Christmas in Sin City

We decided to go to Las Vegas (Henderson, really) for Christmas again this year. We spent last Christmas with my family so it was Jeff's turn. We convinced Jeff's parents and a couple of his siblings to meet us down there at Jeff's sister house. Here are some of the highlights.
As some of you know, Our anniversary is the 21st of Dec. That is the day we flew in to Las Vegas and so we didn't really celebrate that day, except the cupcakes Jeff surprised me with. So the next night Jeff's sister watched Jane and we went out to eat and to a movie. I can't believe 4 years has gone by so quickly.
The next night Jeff's parents arrived and we went out to eat at a restaurant we always hit while in Henderson. The next night was Christmas Eve. We had a great dinner with prime rib, garlic mashed, salad and lion house rolls that Jeff's mom maid. Oh and a ton of sparkling cider. So delicious.

We did the gift exchange and the kids opened a few presents and then off to bed. Well I was in bed but others were up for a while. The next morning we got up to open gifts in our stockings. 

Jeff is dressed up because we went to church before the real opening began. 

This is a robe that Jeff got free with his purchase of my perfume. Jane was one the one who really scored. You can see a hat my mom made. She also got presents from Chris's family. The stacking cups are a big hit. Jane was pretty oblivious to most of it and still didn't get the concept of opening the presents but it was fun. 

The next day the two other family joined the festivities. It was fun to have so many there. We had a lot of playing video games, cards and mostly eating. Lots and lots of junk food but also some great dinners as well. 

The family tradition is to play a lot of Dr. Mario. I never really play because I just am really horrible but I am amazed at how good some of the family is. I guess they should be for how many years they have been playing. Even Jeff's parents have recently got into playing and spent a bit of time in front of the game this trip. 

One of the great things about being there was how nice the weather was. We went outside most days and to the park one day. 

Jane had a good time with the cousins and conned most everyone into doing two things constantly.

Yes, walking with her and playing/going up and down the stairs. I think that she lived on those stairs when someone wasn't walking her around. She still doesn't want to walk on her own but now wants me to walk with her constantly. She is getting close, though.
Overall, it was a really fun and relaxing trip. I really have a good time with Jeff's family and feel lucky to have been married into a great family. Thanks everyone again for all the gifts.

Here is one more pic for added cuteness.

Just Jane

So I haven't post in a while. Nothing too eventful has happened so I was thinking about what I could post. Well I thought I would just post about Jane and how super cute she is. She is now 14 almost 15 months. She hasn't started walking (much to Jeff's chagrin). She is really super cautious and likes to take things slow. Here are pics of some of the things she loves.

This is her little corner in the front room. Her toys and books are always scatter around. She loves books.  She will just pull them off one by one and flip through all the pages.

I often wonder why I buy toys. She gets lots of mileage out of things like toilet paper rolls. It was funny because she was crawling with this on her arm. It made her have a limp. So cute.

She does love food but now the challenge is to figure out how she wants to eat it. Does she want to do it herself or have you feed her or cut up on her try or the funnest is when she wants me to hold her while I am feeding her.

We just love to hear her laugh so here is another laughing video. Sorry it is turned the wrong way at first.  I have some toy grapes and am spitting them out of my mouth.

There are two new things that Jane has started in the last week or so. One of them is dancing when music comes on. It is funny how this seems instinctual because Jeff and I don't really dance. The other thing she is doing is putting phones up to her or our ears.
Oh one more thing (you know I could go on for days about her). You know how when you go to costco and they put your food in a box. Well we usually have one or two of those sitting around and they have become a favorite play toy for her. If she is not sitting in them then she is pushing them around like a walker. I often put her in them too and push her around.

I know it seems like Jane spends all of her time in her pajamas (don't judge me). I am of the mind that if we aren't going anywhere why get dressed. Saves on the laundry :)

The last of Hawaii

I almost forgot that there was a little more of the trip to tell about. On Wednesday evening we flew to Oahu. We stayed in a hotel in Honolulu that was just blocks from Waikiki beach. On Thursday morning Jeff, Jane and I went for a walk and ended up having breakfast pretty much right on the beach.

I thought we had pictures of the food we ate there because it was so delicious. Jeff had macadamia and banana pancakes and I had pineapple and coconut pancakes. The best part was the coconut syrup they had with them. So excellent.
Tom flew in that afternoon and we headed to the north shore to go to the beach. It was kind of a cloudy day so it wasn't that great for beach time but we had fun. On the way back to Honolulu we stopped at the Dole plantation.

This tree is really cool. Look at those colors. They are naturally occurring. Crazy.

We got the pineapple ice cream. It was really delicious.
The next day we went up to Laie to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. We first stopped off at temple just to see it.

Then we headed to the PCC. It was really interesting. They had different sections for the different polynesian islands that you could go and learn about them. We then had food there at the buffet. Overall the food was pretty disappointing, in my opinion. There was a show in the evening. That was cool and integrated all of the different cultures into the show. While we were there, Jeff was able to add another instrument to his collection. He bought a Ukulele.

The next day we went to the Pearl Harbor memorial or the USS Arizona. It was really interesting. You could see the boat still on the bottom of the ocean. That boat has the bodies of all of the people who died still in it. They were never able to get them out. Also the boat continues to leak oil which is crazy after all these years.

That morning Tom, Jeff and I went to Waikiki beach to get some final beach time. We ended up taking them boat ride were they catch watch and ride them back to shore. It was really fun and we got an extra ride because Tom dropped his paddle. I didn't get any pictures of it because I got my camera all wet and ruined it. So sad. Luckily, it was just my little point and shoot camera.
We flew out that night. The flight was overnight and luckily Jane slept the whole way. This meant that I didn't get to sleep but it is ok because I crashed when we got home. We had a really good trip. I have to sad that having Jane with us did make it a little harder but I am glad that she came. I am also so glad that Tom was able to join us for the last little bit. And again to thankful for my mom and all her help on the trip. It was a lot of work for her to get there and for them to get back.
Also one more thing. Did anyone notice any change with Jeff over the vacation. See if you can notice.

Here is one from the first day. You might have to click on the picture to look at it bigger and see.

Here is one from the end of the trip.

Who can see what is different? Who is going to win the prize?

More Hawaii

I forgot to say that this first part of our trip we are on the island of Maui. He stayed in a condo in the town of Kihei. It is on the west coast of Maui and is a cute little place. One of the big attractions off of Maui is the Molokini Crater. Lot of of different companies do snorkeling trips out there. We had never been snorkeling before so I guess it was a good place to start but it was really crowded. Even with all of the crowds we got to see quite a few fish and such. The reef there was really pretty too. Something about the crater makes the water there really clear. I can't remember why, but they told us on the boat.

This is the crater. As you can see there are other boats there. I think there were 3 or 4 when we were there.

Jane had a good time on the boat. I had intended to get her in the water but it ended up being kind of cold. We also learned something on this trip and that is that swim diapers do not absorb anything. I thought they were meant to keep stuff out of the water but I guess not. Lesson learned.

My mom actually took a little time to snorkle too. She really loves to do it and it has been a long time since she has been able to.

This is the second spot where they took us. They called it 'Turtle Town'. Don't be fooled by the name because we only saw one turtle and it was right before we got out of the water. So lame.

Me and mom with our gear on. Too bad you can't see us closer because those masks are really flattering.

The next day we went to see the Haleakala crater. We decided on a tour (on the recommendation of Jeff's brother) where we get to go to the top of the crater and then bike down. We don't bike down from the very top but from about half way down. It was pretty up there and the guy who drove the bus told us a lot of interesting information about the crater and Hawaii in general.

It is interesting because you end up being above the cloud line. The cloud go from about 5000 to 8000 or so thousand feet. The top is about 10,000 feet.

You can actually hike down into and across the crater. There are cabins that you can stay in down there.

This is the other side of the mountain looking down to the ocean.

The plant is called the silver sword plant. It is pretty big deal up there as it almost went extinct. They talked about it a lot.

This is a little bit lower than where we actually started. It was a pretty view all of the way down.

The trees here are eucalyptus trees. I could smell them while we were there but Jeff said he couldn't. I guess they are same kind of trees that Vicks uses to get it vaporub stuff. Also if you look at this pic you can see I am wearing flip flops. It was all I brought and I didn't even think about it until I woke up that morning. It worked out okay, though.
It took us about 1 and a half hours to get back to the bike store. I guess we were the first ones there. We did stop a few times and even ate at one stop. It was a cool ride down. The only thing that was annoying was the bikes were fixed gear bikes and so you could only pedal at certain times. I probably could have gone down a little faster if it had gears. Thanks to my mom for watching Jane while we did this.
The next day we went to a town called Lahaina just to walk around and check it out. We were flying to Oahu later in the afternoon.

This is the back of building in old Lahaina. It is a nice are right along the water with a bunch of shops and restaurants and such.

We found this little park are and ate under this banyan tree.
First thing that morning we walked across the street to the rock at the beach. We were told that sometimes you can see turtles coming to feed on the seaweed on the rocks. We didn't see any though.

And yes I do look really tired because it is first thing in the morning and Jane didn't have the best night. That is the jist of our time on Maui. We caught a 5 pm flight to Honolulu this day. We spent the next couple of days there. That is for next time.