Christmas in Hawaii 2011 - Christmas Day - Day 2

Merry Christmas! Christmas morning at the beautiful Mauna Lani Resort Golf Villas.

Elle and Alex in their room, ready for the day.

Beautiful view to the pool area from our upstairs balcony.

Loading the car with all the beach stuff. Ready for the beach on Christmas Day.

Elle on the blow-up canoe and Alex on the paddle board.

Hello hunk!

Elle and Alex going snorkeling.

Elle relaxing on the beach.

Alex getting a nice tan.

Rod trying paddle boarding. He only fell off 6 times.

Our first sunset on the Big Island. So gorgeous.

Elle, Whitney and Craig enjoying the sunset.

Whitney enjoying the sunset.

Beautiful end for a great Christmas Day.

Christmas in Hawaii 2011 - Christmas Eve- Day 1

We left Utah on Christmas Eve on our way to the Big Island of Hawaii for a 10 day vacation with Whitney, Craig and Elle.

Waiting in LAX for our flight to Kona, Hawaii.

Almost landing in Kona.

Mauna Lea and Mauna Loa volcanoes.

Kona airport

At Kona airport.

Alex at Kona Airport.

Whitney and Elle at Kona Airport ready to go to our condo

Me, Alex and Rod at Kona Airport.

Home away from home at Mauna Lani Golf Villas.

Express Christmas 2011

We decided to have an early Christmas on December 18 due to our Christmas vacation in Hawaii this year. Early Christmas meant that it would be a quick dinner and opening presents on Sunday night. When I asked Rod and Alex what they wanted for dinner, they both said "ham and mashed potatoes". This meant, no rutabaga, carrot or potato casseroles. Also, no rosolli or herring. How about a dessert, I asked? "We don't need a dessert", they both said. What kind of Christmas dinner is that? No traditional Finnish Christmas foods at all? Nope. None. Express Christmas here we come.

Thanksgiving in Sin City

We decided to return to Las Vegas to spend a relaxing Thanksgiving like we did two years ago. On the agenda was nothing but golf for the boys and pool for me. Kelli and her friend Karly decided to join us on Friday night for the weekend.

We stayed at the fabulous Mandalay Bay for the whole time. The weather was perfectly sunny and in the upper 60s the whole week and it was warm enough for me to lay out at the pool. And that's exactly what I did every day. I call that "charging my vitamin D batteries for the winter."


Rod and Alex in the pool.

On Thanksgiving night we had planned to eat at the Bellagio buffet. When we got there, there was a 2 1/2 hour wait to get in, so we decided to hop in the car and drive around to see where we could eat. Nothing was open. Absolutely nothing, except Panda Expess. We drove around Summerlin for an hour and still nothing.

Then we drove up to this little jewel in the desert...


Blueberry Hill Restaurant. It was open. They served food. Lots of walkers were parked outside the restaurant and when we walked in, we noticed that we were the youngest ones there. Lots of blue haired people with dentures were chewing on soft turkey and stuffing. PERFECT! We will stay! And we walked right in. No waiting in line.

Turkey was moist and it really wasn't the worst meal we have ever had. Alex didn't even have the turkey dinner but his favorite Chicken Fried Steak.

And we had pie for dessert.

The view from our window to the pool area.

Alex is drinking his frozen hot chocolate and eating sweet potato fries at Serendipity.

Kelli and Karly made it to dinner at Border Grill before we went to Sting's concert at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace.

Rod, Alex and Kelli waiting for the concert to start. Alex said:"This is a rock concert, right? Because the red velvet kind of throws me."

Kevin and Riikka (Yes, Riikka was a fabulous blonde for the evening)

The amazing STING

60-years old and still looking good...and sounding even better.

The concert was amazing. I think there were 4-5 encores.


The poster outside the Colosseum.

How fitting. Bald guy taking a picture of the sign.

M on the butter signifies Mandalay Bay. How fancy.

Kelli and Karly at the pool on Saturday morning.

Kelli and Karly with Paris in the background.

Alex modeling True Religion hat and scarf.

Alex's signature look.

We did a little bit of shopping on Saturday night but didn't do too much damage. We left Vegas on Sunday afternoon after having brunch at the Bellagio Buffet. This time the wait time was about 15 minutes.

These guys are serious about moving. Beverly Hillbillies.

We got safely home after 5 hours on the road. Not bad considering that it was a holiday traffic. Only 2 cars were able to pass us during the whole trip. Rod is the man!

Favorite Scoutmaster

We had a little Las Cruces reunion on Saturday night at Heather Buchanan's house in PG. It was so great to see old friends and visit with them and hear stories of "last time I saw Rodney, he was just yay big", or "last time I saw Rodney, he was just a young pup" or "Oh! You are one of the twins!"

We got to sample 4 different kind of salsas, a couple of guacamoles, Whitney's delicious burritos and other Las Cruces inspired foods.

The highlight was when Rod was able to visit with his favorite Scoutmaster, Bruce, who had a huge impact on Rod's life.

The story was told that when Rod was not behaving in the class and was leaning back on his chair, Bruce told him to "keep all 6 legs on the floor or I will stuff you out the window". When Rod didn't obey (surprise, surprise), Bruce stuffed Rod out the window and told him not to come back to the class. Rod tried to come back, but Bruce told him not to until he knows how to obey and behave. Needless to say, Rod didn't return that day.

Old friends, Bruce and Rod

Alex makes the JV Basketball Team

After 3 days of tryouts, Alex made the JV (Junior Varsity) Basketball team at Mountain View High School.

To celebrate it we went to Spark to have a nice dinner.


Alex's celebration drink: Shirley Temple with Cotton Candy.


Alex toasting himself and giving himself a pep talk.

Congratulations Alex. Have a great season.

Angelah Johnson - Bon Qui Qui - Comedy Show

Craig, Whitney, Rod and I went to Angelah Johnson's comedy show at Kingsbury Hall up in Salt Lake on Saturday night. It had snowed earlier in the day so University of Utah grounds were quite beautiful. We had dinner at Blue Plate, which I don't think Craig and Whitney were too impressed about but it is a fun place to have a quick bite to eat.

The show was hilarious. If you want, go check out youtube videos by putting her name in the search and be ready to laugh.

Sadie Hawkins - Actual Date

McKenzie aka Lion came to pick up Alex aka Lion Tamer on Saturday afternoon for their day date, which was ice skating at Peaks Arena. From there they went to Rumbi for dinner and then to the dance. They had a six person group with Evy and Dallin as a couple and Manuel and Anastasia as a couple.

I guess Alex had a whip also as a good lion tamer would have.

Alex came home around 11:50pm after cops stopped Evy (who was driving) for beingoutside after curfew and for not having her license with her. So, all in all, memorable evening.

Alex and McKenzie

McKenzie, Alex, Evy, Dallin, Ana, Manuel