Hawaiian Thanksgiving

This year we went to Maui for Thanksgiving with Jer's family. It was a much needed vacation for us because it's been such a stressful year.

I almost wished we hadn't gone at the beginning of the trip because of how rough the trip to get there was. Our flight to San Francisco was delayed, then when we got there, our flight was delayed, then delayed again, then delayed again, then they had to switch out planes so it was delayed again. We were in that airport at that gate for about 8 hours I think. Because of all the delays, we missed our next flight out of Honolulu to Maui, so after the 6 + hour flight out of San Fran (Ella had a REALLY rough time, meaning we didn't really sleep on that flight-yes, ours was the crying baby on the long airplane ride-though Jer slept through most of it, lucky for him), we got to hang out in the Honolulu airport (which was basically closed since it was the middle of the night) for another few hours before we could re-check-in and fly to our final destination. I felt so bad for Ella, she was SO SO tired, and so out of her element in all these new, unknown places; on top of that she had a grouchy mom who was trying to take care of her the best she could under the circumstances.

Anyway, I hate to complain, I mean we were going to Hawaii, so we should have been happier. I kept thinking that, but it was hard when all I could think was-we wouldn't be having these problems if we were home.

We FINALLY made it to our destination, packed in the rentals and headed to the Marriott Ocean Club. After bathing the baby, ourselves, and settling in, we took a nap that made all the difference. The vacation had *officially* begun.

We spent a lot of time on the beach and the kiddie pool, though Ella wasn't a fan of the ocean. Every time the waves rolled in she'd start to whimper, poor thing. Hopefully the next time she sees the ocean, she'll love it and the beach as much as I do.

We also spent a lot of time in Lahaina enjoying THE BEST shave ice in the world....Ululani's. SO delicious! We got shave ice from there nearly every night. I wish I had a picture of the tastiness.

For Thanksgiving, we went to a Luau. It was fun, but I missed the traditional food and pies.

Every time we went anywhere, people would see Ella and smile. I swear she brought so much happiness to people. We didn't go a day without someone saying something to us about how adorable she is. A group of people who were about to leave a restaurant we were at had to stop and tell us how cute she is and that they couldn't leave without telling us what a cute, sweet baby we had. At the luau, there was a man sitting across the way from us and he kept talking to Ella. He was obviously a little tipsy, so it was kind of funny to watch him make faces at her. One of Ella's cousins, Jonah, is so protective of her that he was a little upset that this guy was talking to her. At the end of the luau, the man came over to say goodbye to her, and after he left, Jonah came over a little perturbed. He asked if it bugged us when people talked to her, I told him no and that it was nice to hear that she was cute from other people. He said, "Of course she's cute, we don't need other people to come tell us that!".

We ate a lot of good food, had a lot of good family time, and relaxed quite a bit. It was a much-needed vacation.

Our trip back was uneventful and it was very nice to be back home.
We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!
Now onto Christmas, hopefully we'll be able to start some fun traditions now that we have Ella!

Car Accident, Thanksgiving, Gingerbread Houses, and Disneyland

A lot has been happening since my last post, and since I've been slacking I'm squishing it all into one post. Sorry it's gonna be a super long one!

First, the car accident which happened about 3 1/2 weeks ago. Luckily I wasn't in it and luckily Jer wasn't hurt, and luckily it was the blue car, which is paid off and not as nice as our other car. He was on the freeway, traffic was bad and he had stopped. A semi (without a load) didn't slow down fast enough and ran into him, pushing him into the suv in front of him. The semi driver didn't want Jer to call the police and said we could just take care of the damage on our own-yeah right! I was a mess when he called to tell me what happened. Crazily enough, he was able to drive the car home. The other insurance was ridiculous and slow about everything (of course). We finally found out where to take the car, and the day after Thanksgiving we were planning on taking it in, but it wouldn't start-we're assuming the battery died because the trunk can't latch anymore. We were going to jump-start it, but the hood was too crunched to have access to the battery. Long story short, the car was towed last Monday and we FINALLY got a rental car. Right after we landed in California for our trip just 2 days after getting the rental, Jer checked his messages to find out that our insurance has decided the car is totalled. So, we're planning on trying to be a 1 car household. It'll be tough sometimes, but won't be too bad, especially since Jer carpools most days to work.

Amidst the car drama, we had a great Thanksgiving with my family. After making yams my very first time, I've been appointed to the yams every year we're with my family....hopefully my beginner's luck will hold out. The Sunday after Thanksgiving we had our usual family dinner with Jer's family and decorated gingerbread houses. Jer and I shared one, and although it's not perfect, I think it still turned out cute-ish. Here's the before and after shots:











Now for Disneyland. I've never been there during the holiday season and it's SO pretty and extra magical there with all the decorations and lights! I loved it. When we got home I was kind of sad because besides the gingerbread house, we haven't decorated yet!
We flew into Long Beach Wed night and got to the hotel, which was within walking distance of Disneyland! We could even hear the fireworks going shortly after we settled into our room.
Our first day we split between California Adventure and Disneyland, the 2nd day we were in Disneyland all day, and our last day we split again. I think my favorite rides (that I was able to actually go on) were the interactive ones-the Toy Story 2 Midway Games in California Adventure and the Buzz Lightyear ride in Disneyland. I was a little disappointed I couldn't go on a lot of the rides, but it was still a really fun trip, and at least I didn't have to stay off the rides alone since Jer's mom doesn't like a lot of the 'scarier' rides and one of my sisters-in-law is pregnant too.


This is a video of some of the fireworks, I think it was my favorite section because of how they choreographed them to the Nutcracker Suite...


We had so much fun in Disneyland and just got back yesterday in the early afternoon. I think I'll need a few days to recover though, I don't think my poor feet and hips will ever be the same, I'm still super exhausted from it all!

For your viewing pleasure, here's a better picture of my pregnant belly when I was about 22 1/2 weeks since you can't really see it too well in the other pics....