Eight Days til....

The tree sniffing party: Even though our Noble didn't fill the house with scent, the house was filled with cheer and I drank my share of nog. Thanks for coming Hankansens and LeGrandes, Amber and Marianne. My Christmas Cards are out of "production" and on to "shipping". Yea! If you didn't get one last year and you read this blog, we should exchange. Send me your address. noramair(at)gmail(dot)com.

I'm done looking on amazon's toy deals. I always overbuy...

Addie sang in the Harmony (school choir) concert last week.

Elf and bucket: Me and the raggedy, still in pj children would straggled to school two days a week, at 7:30am, for practices. Santa was stuck in the '50s. Addie sang and danced. I worked the props and back stage. She got the better end of the deal.

The carpool: Brenden, Jaylynn, Kacee, Addie, Isaac, and Elyse. I'm going to try to post a video to see Addie's jammin' face. All worth it now. Just watch to about the 39 second mark to see the cutest forehead ever.


James Mair and I dated last Saturday night. We started with dinner at Smashburger. $6 and $7 burgers with pricey fries to match. 3*s.

Then onto The Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert, where we did not have tickets. The standby line at the Tabernacle was a place to watch the concert really because no one had gotten in Thursday or Friday. So I (James stayed in line just in case) crossed the street to the Conference Center and while staying on the sidewalk, I begged for tickets by raising my hand and holding up two fingers. My bright white wool coat was very apparent to concert goers crossing from the square with tickets in hand and in about 5 minutes a nice young gentleman handed me 2. I squealed, gave the guy a hug, and dashed to find James.

The seats were smack dab in the the middle on the terrace level. The concert featured Natalie Cole and David McCullough and it was amazing. The first and last numbers, Come, O Come, and Carols in the Air, were show stoppers with unbelievable pageantry (dancers, ballet, bell ringers, & children choir). And the choir...wonderful. Natalie Cole sang the Holly and the Ivy and it's been in my head for 5 days now. I want to go again next year. But the begging is the only sure way to get tickets.

And here is an upgraded tradition. Last year we had 1 chocolate count down calender that Addie and Ben split every night. This year everyone has their own. And some nights, we forget, which leaves two for the next night.

I'm heading to 3 parties in the next 4 days. Christmas is here.

This is it folks.

The Baby was born.

Open House Invite

We got our tree tonight and it smells wonderful. To celebrate the smell and the impending snow storm, you're invited over for a cookie and a sniff. The floors will probably not be clean but I bought nog and Addie is going to help the little ones with a craft. 6-8pm December 8th. Come come come.

Hiking and Water Fun Hawaii Part 3 (can you stand one more?)

On our first full day we ended up doing about a 4 hour hike [Kalalau] along the mountainous coast of Na Pali. It was tough one but we were rewarded with the amazing beach, Hanakapiai. Worth it, ohh, my finger.... We rented a kayak for a day on the Wailua River. The water was slow and brown but the experience was tropical and relaxing. We paddled and then hiked...to secret Falls, which apparently is not really a secret. Can you see James waving? We swam around behind it and I felt adventerous. We also saw a wild pig and her piglets. This face is the the reason I love James Mair. He's hilarious. We went to this huge beach (Polihale State Park) to watch the sun set and possibly swim. A storm rolled in just as we did. The sun set was still pretty despite the grains of sand needling our legs. We did not swim.Dinner at a very overpriced "Brick Oven". Nothing like the Provo's Brick Oven but we were starving and we at the whole thing!
Hiking on the Na Pali "fingers", the big ridges that go out to sea.
This is Ke'e beach on our last night, the most calm and beautiful place in Hawaii. We swam, ate a wrap from Hot Mamma's, spied a turtle head popping out of the water, and watched the sun sink. It was heaven. James is trying not to laugh...but I insisted on the picture because the lighting was good.