Whirlwind of a Week

WOW! This one word wraps up the last week or so of our lives...Our trip to Hawaii was more than awesome! We found ourselves exclaiming "WOW!" on more than one occasion. Take a look at this seldomly occurring waterspout that took place during a storm last Sunday morning while we were in Kona, HI. That yacht in the left hand corner of the picture was about 1 mile from our condo on the beach! (Luckily, we were en route to another destination spot on the island at the time!)

And that was just ONE of the amazing "WOW's" from our trip! (Someone else took this picture, but I will be posting some pictures very soon as I am trying to learn to download the pics from the new camera I got for Christmas right before we left for The Big Island.) We arrived back home on Wednesday afternoon and things have been nothing short of a whirlwind around here! We hosted Christmas Eve dinner with Jan's family, then Santa came the next morning! (Pictures later!:-)) Then it was on to my mom's for Christmas that night and another bunch of Jan's family at our house tonight! Tomorrow will mark the end of our Christmas celebrations with family as we have two more gatherings to attend! WHEW! I love this time of year eventhough it does make for some fussy little people with schedules thrown off and bed times pushed back...way, way back! Nevertheless, I hope everyone had the merriest Christmas ever and that you have the happiest of new years in 2010!

Love,

Nicole

The Night Before Christmas AND...

Oh, the anticipation of the night before Christmas! John Owen has asked me twice TODAY how many days there are until Christmas. I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas Eve as they put out the reindeer food and Santa snacks! And then to see the reactions to Christmas morning...I just can't wait!

And just like their anticipation of Christmas, we, too, are anticipating something GREAT!  But tonight, our anticipation is for something a little different than what Christmas Day brings...
We can't believe it, but it's the night before we are scheduled to leave for our trip! Our 10 year anniversary trip, that is! In the morning, we'll set off for Hawaii! ALOHA!

I have been as busy as ever trying to get everything ready for Christmas WELL AHEAD of time because I knew Dec. 17th would be here before I could turn around! All the presents have been wrapped, teacher gifts have been delivered, Christmas cards are out, bags are packed, Fa La La La La-La La La La! :-)

I am truly excited about this trip to Hawaii with my husband, but I will be honest that the excitement is also coupled with a sinking feeling in my stomach due the fact that I have never been this far away from my children and never away from them for this length of time. 2 or 3 days is the most I've ever been away from the boys...when I was pregnant with Mary Claire! And I've BARELY ever been away from her since she was born! I have kept my tears to myself for the last few days, but my poor best friend had to witness the tears this afternoon when we talked of things that I didn't want to vocalize, but had to be discussed when leaving your children in the care of others. (Maybe strangers will wonder if I'm NUTS when they see tears in my eyes at the airport or maybe they'll understand because they, too, have felt this feeling...?)

Despite terribly missing our children, I know we will enjoy ourselves and the much needed rest and relaxation and time together. And I can say with all honesty that we will be waiting with anticipation at the sight of these 3 little people's faces at the airport next week when we return home!

And then their anticipation of Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas!