HO HO HO

tristan and avery trying to sleep on buckets in the closet a few days ago

oops! need to rotate this one of tristan flying on my feet

santa brought lidia her own digital camera. she was very surprised.

aiden spent all day building these guys he got for christmas

we definitely had a white christmas. i ran out on christmas eve to get a couple of things. it was not snowing when i went in the store but when i came out there was a raging storm and two inches on the car. here's cory raking it off so that it doesn't melt all in the garage. we ended up with 5 or 6 inches by morning.

avery got some hot wheels things and thomas the train things. he was very excited and loved opening his presents. while opening these cars he kept saying,"hot wheels, hot wheels! hot wheels, beat that!" over and over. It was so cute. santa brought him a click start my first computer by leapster and i got him a couple of games for it. he didn't know what it was but now that i've hooked it up to my tv he likes it a lot and is getting pretty good at using the mouse and the keyboard.

cory got new ski boots, poles, and helmet
aiden got a bike and helmet but hasn't ridden it yet b/c of the snow he also got a new gameboy game he really wanted. he was really excited but instead of yelling he just sits there smiling and wiggles around quietly like he's trying to contain it.

tristan got some playmobil castle and pirate stuff and games

he also got a puppy alarm clock

he was even excited about this playdoh. evey time he opened a present he said,"Wow! It's just what I've always wanted".

we've had fun playing this flippin frogs game

Lidia also got this barbie styling head thing and lots of littlest pet shop animals and a crayola color explosion board that doesn't work so I'll have to exchange it.

We also got the kids an eye clops. it is realy cool and fun. it magnifies anything you hold it up to 200x and puts the image on the tv. we've looked at our hair, skin, freckles, cory's stubble on his chin, fabric, carpet, snow, spices, sugar, wood, leaves etc. cory got me a nice new watch and a iron wall hanging. i also got some cute new pjs. we all wore our pjs all day and just played with toys and ate candy from our stockings until dinner time which cory cooked and was yummy with two kinds of homemade rolls. after dinner ben and brooke stopped by for a bit and played with us. it was a relaxing cozy day.
Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Newman for the kids new pjs and slippers and to Papa and Nana for sending many of these toys the kids got and to Sandra for the Burger King and Outback gift cards and to Heather for the veggie tales movies and cds which we are having fun listening to in the car.

BABW

Introducing...Polk A Dots wearing a spiderman 3 t-shirt, jeans, and sketchers sneakers

Tom Monk wearing a Harley Davidson jacket, black pants, and black boots

Crystal wearing a pink and white striped sweater and scarf embellished with sequins and beads, a pink bubble skirt, and 4 pink and white sketchers sneakers

And here is RAR wearing a firefighter outfit complete with a hat and hose and boots. Avery wanted to wear the little hats himself last night. He was asleep when I took this picture this morning.

Here's a big thanks to Aunt Amber and Aunt Mel for sending the kids gift cards to Build A Bear Workshop for Christmas. We took them last night and they had so much fun choosing their new pals and stuffing them, making a wish and putting the heart in and watching them sew it up and then they gave them an air bath and named them and boy did they love picking out clothes and shoes for them. They have many accessories also but those will have to wait for another day. That place gets expensive quickly but the kids loved it. They had never been before. The kids also liked that they come with a little cardboard house and birth certificate.

Happy Holidays

Home Again!

We made it home without much delay Sunday night. We are happy to be back in our house and I am going to pick up Cory as soon as I drop off the kids at school. He's at the airport right now.

Last day in Oahu

Today is our last day here. We went to Hanauma Bay and snorkled and played in the water and the sand. I snorkled today as well as Cory and Aiden. It was fun. We saw a lot of different fish. They were colorful and some were pretty big. I took Aiden and Lidia out to see a parrotfish that was about two feet long and it kind of scared them. They turned back as soon as they saw it. The fish there come up close so you don't have to go out deep to see them. We took pics with the disposable camera but not the reg one b/c the battery was dead. I'll have to scan some in and post them when we get home. Avery fell down in the water and got his face all wet so that helped to make him be more careful in the water. He loves playing in the water. Tristan plays in the sand more. Lidia paddled all around on her kickboard. Aiden was snorkeling nearly the entire three hours mostly with Cory and then some with me. It was a bit cloudy off on on but only a couple drops of rain. Fun day, fun trip. Now if we can just all make it home safely and without too much stress...gotta get up at 5am and get to the airport.

Pupukea Beach

Yesterday Cory was done with his class by noon so we went snorkeling at Pupukea Beach on the north shore. It was a little cloudy off and on but it was nice. Aiden and Cory saw a lot of fish. Aiden loves snorkeling. He and Cory would probably do it all day if the water was heated. There were only like two other people there. Lidia snorkeled a tiny bit. She doesn't like to have her head under water. We tok some pics with the disposable underwater camera. They are not the clearest b/c of visibility and poor lighting on a some what cloudy day but some are ok. Avery loves the water now but he seems to have no fear of it. Guess he'll need swimming lessons too.

Bishop Museum

wrapping up

So this is our last week in Hawaii and we are glad we came but ready to go home. It's beautiful here and the weather is great but we will all be happy to not be living out of a hotel room anymore and get back into a normal routine and have some personal space and time at home. Some days are not bad and others I think I might go crazy not getting a break from the kids. I did go over to the mall for a couple of hours by myself the other day but other than that I have not been away from my kids at all since we have been here. We have done pretty much everything we care to do here. The island is not huge. We will go snorkeling Saturday and I will take the kids to the Bishop museum one day this week. Sunday we went on a submarine reef tour and saw lots of fish and some sharks, sea turtles and eels. We went down over 120 feet deep. I think just being on a submarine was cooler than what we actually saw. Colors appear different that deep. My green pants were dark brown and my red purse was dark purple. The kids liked that day b/c we rode a trolley over to the beach and then a big boat out to the sub and then they rode the sub. They thought all three were fun. We went to the zoo again last saturday. it was a kind of rainy day and cory had not been. after that we went to sandy beach. friday i took the kids to the park across the street and had them run around playing things i did when i was a kid like mother may i, red light green light, fruit basket turnover, and just silly races and spinning around until you get so dizzy you fall down. they liked it and it helped work out some of their energy. there are a lot of homeless people here at the parks and on the streets. it's sad and sometimes scary. you'd like to think a park is a good place for kids but here it's also a good place for homeless crazies to hang out. some look on the verge of death. one guy we saw in chinatown the other day may have been dead. it was a dirty and scary area to me. san francisco's chinatown is much better. There are a lot of Japanese people here. They must have money b/c they are always shopping it seems and at expensive stores. Everything is written in Japanese and English. There are Japanese shops and restaurants all over this area especially. They love to stare at my kids. People here can't seem to believe they are all mine. They think i'm babysitting or something. Some tourists i've seen have one or two kids but most I see have none. I can understand though. I'd probably have more fun if it were just Cory and myself 10 years from now but i'm glad we are able to give this opportunity to the kids even if Lidia may be the only one who appreciates it right now. tonight tristan asked why wishes take so long. he said he wished we were back in utah but it was taking too long. I told him it's this Sunday so not too much longer. He said he can't remember what his school looks like. Poor little guy has been pretty grumpy lately. I need to get him to sleep in tomorrow. I don't know if i mentioned it before but when burger king served us the spoiled milk he said,"curse you burger king!" it was so funny. now we say it every time we drive by it. i am not looking forward to the cold weather. the weather here is nice. the kids want snow and christmas and all so they say they are ready for the cold. they are working on their lists to send to santa. my allergies should be better back in utah. they have gotten better here since we haven't gone on a hike or worn leis lately.