Wow, can't believe it has been well over a month since I have slowed down to blog. Nothing like the holidays to COMPLETELY throw off your routines! We had a great time meeting the kids in Hawaii for the week of Christmas, then enjoyed another two weeks in Dallas/OKC.
The weather in Hawaii was perfect. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and it was a huge complex that had restaurants, shops, excursions, etc. all in one place. The sandy beach was never too crowded, and that is where we ended up a lot of the week. Pearl Harbor was the only excursion we all took together and it was very sobering, as those of you who have been there before know. Jeff, Brooks and Aimee went deep sea fishing and a couple of fish were caught, after some struggling:) We went to Hanauma Bay to snorkel one morning and got to see a BEAUTIFUL sunrise. The water was pretty cold (at least for a wimp like me) so we waited until the sun was higher in the sky to jump in.
The hotel offers a Luau, so one evening we all went to that. The food buffet was extensive and delicious, and the entertainment was all native to the islands and fun to watch. Ruby, Aimee and I had taken a "Lei making class" earlier in the day and wore our finished products. (FYI: you just string flowers with a needle and thread and tie it off. Yes, Jeff made fun of us needing a "class" for this.)
The four kids hung out at night long after Jeff and I retired! They are all so busy back home that it was nice to see them have some uninterrupted time together. We all seemed to end up together in the evening for dinner and a lot of days for lunch. And of COURSE we ran into them at Starbucks throughout the day (They had two Starbucks on the property--yes!) Christmas Eve we ate at Benihana and it was a blast. The food was terrific and it is so fun watching the chef prepare it for you.
When we got back to Dallas we made our way to OKC and had really good visits with all of our extended family. The final week we were back in Dallas and Jeff worked while I did MORE visiting. We got to spend more time with the kids as their schedules would allow. It was COLD and we did not like that part of it--our blood has become so thin since living here.
By the time we made it back to Malaysia we had been gone 24 nights. It was actually good to get back in our own bed and our own routines. At least until our NEXT trip.
