It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I absolutely love this time of year. Everything about it (except the weight gain from all the delicious treats). Holidays are so much more fun with kids who get excited about everything. Every party, event, dinner, etc the kids have so much fun. 

First was a party for the kids put on by Curtis' work. Face painting, crafts, letters to Santa, lunch, etc. They made a chain to count down the days till Christmas and I had no idea it would be what Brooke looked forward to doing every morning: count the chains, take one off! 

And a special visit from..... Sketchy Santa Wannabe. The kiddos didn't even say anything about it. 

I had to document their first letters to Santa. Spencer's letter cracked me up. He was eating his lunch at the time and just kept answering each question with "to eat my hot dog" so I had to add that. 

 Branch Christmas party was A Night in Bethlehem. Of course Brooke and Spence couldn't wait to dress up as Mary and Joseph. We sat on the floor and ate a simple meal and then watched a portrayal of Luke 2. It was a great activity. 

Another day was Tinsel Town. A little fair type thing on base with performers, games, vendors, and....SNOW! Yep, kids didn't even know what to do with it. Brooke didn't want anything to do with it until we got home and she said "I wish I would have played in the snow". The first pic shows the snow machine blowing snow everyone. When living on a tropical island, you gotta do what you gotta do. The kids rode their bikes there and on the way Brooke was telling me about her favorite places; California, Utah and Tinseltown. I asked her if she even knew what Tinseltown- of course not! 

 PHOTO OP!

I love the Sunday before Christmas. Curtis gave a great talk and I got to participate in the branch choir musical numbers. Brooklyn is wearing a special dress from Cassie and Spencer actually fit in that sweater that he wore last year as well! 

Yep, I did it. Officially Scuba Certified. I may or may not have been terrified to do this. We will call it putting a large deposit into the marriage account. Curtis is so happy that I can now go with him. I am just happy I didn't die getting out of the water. It was a bit rough the first couple times and I promised myself I won't get in if there are waves because getting out is too scary. 

Curtis has a week off for Christmas so we are exploring more of the island. Today we went to the Ryukyu Mura- a little Okinawa village. 

This little stinker wouldn't look for even one picture. 

The kids enjoyed watching the water buffalo work the sugar cane press

Poor guy being pulled around by his nose.

The dancing Shisa dog. Would you believe OUR kids were terrified of the guys in costume? Yep, he came close to us and kids freaked out. Maybe one day they won't be afraid of everything! 

Random: I just love the signs here.

Last adventure for the week Curtis had off- Pineapple Park.

We rode around in an automatic car and took a tour of the grounds. We watched a little show of the dancing pineapples. pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pineapple! The song can really get stuck in your head. 

Then a stop at the "best hamburgers on island" at Captain Kangaroos. They were pretty good. It was kind of fun to sit in big recliner chairs while having lunch. 

And finally..... Christmas morning!!!!

The kids were super excited. For the past few months Brooke had been asking for Princess and either ponies or mermaids. Spencer wanted bad guys. I think they were happy with their gifts. They played and entertained themselves literally all day long. Unfortunately Daddy had the camera all morning so we didn't get any pics of him.  Holidays really are so much better when you can share they with your children. 

PS- my kids seriously crack me up- I just love them so much!

Spencer's Birthday, Halloween, and Other Things

Shortly before Halloween we did a spooky spin class on a Friday night at the gym. Curtis and I went with these lovely ladies for a great workout. 

This boy is 3 YEARS OLD! He was so excited for his birthday. Every time you asked him what kind of a birthday he wanted, he would say something different.... batman, spiderman, avengers, cars, etc. His friend party didn't really happen because of a conflict, but we combined a Halloween party with his birthday. 

Spencer loves to play pretend. He can sit and entertain himself playing with "guys" or the playhouse and be completely content. He talks really well and we understand probably 95% of what he says. He still sucks his thumb and wears diapers, but we are working on both. Spence loves to ride bikes and play on the playground. For a short time he started stuttering every time he talked. Then it kind of went away except when he talked to others. He was very self conscious about saying "thank you" while trick or treating because he would get nervous and stutter. He loves to play with Brookie and I am not sure what he will do in a year when she goes to Kindergarten all day. 

Halloween/birthday part with the Lovells, Daltons, Oblads, and Lows. 

These kids were so excited for Halloween they would dress up multiple times before the actual day to practice trick or treating. By the time halloween came, they had worn all the costumes in the dress up box multiple times. 

The day before his birthday we went out to eat at Arashi's. Fried rice and ramen. It was ok, but not our favorite. 

Traditional pumpkin carving/painting. They only last about 2 days if you carve them here so we enjoy painting. I would say much less mess, but Spencer may beg to differ. 

Brooklyn didn't think she could be the same thing twice so each time she dressed up she was something different, all 5 times. Not sure where all the camera shyness is coming from here. 

 Ward Halloween Trunk-or-treat. It was 3 wards combined and there were so many people there. I handed out 250 glow sticks and then had to shut the car because the kids were still coming. The Japanese don't really celebrate Halloween, but who wouldn't want to take part in free candy. Some of the children will even give you something back when you give them candy. The base allows them to enter and they come in by the bus load. I think on Halloween we easily handed out 150 pieces of candy in 1 hour and then shut the lights off. 

Right before Trick-or-treating. I think the kids had more fun passing out the candy at the door than actually collecting it. 

Curtis has really enjoyed scuba diving lately. He is nice enough to go either early in the morning or late in the evening. Here are just a few of his pics. 

One last random thing: We try to work out a few times a week and these are our workout buddies. Yes, that is my friend who is 24 weeks pregnant and she still beats me up the hill. I love that the kids are such good friends and that they enjoy getting out of the stroller to get a little workout as well.