Mele Kalikimaka

No, we definitely weren't in Hawaii for Christmas, but I found that song stuck in my head a lot over our Christmas break... probably because we spent lots of time at the beach in short sleeves and sunshine. It was a fabulous trip to LA and we loved being with family in the warm weather. The only downside? We all passed around the flu (why does that ALWAYS happen on Christmas?) and that was no fun. Luckily Michael and Matthew seem to have avoided it, but most people (including me) spent a good portion of Christmas and the couple days following sicker than a dog. Still- the trip was awesome and I'm thrilled that we went and had such a good time.

Matthew's first time to the beach.....


He loved his feet in the sand......


......but HATED his feet in the water. Can't really blame him I guess- the Pacific Ocean in December doesn't exactly feel like a warm bath.... ;-)


Christmas Eve at the temple.... I did this every year growing up and I'm glad I got to show Michael and Matthew a bit of our old traditions- especially since Matthew loves lights.


And Christmas morning was a blast. I didn't expect Matthew to be very interested in anything that was going on, but he seemed mesmerized by his presents and it was so fun to watch.



With all the grandparents, cousins, aunt, and uncles around, Matthew wasn't bored for a second.


The drive home wasn't as fun.... when Matthew wasn't asleep, he looked like this-

Poor kid hates road trips, like his mom. Hopefully we can brave another one sooner rather than later so we can see family again soon!