Mele Kalikimaka ="Merry Christmas!"
Hope this finds you blog readers (all 10 of you :) doing well and staying warm this Christmas week! We actually have had our own "winter storm" of our own the past few days. We were getting 1-2 inches of rain per hour for about 12 hours. This of rain and flooding makes up a winter storm here. Much more tolerable than the typical -10 degree temps and blowing snow, I must say. I am not complaining about the rain, trust me. It was actually good timing over the weekend, since both Ben and myself stayed busy at work. There is nothing better when you work nights and get to come home to rainy weather. It is the perfect ambiance to fall asleep too.
Speaking of work. Here is a great picture that was painted for the holidays on my hospital floor. When you travel up to 5th floor via elevators, this is what you see at the big steel doors open:
(You cannot say Santa didn't make you smile a little :)
So we have been busy work youth group, work, and small group bible study. Here are a few things we have done the past couple weeks outside of our "normal" routine.
Hiked Makapu Lighthouse trail
Enjoyed a gorgeous day at the beach!
Looked at the Christmas decorations downtown Honolulu
Making Christmas cookies to donate to the less fortunate
They turned out pretty well!
Nothing like a good glass of wine and Christmas cookies!
Christina with her "masterpiece". She was one of the best decorators BY FAR :)
The pastry chefs of the night
Sheena make a hula girl that looked like me :) So cute!
The guys took part as judges in the cookie decorating contest
My penguin (?) creation
As hard as it is to think of not being home for the holidays, we must remember how blessed we are to be here in Hawaii. We have an awesome small group that I cannot say enough about! They are our much needed support during the holiday season. It also doesn't feel like Christmas. The past 20 something years our Christmases have been bundling up in many layers trekking out in the snow. 70 degree weather just isn't the same. But I say again, I am NOT complaining :) So we are making the best of our situation by: enjoying the old school Mariah Carey Christmas Album (more specifically the song, All I want for Christmas), blasting the AC in the car, keeping holiday scented Christmas candles lit every waking minute of the day (thanks mom!) and enjoying the smell of our real (3 foot) Christmas tree. Ahhhh.. LIFE IS GOOD!
We look forward to our upcoming get away to Ko'olina Beach Resort for the Christmas weekend. We decided to take advantage of our holiday weekend off. We look forward to lots of relaxation, good food, and QT ("Quality Time"- a much discussed topic in our small group :) together. Our reservations are made, an excellent Moscato D'asti wine is purchased, our iTunes library is recently updated with Christmas songs, and we are ready for a relaxing get away.
We also look forward to the annual Christmas Eve service at our church. Actually they put on 5 services total on the days of the 23 & 24th. We have heard it is an excellent time of celebration and worship.
But with all these things to look forward to, we must not lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas. The "Christ"in Christmas. For HE is the reason for all this celebration and joy. Not the gifts we get, the get togethers we attend, and holiday treats we eat.
We hope God richly blesses you during this Christmas season!
Janell
P.S. I am in the process of sending out Christmas cards. They are taking much longer than expected to ship to me. At this rate they will arrive to your homes after Christmas. I apologize :)
