Christmas Day 2009

We had a great Christmas in California with all the family. I took so many pictures, but here are just a few of Christmas Day (with a couple of "befores" thrown in). Hope everyone had a very, very Merry Christmas and a wonderful Holiday Season

Our "Grand" tree & crunch making

We've been busy since we got here with fun Christmas jobs. I had the kids make some crunch mix to give out to our neighbors here. It was fun because Lauren could eat as much as she wanted!

The night after we got here we had all three kids do our tree here. There was much talk about it being a "fake" tree and why we had one like that. This was very serious business for all of them.
Grey had it all figured out

Lauren with the same bell from Polar Express (thanks to the Gardners, 1983)

we have a lot of ornaments all clusters together, where little hands can reach

the night ended with watching "Polar Express" (this was Grey's first time...think he liked it).


Jack looked like a snowman, after playing outside

Haleiwa Christmas Parade

Haleiwa, like most other Hawaiian cities has a Christmas Parade. We've gone since we've lived here. We both thought that this year seemed like there were more people. We got hamburgers at Kua Aina, borrowed some of their chairs and sat out front and watched the parade. It reminds us of the way the San Juan Capistrano "Swallows Day" parade used to be...very local, fun, not too long and a real social event. the sun had just gone down. All of Haleiwa is decorated for Christmas.
Our neighbor Brinn

too bad we don't have the bun over here, we could drive it in the parade!

every local group is in the parade

the group from Camp Erdman

part of the Aweoaweo Beach Ohana

a friend from church, pulling a big float

Mahalo Haleiwa!

Eddie Went...different view

I know that everyone has seen all the videos of the actual contest, the Eddie. We watched it here at home on our tv (thanks Oceanic!!!). Very early (6:00am) I took a drive up to Waimea. On the radio, they still weren't sure it was going to go. Amazing sight. Cars were parked all the way down by Chun's and people were walking and biking up to Waimea. That's far!

Compared to the day before when it was grey, overcast and stormy, yesterday from the hint of sunrise looked like it was going to be a great one.

I took some video with my camera of the crowd on the cliff above the bay. More amazing than the beach crowd. People had camped there all night! They did have the best seats that's for sure. So here are 2 short videos of the crowd on the cliff~just to give you an idea of the other view you didn't see. BTW, it took my friend 2 hours to get home in Haleiwa from Sunset school .

The top one is actually when I was heading back into Haleiwa to go to school and the contest had started. You can hear the helicopter in the backgroud.

BigWaves, but no Eddie

Well "the Eddie" didn't go today~ but there were some HUGE waves over here! If it goes tomorrow it will be the first time in 25 years. C-r-a-z-y!

Just some shots from today.

Haleiwa Beach Park this afternoon

looking back up the Waimea hill towards 3 Tables Wall-To-Wall traffic and people on side roadside


the scaffolding ready for the Eddie

some friends of ours from church had the right idea~sell water to all the people that had walked so far to see the surf!

civil defense workers just waiting and watching

Laniakea (Turtle Beach) where the water washed over the road

Oh, Really!!!!!

Big Surf~ Day 1, Second Swell, con't

a few more pics from Saturday

today is the BIG one!

sounds like a constant freight train all night!Oh, Really?!

spectators at Waimea

Sharks Cove

Laie Point

Waiamea, it was crazy with all the peopleopposite side of The Bay (see the church) Iliohou Street

Same spot

Wish you could appreciate just how big this stuff is! It really is something to see! The sound, the mist, the power!

Big Surf~ Day 1, Second Swell

Hubby and I took a ride around to the east side today to see the big surf. This is a short video I took at Sunset Beach. The contest wasn't on because the surf was TOO big and out of control. As you can see, the waves were starting to undermine the scaffolding... They have to run the contest tomorrow, last day of the waiting period and they're out of time. More pics to follow.

Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say...

A couple of days after Thanksgiving we got all of our Christmas stuff out. I think we might be the only people on our street that have it up...strange. One of the things we've noticed here in Hawaii is how "into" Christmas they are. We love it. Every city has a Christmas parade, or something going on. The craft fairs start in Nov. and continue for a couple more weeks. All the military bases have up decorations, the shops are decorated (even the smallest ones), a radio station started with the Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving, the City & County of Honolulu has their big "Honolulu City Lights" celebration where all of downtown Honolulu is decorated with lights and the list goes on...

My Santa collection, only a very, very, very small part of them. I took some to CA to decorate the MH there. These all part of the Tropical looking ones. Except for the one in the very, very middle, he's my most cherished one because he's the only thing I have from my childhood. I have very early memories of him.

I found our tree the very first year we lived here. It's tall and s-k-i-n-n-y, perfect for our little house. Some people here buy real trees, but since we're gone for part of the holidays, it just doesn't make any sense to have a real tree that would dry out and then we'd be worried about it while we were gone. So this tree is just right!

...on a bright Hawaiian Christmas day!

(fyi~ there doesn't seem to be any of the mainland controversey over "holiday" or "Christmas" here...it's all Christmas. Must be a mainland thing.)

GO BIG RED!

Tonight is the Hawai'i State High School football championship. It's going to be a great game...,Kahuku Red Raiders against Kamehameha Warriors. Kahuku actually has an undefeated season. So today I was on the east side, and as I was going along the road all the way from Kahuku to past Hauula, the road was lined with banners, homemade signs and people. Everyone waiting for the bus to go past with the players on their way to Aloha Stadium.

High school sports are huge here, everyone loves a good rivalry!

H3

Last night on my quest for the elusive Zuh Zuh, I went over to Waimanalo. The easiest/fastest way was over the H3. This is the freeway that goes from around Aloha Stadium to Kaneohe and Kailua. Like the Pali Hiway and LikeLike, it goes through the Koolaus. The H3 is different because it's longer and it's actually elevated (see above photos).

When I went over, it was still light and it's such a pretty drive with a breath-taking view of Kaneohe Bay when you come through the tunnel to the windward side. Coming home was a whole different story! There was a really full moon, clear skies, not too much traffic, but...DARK. There are so many stories about this road and why it took so long to build.

All I could think about as I drove through the tunnel and down the road towards home was, just don't let my car stall, or somebody run into the road. Needless to say, I was glad when I got to to the traffic on the H1.

Next time, I think I'll just stick to going over there in the daylight.