Can you say...

Message from Santa.

Once again this year Kylie received a personal video message straight from the North Pole. And much like last year, she watched the video with a little shy grin on her face.

Check it out below:

Kylie's message from Santa Claus

Make your own HERE..

Kylie + Beach.

As a born and raised Ohio girl, she sure does have a love for the ocean! You would think saltwater runs through her veins. We knew she loved the beach at Hilton Head, but Maui took this love of hers to an entirely new level. She could have done this the entire week and would have been perfectly happy.

Looking for coral was her life's purpose for the week. She succeeded, too. Before we left, we pulled out some to bring home, but sadly had to leave a giant bag behind.

This ocean/beach is obviously very different from HHI. The waves are much stronger and the beachy sand only extends about 6 feet into the ocean and then it gets deep and is solid coral and sea life (which made for amazing snorkelling). We were a little nervous at first, but she was very brave and confident and knew her limits.

This was about as far as she could go... and this was apparently where the good finds were.

Found one!

Little beach babe!

Oh so pretty.

Hopefully when the dust settles (after Christmas) I will get a free minute or two to blog again. This place is getting pretty stale.

But until then... here are some pretty Maui sunsets to enjoy!

(my pops is the lucky recipient of this photo^ on canvas... unless I decide to keep it for myself ;) kidding, of course)

The photo above was from the night of Sara and Leo's wedding (this was taken about 20 minutes after the ceremony). The sunset was absolutely breathtaking that night. I've never seen anything like it! Even the locals were commenting on how amazing it was. We were so thankful as it made for some beautiful photos and a night that will never be forgotten.

(And the newlyweds won't be able to forget it because this photo on canvas is their wedding gift. It's BIG [30x40] and beautiful!)

Waking up in Maui.

After arriving to our resort at 10pm, we quickly changed and jumped into bed, knowing full well that it would not be long before the kids woke us up. Sure enough, at 12:45am (6:45 EST) Gavin woke up! Rather than sitting in a dark room while Ky slept, Gav and I went for a walk around the resort with a very friendly security guard! Gav thought this midnight flashlight tour was super cool!

After Kylie woke up, around 4 or 5am, we all went out to check out Maui in the daylight.

This was the first photo I took... and the first hula dance I saw. :)

(Notice Gav taking advantage of the moment to quickly slip away and take a run for it down the hall).

One of the very few photos I got with the two kiddies together. Gav has no time for photos. He's ready to take off in this one...

Kylie and Bananas the Monkey!

Checking out the Pacific Ocean!

He's mighty chipper for only have a couple hours of sleep!

Checking out a fountain in the resort.

We were all looking and feeling a bit rough after 12 hours of travel and not much sleep! But thank you to the nice person for capturing this moment for us! :)

The kids had to test the water before anyone else.

Maui: to be continued...

Leaving on a Jet Plane.

At the Cleveland Airport prior to our flights to Maui:

The kids, expecially Gavin, LOVED looking out the windows at all of the airplanes!

On the plane, Ky quickly made herself comfortable with her friends. She's pretty much a perfect little traveler. Bless her.

Off we go... can you see my nerves?!?!

Gavo watching a little TV during the flight.

Thankfully, my prayers were answered and Gav did so much better than I anticipated on all 4 flights. He even slept! (gasp!)

Bananas the Monkey.

"Bananas" is the traveling stuffed monkey in Kylie's preschool class. Kylie just so happened to have Bananas for our trip to Maui, so we, of course, had to take lots of pics with him! :)

These are the two pages that we made to include in the class' book about Bananas.