Josephine's first Christmas was really nice. She didn't really notice or care very much about the Christmas tree. Maybe next year when she is older she will notice it more. She had fun opening her gifts with our help. Of our three kids, Buddy, Louie and Josephine, Buddy is by far the best gift opener. He likes to tear open his Christmas presents. Buddy and Louie got a giant blue carrot toy with a rope on one end. They chewed it up that morning, but had a great time with it. Josephine liked to put the paper and the ribbons in her mouth. She was in a good mood and a wonderful time the whole day. We went to Bob and Beryl's for Christmas dinner. They had a full house of guests including Beryl's daughter Sarah. Sarah loves J almost as much as Beryl so it was nice to have other people play with her and hold her. On Christmas eve, Mike and Crystal had a party. They dug an imu and roasted an pig. It was enjoyable until poor J threw up on me. I had her in the front carrier with her facing me. Both J and I were a mess. We left very quickly. We still don't know why she was sick. It freaked me out. I drove home at the speed of light. J slept and when she woke up at home, she seemed fine. So our Christmas day was much better than the night before.

     I started this newsletter a little backwards. Let's go back to the beginning of the month. The start of the month was a little rough for J. She was very fussy and ended up with a rash on her head and neck. The doctor said it was a viral rash and usually shows up after a fever. J was 15 pounds and 11 ounces. My friend and college roommate, Jodee had a business trip to Oahu so she came over to the Big Island for the weekend before heading back to Florida. It was so great to see her again. We went shopping and out to lunch on Ali'i Drive. J enjoyed the day being pushed around in her stroller. In fact, she even fell asleep. I have the cutest picture of her slumped over with her hat covering up half of her face. Todd had a wrestling tournament at his school so Jodee, J and I went for a little bit. It was really loud and we had that shopping and lunch eating to do so we didn't stay too long. It ended up that both Jodee and Joe were flying out on the same day. We had a quick trip to the beach in the morning and then we were off to the airport.

     Todd is busy saving our farm and our neighborhood from the coqui frogs. The are small tree frogs that call for mates very, very loudly at night. They sound like they are saying, "ko-key" which I guess is where the name came from. There is a cooperative of people with a USDA grant that have a sprayer and the lime to use to try and control those tiny noisy frogs.

     Josephine and I went to the church cookie exchange. I made chocolate chip cookies, but didn't let them cool long enough before I put them in the container. It was hard for other people to pull out individual cookies so they got a chunk of cookies from the Killinos. I think it was one church function that Todd would have really liked. We just ate cookies. Even though it is not cold here, Santa Claus still makes his picture taking appearances. I took J to get her picture taken. The picture is taken outside under a tent in the back of the Choicemart parking lot. There is a rocky cliff where they had a fire engine, a bouncy castle, some kids games and Santa. You don't have to pay. The photographer doesn't take his time or ask the kid to smile or even look forward. You plop your kid on Santa's lap and snap the picture is taken, next! Later in the week, you go to Choicemart and take your kid's picture off the wall. Only in Hawaii! J wasn't smiling or looking forward, but she looked so cute in her blue and white dress.

     We had a family from London stay with us. They were very nice and brought us a gift and J a gift. We received a tea towel and J received a Christmas candle of a teddy bear. Thanks so much. We then had a family from Florida arrive. They had a great time and appreciated the cleanliness of the apartment. I said that Todd did the cleaning. I think that shocked them a little. The next family that arrived was from Alaska. I was talking to the mom about how we like to let J crawl around without her diaper for a bit after her bath to help keep her from getting diaper rash. She said it is so cold in Alaska that she could never do that for her daughter. I am glad we live here.

     Since Volvo and Mack have off for the week between Christmas and New Year's, I was able to work more reasonable hours. I didn't start work right at 5:00 AM. I was also able to go to the Mommy and Baby Yoga class. J likes to see the other babies. We don't get to visit with other mom's and babies, so it is a treat even if not that much yoga is practiced. Lots of the time is spent keeping the babies happy.

     I want to thank everyone for all of the wonderful and thoughtful gifts. J had a mountain of gifts to open. I even finished cross stitching her baby blanket so I was able to give it to her for Christmas. We had a very eventful year from having Josephine to Todd's hernia surgery to our trip to the mainland. There were some tough spots, but we wouldn't trade it for anything.