Christmas Card

Merry Christmas!

Sam has been busy working, but is enjoying the life of having paid vacation days working for the Government. He checks the ski report frequently and has already skiied 3 times in Colorado this season, and has plans for many more. He has passed on his love for skiing to Rachel and thankfully she has his skills as well, (though she has the cold tolerance of her mom).

I am still working as the editor of a small magazine but I have been enjoying making plans to go back to school to get a Masters or a Doctorate. My free time is spent researching different careers. The list varies tremendously, but it all makes sense in my head. My goal is to be able to find a job with part-time opportunities that are still paid well (unlike the what I have been able to find part-time with my bachelors). Currently in the running, physical therapy, Pharmacy, optometry. I plan to observe some of these jobs in January and hopefully that will give me some direction. (however, any info on moms you know who are able to make these careers work would be appreciated).

Rachel is enjoying 1st grade and has impressively learned how to say the Pledge of Allegiance and sing Mary had a little Lamb all in Navajo. We love making her repeat it, but she gets shy and will only do it if you give her a dollar :-) But it is worth it. She is constantly doing art projects, playing with all of her "pets" (all battery operated), and insists on wearing skirts and dresses even when it is below freezing.

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Consider this your Christmas card from us. Despite the fact that we took this photo at a wedding at the begining of November...I still didn't get them mailed. And in trying to decide if I should try sending them out late...I felt like friends and family are already up to date on our lives and have seen current pictures via our blog-(wondering if this negates the traditional Christmas Card.) I'll add this to my list of things I am going to try and improve on next year:

• Get Christmas cards ready at the beginning of November, and addressed by the first week of December
• Have everyone in the family write a Christmas list by November (or have an ongoing list throughout the year)
• Plan out the special holiday events and put them on the advent calendar for the days we will actually do them to ensure there is some follow-through (look at holiday lights, make gingerbread houses, make cookies, shop, do Christmas Angel, etc)
• Buy toy gifts before Thanksgiving weekend-to avoid stalking stores for sold out items

Back from Hawaii

We just got back from visiting Hawaii for a week. It was our first time there and we had the perfect mix of fun and relaxation. One of Sam's good friends lives there so we decided it was finally time to mooch off of them.

We took a lot of pictures...here are the highlights.

Watched a lot of Surfing -it just so happened that some of the Big Wave competitions were going on and it was amazing to watch.--Many waves were around 30 feet high, and I am sure many were even higher.

Did a little surfing of our own apparently the longer and the wider the board the easier it is to learn how to surf..so somehow I ended up with this ginormous board--but I did catch a wave and was able to stand up--so I guess it served it's purpose. My arms were very tired, and I gained an even bigger appreciation for the surfers in the big wave competition.

Watched Many Sunsets

Went on a hike through the jungle to a waterfall.

We did this right after we got off the plane (with only a brief stop for some lunch) For the record--what we thought would be a 2 hour hike turned into a 4 hour hike, which is a long way to go in flip-flips (the suggested footwear since it was muddy) and realized after the fact that mosquito repellant would have been a great idea.

Saw Dolphins

Kayaked out to a little island....then kayaked even further (which we later regretted on the return trip back to dry land).

Went to a movie For the record, this was Sam and Rachel's idea, I gave them a hard time for choosing to go at noon and wasting sunshine in Hawaii--I was not suprised that we were the only 3 people there. In their defense, going to a movie is not something we can do any day of the week--and I guess that is what a vacation is all about.

I did get to finally go see New Moon, (but for the record, Wendi and I snuck out to see it at 9:30pm :)