). Spent a while at Ko Olina and did a drive up the west coast. It's been overcast and has started raining again - hopefully it clears up by tomorrow...
Today was Uncle Joey's first day with us on the island. The weather cooperated for the most part on our drive to Waimea Bay on the north shore. The surf forecast was good so we decided to check it out. Ron had to work so Ella had Uncle Joey all to herself.
We headed into Pearl Harbor and then dropped off Ella at Emmi's house (a block away) and Joey and I toured the Missouri, a WWII battleship that served as the signing place for the end of the war and also served in the first Persian Gulf War. By the time we got home late this afternoon the storm clouds had moved in. It's windy, rainy and there's a big storm moving in. Hopefully it only lasts through the night and we can hit the beaches tomorrow.
When I took Ella to get her photo with Santa, I rewarded her with a Build-A-Bear because she was so good. Here's her creation, Fairy Bear, and the photo she took of it. Looks like we'll be getting her one of those kids digital cameras soon as she is constantly stealing ours to take pictures...
We also went to a tree lighting ceremony on the base last Friday and they had all sorts of entertainment for the kids. Ella has no fear and is wildly excited by the large mascots....
This past weekend we were at a baby shower. Needless to say the cupcakes were a hit...
We headed into Honolulu for the city of lights tour. The giant Santa and Mrs. Claus basking with their feet in the fountain were a big hit with Ella. We walked around the Iolani Palace and through city hall where they have a Christmas tree display.
Santa arrived shortly after Ella went to sleep. His elves helped put together Ella's new play kitchen and after much hard work finished the little masterpiece. 
We spent a few hours at Hickam Beach with Papa... gotta love Christmas Eve day in Hawaii!
Papa arrived late Monday night after a 3-day ordeal and a night or two sleeping at the Vancouver airport. All the snow in Vancouver has thrown holiday travel into chaos, canceling flights, delaying flights for days, etc. We're just happy he is here and ready to enjoy the holiday. Ella is ecstatic to see him and had been looking forward to his arrival for days.
In just the last few weeks, she has become totally independent of us and refuses any help when getting dressed. Yesterday was also the first time she wanted to pick her own clothes as we were getting ready to go to Costco. I think it's adorable and as long as she's decent, I could care less what she wants to wear shopping...Ron was a little skeptical when she put on her bumble bee costume, complete with pink shoes. How can you not be so proud as people oohed and awwed at her as we walked through Costco. Too cute!!
Christina and I had a baby shower for our friend Sara today. I've known Sara since shortly after we moved here and she has been a wonderful friend. Sara and her husband are leaving next month for the mainland (sniff*sniff) and we are going to miss them!!!
Last week the UPS lady knocked on the door with the box in hand and said to me: "I don't think you're supposed to see this, but sign here please." Ron had bought me the KitchenAid stand mixer I've been wanting for years. Merry Christmas to me! Amazon did not box it, they just put the shipping label on the KitchenAid box and sent it out, oh well, at least I get to really enjoy my Christmas baking this year!
We headed into Waikiki for dinner at Duke's Canoe Club before dropping Joey off at the airport. Ella will be so sad to not have her companion when she wakes up. As we were leaving the airport, Ella said: "Oh no! Joey gone. Ella no see Joey anymore." It was cute. (Photo note: This is Ella's smile when she knows there is a flash coming.)
We did brave the rain and managed to drag Uncle Joey to Lukas' birthday party last night: 
The weather has been crazy. A severe storm came through Wednesday night into Thursday and the torrential rains have closed roads from mudslides. We stayed in most the day yesterday and once it cleared, we ventured out the North Shore, only to get rained on again. So instead of the beach we stopped at the Dole Plantation for some pineapple ice cream.
Today started out much better and Joey, Ella and I headed out to Ko Olina (Ron had to work again). Spent a while at Ko Olina and did a drive up the west coast. It's been overcast and has started raining again - hopefully it clears up by tomorrow...
Today was Uncle Joey's first day with us on the island. The weather cooperated for the most part on our drive to Waimea Bay on the north shore. The surf forecast was good so we decided to check it out. Ron had to work so Ella had Uncle Joey all to herself.
We headed into Pearl Harbor and then dropped off Ella at Emmi's house (a block away) and Joey and I toured the Missouri, a WWII battleship that served as the signing place for the end of the war and also served in the first Persian Gulf War. By the time we got home late this afternoon the storm clouds had moved in. It's windy, rainy and there's a big storm moving in. Hopefully it only lasts through the night and we can hit the beaches tomorrow.
We also went to a tree lighting ceremony on the base last Friday and they had all sorts of entertainment for the kids. Ella has no fear and is wildly excited by the large mascots....
This past weekend we were at a baby shower. Needless to say the cupcakes were a hit...
