UNCLE

My brother Ryan came for a quick visit after finding a really good deal to Hawaii. The boys loved having him around. Dylan, instead of saying Uncle Ryan, would just say Uncle. It sounded so sweet and definitely the Hawaiian way.

Ward Christmas Party

We were quite tired after having to get up at 4 AM for our 7 AM flight back to Hawaii from California, but we needed to go to our wards Christmas Party. Plus I had volunteered to bake a turkey so we had to go. After arriving, I found out that Jordan was supposed to be a wise man for the program that evening. I told Jordan and assumed that they would have stuff for him to wear since this was the first I heard of it. Well, the program started and Jordan was the only one not wearing any kind of costume at all. If I hadn't been told he was being a wise man that night there is no way I would have known. I don't think he cared though.
Brendan is still nervous about seeing Santa but was willing to stand next to him for a picture. When Santa asked Dylan what he wanted to Christmas Dylan said "candy." He probably said that since Santa was sitting there holding a bag of candy to give him, but if that is all he is expecting for Christmas he is going to have a great one.

California Vacation

After thinking about going to Disneyland for about a year, we finally decided to just book our vacation and go. We all had a great time and were excited to have Jeff and Kelly's family with us.

Our trip started out with a two hour delay with an additional hour delay as we waited for our luggage to arrive at LAX. The delay in baggage caused one passenger to scream obscenities and kick the conveyor belt as hard as he could. He even yelled at Jordan, who was sitting on the edge of the conveyor belt while he rested his hand on the belt, to get off. Jordan turned around and looked at him and then turned back around and stuck his hand back on the belt. He was then called an idiot but it didn't seem to bother Jordan who was already used to this man's ranting and raving. The man later apologized to everyone letting us know his mother just died but then went on yelling and kicking until his luggage arrived. Someone finally called the cops and 1 then 2 then 20 cops come running down the hall for this one man who you actually just have to feel sorry for. After all was said and done our non red-eye flight ended up getting us in our hotel bed at around 4 AM. So much for a good nights sleep.

Our next three days were spent between Disneyland and California Adventure. Dylan's favorite ride was Winnie the Pooh. It was funny because we thought he was still too little to ride the big rides so we rotated going on them. Later we found out he was big enough to go on most of them. The first big ride we put him on was the Tower of Terror. He got off the ride and told Rich "I'm mad". He didn't know what he was getting into and was mad that he got tricked into going on it. He did wish he could go on everything though and after eating lunch he would tell me that he was bigger and wanted to measure himself. Jordan loved most of the rides but was like his Dad in complaining endlessly about having to go on It's a Small World.
Brendan has always been more scared about going on some of the rides, especially Tower of Terror. He wouldn't go on it but would go on the Maliboomer which to me is much worse. He got more and more brave and by the end of the three days he was riding the Tower of Terror.
On our fourth day we drove to Sea World. It was a cloudy, cold day. Let's just say we were freezing. (Maybe we are just used to our 85 degree weather.) We still had a good time and really enjoyed seeing the shows and feeding the dolphins.

While we were gone, Maui had a huge storm that caused flooding, 2 to 3 day power outages, schools closing, a few houses to be washed away, left some areas without water, roads closed, trees down, and beaches closed. We heard stories of customers getting walked around Safeway with a flashlight and an employee writing down what the customer got and rounded the total to the nearest dollar. We missed all the excitement, but on the upside the boys only missed one day of school instead of four and we had electricity. When we got back it was pretty much back to normal but some of the beaches were still closed. What a great reminder to be prepared.

Green Belt

Jordan tested for Low Green belt yesterday. He was so close to getting his High Green belt that his instructor told him when he finishes learning his last form she will "tip" him. Usually you would have to test again to get the High Green belt so he is really lucky to be able to get it without testing again.

Testing is a long process. He has to do many forms, demonstrate self-defense techniques, break boards, and answer test questions. He had to break four boards yesterday with different kicks. Here he is doing a flying side kick. It is such a cool kick.

Rare post from Rich

Aloha everyone. Just thought I'd share a few youtube gems with all yall.

The 70's were a time of great music, and music videos. Enjoy

One for the cheerleaders in all of us:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA5GkLM5C7M

One for the Guys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEV6K4bZX-o&feature=related

Treat your mother right!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdtEgfyoTxA

Mom's Apple Pie

We had a holiday recipe exchange night for Enrichment on Thursday. When I was thinking about what dish I could make that reminded me of the holidays, my first thought was pistachio pudding dessert. After much debate I decided to make the classic apple pie and save the pistachio dessert for another night. My mom shared this recipe with me after I had a family of my own. I usually just make it during the holidays but I should really try to make it more often because it is one of our families favorites.

Apple Pie

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

sliced apples (use about 4 apples)

Mix

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

4 Tbsp. butter

Mix until crumbly

Add apple mixture to pie crust. Sprinkle with crumb mixture. Bake for 40-50 min at 350.

I recently learned this tip:

Lightly beat 1 egg white, then brush it over the inside of uncooked pie shell before adding fruit mixture. Will keep crust from getting soggy.

Halloween Day

We had a fun Halloween Day dressing up and walking around the neighborhood.

Dylan liked to call himself a doctor and show people the Dr. James printed on his shirt, but he did not like wearing the face mask I got for him from my Dentist. He wore it for the pictures and then never wore it again. Oh well.

This is Jordan's costume he wore on Halloween night. He just put together a few things he found in our Halloween costume bin. He was a cool vampire, basketball player (with size 19 shoes courtesy of Reuben) with skeleton gloves. He wore the sunglasses all night while trick-or-treating. The things you will do for a cool costume.

Brendan is our knight in shining armor. Because I already had to get costumes for Historical Halloween I did not want to buy new costumes for Halloween night. Jordan was a knight a few years ago so I already had this costume and was glad Brendan chose to wear it.

After trick-or-treating around our circle Jordan and Brendan ran into some friends from school. Dylan had plenty of candy so I walked him home and Jordan and Brendan continued to another circle with their friends. Richard stayed home while we were trick-or-treating and we had so many trick-or-treaters at our house that Richard, after giving away all the candy that I had bought, had to give away all the candy the boys had gotten from trunk-or-treating at the church. When Dyan and I had gotten home there was almost nothing left of our candy so we dipped into Dylan's stash as we had more trick-or-treaters. Dylan loved giving the candy out and decided to just sit there on the stairs waiting to give out more candy (one of the nice things about living in Hawaii, it is warm enough to sit outside). As he sat there he would yell out Happy Halloween to people walking by.