Mele Kalikimaka 2009!

Christmas 09 was certainly different from Xmas of the past.  Unable to swing plane tickets back to the mainland, we were stranded in Hawaii by ourselves.  Seems great in theory...but what fun is Christmas without a big family gathering?!  Although Mr A and I certainly made the best of our situation,  my holiday wish is to never have another lonely Christmas!

The only things that kept me going were thoughtful packages of presents sent by family members and friends traveling through Big Island who stopped at our place on Christmas Eve for some holiday cheer (and subsequently stayed for a few more days of said cheer).**  I was also excited about the idea of Skyping while opening the aforementioned presents, but Skype decided not to work on December 24th and I was understandably bummed.

** expect more details on Carrie & Jan's visit later

The show went on and we opened gifts from Oma, Opa and Aunty Beth even though they weren't watching.

Ikaika wasn't terribly interested in picture taking until there was punching involved!

SISTER PRESENT!  Every year, our aunt gets my two sisters and I matching presents.  This year it was a purple Nike hoodie.  I wore it for two days straight and mourned the absence of Beth and Mo!