Celebrating Christmas in Hawaii!

We were lucky enough to celebrate our Christmas somewhere warm this year!   It has always been a dream for us to visit Hawaii and Chris had been there a few times on business.   It was nice to be given a chance to see what he always described as beyond gorgeous!    

While the weather didn’t completely cooperate, we learned that Hawaii, much like our days in Florida can have tropical rains.   Most mornings the heavens opened up while we were there but this did not put a damper on our adventures or morning runs.  

Ritz Carlton in Lahaina, Maui

The paths along the water were breath taking…

And the brave at heart did a little cliff jumping…

There was a lot of time to relax… and soak up the much needed vitamin D we all needed after leaving the cloudy skies of Boston.

Christmas eve dinner we broke away from the hotel and had some amazing Chinese food!

We spent some time exploring the island…

and it’s beaches…

We even got to experience the islands mountain/volcano from a zip lining course!

It was a perfect way to celebrate the holiday … as a family! Looking forward to kicking off 2017!

With some great memories stored in 2016…

Garrett is 12!

 So much to celebrate and I am shouting out a huge happy birthday to my incredible love Garrett!  His laughter is absolutely contagious and will make you laugh right out loud just listening to it…  I am so blessed to have him in my world and lucky enough to have him call me Mom!!

Mom!!

December ... So much to celebrate!

There is so much preparation for Christmas and now I have such an appreciation for what my parents did to prepare. This year we decided to travel for the holiday and spend our Christmas in Maui, Hawaii. Traveling for the holiday seemed like a great idea, until I realized I had to leave my Bella behind…

We are busy making teachers gifts:

DIY Lavender Bath Salts with custom label (made my Ayden/Mom)

Christmas “Crack”

Bella monitoring bus pick up and waiting on a friend…

 

Benny is Bella’s best friend… and he comes to play most mornings.

He even tolerates her “humping” his head… perhaps a little gender confusion. Seems as though she may have missed the lesson on anatomy.

Later in the day, we head down to walk Jordan home from the bus.

But the best way to spend the afternoon is snuggling in and reading…

Rough life…

Jordan is 14!! Stop time!

Just shouting out a Happy Birthday to my Jordan... This girl kicked off my career as Mom and changed my world the moment I laid eyes on her. Today she is 14 -- and I am blessed each day having her in my world!!!

Bella Turns 1 !

One year ago today my Bella was born…. I waited a long time for her and love her more then words can say. She brings us all such joy…

November Update!

As busy as the holidays get, it seems I haven’t had much time to pick up my camera for anyone other then Bella. So madly in love…

Even though she has eaten 80% of my plants in the front yard.

Rethinking extending the invisible fence…

But then I see this… every morning she sits out front and waits for her best pals to come on a play date… She will wait forever…

In time they usually come… for some off leash free play!

My favorite quick snap photo… Ayden and Bella listening to a book on tape. I so love my girls!!

Huge news from Jordan: This year Jordan played in an all-girl flag football league with girls from our area. Her team won the Northeast tournament and they are now headed to Orlando to play in the National tournament on Pro-Bowl weekend. She is so excited! The whole family will be going down and Garrett and Ayden are most excited for a side trip to Disney.

Cannot believe that we hosted Thanksgiving this year … again… but have no photos of the day.

November was a blur!

A lot packed into October!

We packed a lot into October and kicked it off running our first half marathon in New England.

Smuttynose half - Hampton Beach, NH:

Kristen: 1 hour 40 minutes

Chris: 1 hour 42 minutes

Love that we ran the race together… in the cold and rain. So worth it for the beer and lobster rolls at the end.

So love the trails nearby… Lake Winnepseakee as my background.

Rockport:

Biggest highlight for me: My parents came for their first visit after my Mom started dialysis a year ago. This was a huge trip for them and we had the best week exploring New England. We explored Cape Ann starting at the tip in Rockport and drove down the coast. It was fun to show my parents what we love about New England… (well New England when we aren’t in our fifth month of sleet and snow!)

Rockport is one of my favorite port cities with quaint shops and restaurants…

While my Mom was in dialysis, my Dad and I had some time to play… I definitely get my love of the outdoors from him… I love this time with him.

We had to bring Bella to her favorite stomping ground… Crane’s Beach during dog season!

Is an endless playground…

For more then just dogs…

We even got to explore some new trails in Ipswich…

We explored Newburyport one afternoon and had lunch on the water…

It was a bonus that we got to spend some time with my parents lifelong friends, The Hulmes having lunch at a seafood eatery in Seabrook that just happens to be where Chris worked as a young teenager.

Then back on the trails again… one of my favorite after school activities with my crew.

Three weeks after our Rockfest half marathon, we were back to training for the Newburyport marathon. I have the best running route!

Which helped because Chris and I both beat our times by 8 minutes!

Newburyport Half Marathon:

Kristen: I hour 34 minutes

Chris: 1 hour 36 minutes

We wrapped up the month with some trick or treating… and yes, my costume came with some cheers!