Marathon, Comps, Christmas, New Years, Birthday, ...

Aloooooooha! Yes it has been a very long time since we have posted anything but December and January were crazy! During this time Cory raced in his first marathon, the Honolulu Marathon, and finished in 4:25; made several trips to the zoo, other play dates with friends, and Christmas parties; celebrated Christmas and New Years; Cory completed the written portion of his comprehensive exam for his PhD the research proposal for his dissertation; planned and hosted Leif's birthday party with over 30 kids in attendance and another 30+ adults; Amanda made something like a gazillion quilts; and Cory began teaching at Chaminade University.

Needless to say, we are all ready for things to quiet down a bit. But with "Baby Boo" on the way, we only have 8 more weeks of being a family of three. So, with out further ado, here is the last two months in photos. Enjoy :)


The day before the big race, picking up Cory's race packet

Carbo-loading at Tiki's in Waikiki

The view from our hotel room in Waikiki

Leif checking out the one night digs...didn't really like it

...but the bed sure was fun to jump on

Hanging out at the zoo the day before the marathon

Ever see 20,000+ people all lined up to run 26.2 miles?
Fireworks signal the start of the race.

Cory passing by the hotel at about mile 8 feeling great

Crossing the finish line and still feeling GREAT!
Rested the next day and was out running again the day after

Leis from Amanda and Leif!

Cory and running friend Keaka (he ran in 3:13!!)

Celebrating the race at the Cheesecake Factory; yummy!

Leif in the zone with his gingerbread house

Our family tradition; making cookies.

Leif helped mix the ingredients and decorate.
They tasted as good as they looked.

Santa came! Opening a whole huge enormous pile of presents

Even superman needs to fix his cape from time to time.
Leif and his first sewing machine. Now he can work alongside mom

The hit of Christmas; Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Leif loving his "pineapple ice cream" at the Dole plantation

Two sweet smiles :)

One cool dude...and yes, his dad does rock!

Making projects from Nana and Pop-pop

Huga-wuga. This one is called Foodoo-makakiki...no joke

Not quite Larry King, but here is a conversation with Foodoo-makakiki


Happy New Years!!

All set for the new year celebrations!

Shaking his jelly beans

Drawing with his chalk

Cory and Amanda at the zoo...Leif didn't want in the picture

Recognition well deserved

Getting ready to celebrate number 3

There were water balloons...

...good company...

...pinatas...

...fun with friends...

...good food and lots of people...

...pin the tail on the cat (Leif's idea)...

...and cake.

Birthday booty.

Leif's best present from his birthday was his huge pile of water balloons. Here we are at 6:30am; simply couldn't wait.

Splat!

Having a great time!

Love that face

Hmmm....choclate fudge cake is pretty good.

Spreading the peanut butter cream frosting.
Grandma would be so proud :)


We hope you have all had a safe and wonderful holiday season and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Aloha

Cory, Amanda, Leif, and "baby Boo"

Winter in Paradise

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and the tree just went up the other day. Things are going well in Hawaii and the weather is perfect! Who would ever want to live in the cold (sorry to all of you who are enduring sub freezing temps, snow, and arctic winds)?

The photos below are another sampling of the last month of so; certainly some wacky and amazing moments. Enjoy!


Super Dad and his side-kick Super Leif


The boy loves to bake


Wish we had a button that said "Look! I dressed myself!"

For Thanksgiving we packed up two coolers worth of food and beverages and hit the beach. We went over to one of our all time favorites, Lanikai and it was beautiful as usual. We stayed for a few hours and then made our way to the North Shore to have a picnic lunch under the Ko'Olau mountains. After that we stopped at the legendary Sunset beach to watch some big waves pounding the coast (not even close compared to what was to come in the near future); the second leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing would be starting in a couple of days.


Loving Lanikai beach on Thanksgiving

Trapping mom with a rope

Love that smile!

Leif the Science Kid conducting another experiment with ice.

Belly showing beneath the Ko'olaus

Silly boy making silly faces

Leif and Dad hanging at the beach on Thanksgiving

A great way to spend Thanksgiving!

Amanda and Cory on the North Shore, photo by Leif

Sweet boy hiding

Round 2 of the Vans Triple crown of surfing: Sunset Beach

In the week that followed we started to get ready for Christmas. One day when Amanda needed some time to focus on her projects Leif and Dad went out for the day and ended up getting a "whole huge denormous pile" of balloons. If you know this boy and his fixation with balloons, you know that he was shaking with excitement as Dad blew up every single balloon. Phew!


It must be heaven

Leif also loved helping decorate the house and the Christmas tree. He has learned that he only gets to touch the "soft" or non-breakable ornaments and that is fine with him. He is also doing ok with the presents so far. Only a few were taken back to his room to be played with (still in the wrapping, though).


Finding a perfect spot for an ornament

Helping mom decorate the tree

Whoa-ho-o!! It might be chocolate!


Thank you Grandma!

Later in the week, the surf forecasts were calling for some of the biggest surf on the North Shore in 20 years. This also meant that the Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau Big Wave Surf Contest (a.k.a The Eddie) was likely to go. The Eddie is only held when waves are consistently above 30 feet in face heights for the day. The last Eddie was held in 2004 but this is not to say that there have not been big enough swells, we had two near 40 feet last year, the conditions were just not ideal. This year was all but perfect. Cory took the day off from school (sorry students) and left at 4:30 in the morning so he could get a place to park. He arrived at Waimea Bay at 5:15 and only had to park 1 mile away! The beach was already packed. It was reported that over 30,000 people were at the Bay that day. Anyhow, it was a once in a life time experience for sure.


Eddie would go...and it was big!

An ominous morning

Party ride...sharing the aloha

Hazardous conditions to say the least (40+ft)! Shoots! 18 ft scares me!

The Eddie was BIG!!! 30-40+ foot waves...omg!

Kelly Slater after his near perfect 98 monster ride

The Bay will call the day...it's on!!

15 ft shore break...simply impressive

In two days Cory will be running the Honolulu Marathon (12-13-09) and pictures of his nearly lifeless corpse will follow; likely on our Christmas post. So until then, have a great holiday season!

Aloha and mele kalikimaka!!

Cory, Amanda, Leif, and "Boo"