December In Review

December was a month of celebration for the Gilmore Family. To kick off our festivities we celebrated Dallas' Birthday, hosted our dear friends David and Rebecca Gray on their trip here to Hawaii, and celebrated Christmas and New Years exploring the island of Oahu.

For those who know Dallas, he would not want me to mention that it was his birthday, but for the purpose of our family history, I am going to mention that we did celebrate his birth and have enjoyed him immensely as a husband and father this past year!! Dallas received his birthday gift from me back in November...I bought him a Harley Nightster 1200XL! I write, "I bought him", 'cause I agreed to make the purchase! LOL! He has been eyeing a motorcycle for the longest time and even almost convinced me to let  him buy one back in Kuwait on his way home from his deployment in Iraq. I finally caved and let him fulfill his dream of owning a motorcycle. With that being said, he enjoys riding his Harley to and from work and to church...and yes, he drives his motorcycle with his suit on! The children and I love and adore Dallas dearly. I must admit... I enjoy watching Dallas drive his new bike especially, when I follow him home from church and the other bikers give their friendly wave, it makes my heart swell because Dallas can now officially wave back! I love you Dallas!

We have known Uncle David and Auntie Abecca (as Sariah lovingly calls her) since our BYU days in Provo, Utah. They lived above us in our humble two bedroom apartment at Wymount Terrace (BYU Student Family Housing) for about three to four months. David and Dallas first became friends because they were both in the ROTC program at BYU and then Rebecca and I became friends. We enjoyed their visit immensely and consider them family. They are ever-so-patient with our wild children and our children LOVE them! It's been nearly three and a half years since we last saw them and still we find ourselves in deep conversation over the dumbest things. 

Here are a couple of pictures of us visiting Turtle Beach, Bellows, celebrating Rebecca's Birthday, sightseeing the nearby Byodo-In Buddhist Temple, exploring Hanauma Bay and Dallas and David's Deep Sea Fishing Adventure!

For some reason, I guess I shouldn't be surprised, Ammon and Sariah were the only ones to pack their swimsuits when we went to Turtle Beach! As you can see they had a good time playing in the water! Sariah is such a free spirit, it makes me laugh!

Here we are sightseeing in Honolulu. We stopped to grab a bite to eat at a local hot dog stand and were able to watch a Christmas Hula Performance. The kids are bundled up because it was raining and kinda cold that evening.

Dallas, David and Rebecca along with the kids built this amazing sand castle while we were at Bellows Beach. We rented two Beach Houses and stayed two nights on the beautiful beaches of Bellows near Kaneohe, HI. The picture of Dallas and Ammon is now my all time favorite! Here are Ammon, Sophie and Sadie playing a game of miniature golf at Bellows.

So, much was done in the days that followed. We went sightseeing around the more scenic side of the island of  Oahu, visited the Byodo-In Buddhist Temple found in the Valley of the Temples (that is shown in the t.v. series LOST), the kids signed the "autograph tree"(which is near the temple) and Rebecca attempted to blow out her Birthday Candles, but was interrupted by our children...mainly Ammon and Sariah! The day after Christmas we took the children Ice Skating, this is a "FIRST" for them and they proved to be great! At the end of our visit Sadie, Sophie and Sariah were off BRAVELY skating on their own!! I attempted to skate, but was too much of a whimp...plus I am prego and didn't want to fall, but that would not have happened because Dallas was by my side the entire time!

We woke up at 5am and headed to Hanauma Bay Park in hopes of making it into the parking lot. As you probably don't know Hanauma Bay only keeps it's parking lot open until it is full and that is usually around 8am. We arrived at 6:25am and spent the entire day enjoying the BEAUTIFUL scenery of Hanauma Bay! Dallas and David went scuba diving searching for sharks while Rebecca and I watched the kids until their return, which was about an hour and a half. Dallas, David and Rebecca then took the kids out to go snorkeling. They saw many fish and a turtle in the nearby reef. I stayed on the beach and took pics...I was tired, but had a blast!

Dallas took Sariah out snorkeling and this was the end result...Sariah walking out of the water freezing! Don't you love her wild snarled hair?! I had to take a couple of shots! Classic.

Dallas and David went Deep Sea Fishing near Honolulu. Dallas caught a Tuna and David caught a Gar, they were both very proud of their sea treasures! The next day Rebecca and I had lunch at the Macaroni Grill in the Ala Moana Mall in Honolulu and then we headed to a nearby Spa where Rebecca treated me to a facial and haircut. I really enjoyed this and had a wonderful time chatting with my friend Rebecca.

David and Rebecca we enjoyed your visit with us here in Oahu! Thank you for being such dear friends and for loving our children! Until we meet again. Love, The Gilmore Bunch.
Rebecca, I will miss having you here. You don't know how much I needed a friend. Thank you!