Mele Kelikimaka

Merry Christmas to everyone! I love Christmas and everything leading up to it. We baked, read stories, watched all our Christmas movies thrice over, caroled, and did the nativity with our friends, the Houghtons. We copy Dan's family tradition of choosing pixies, so we each do special things for someone else in the family for the whole month before Christmas. I got Jane, and I wasn't good at keeping the secret. Who else would make her bed so many times? Clean her room. I have little imagination as a pixie/housekeeper. Dan had Sam, and Sam kept walking around saying, "My pixie stinks." Those two have a fundamental difference in opinion about how many treats a pixie should leave on the bed and how often. By the end, Dan adjusted, and Sam had a very creative and attentive pixie. Sam was my pixie, so I got frequent treats of every chocolate variety on my bed. The candy machine next door has its coffers filled with Sam's hard-earned quarters. I loved it. I got one note that said, "To: Emolly From: Piksy." My other favorite note from Sam was to Santa. I admit it. I peeked. He was very concerned about leaving cookies for Santa and leaving out reindeer food, etc. Then, just before heading off to bed, Sam wrote a note to Santa that said, "Dear Santa, Thanks for ol the presints you bring us. Love, Sam." Taped to the note was a dollar. Bless Sam's heart for wanting to give back in the way he feels is most meaningful.








For New Year's, we stepped out into the back field, drenched in mosquito repellent, to watch the "last year of fireworks." I don't know what the point is in outlawing fireworks here. The fireworks people do are already outlawed. It is better than Stadium of Fire, and it's all being blasted up from a few streets away. Huge ones. Smoky ones. The next morning, Moana Street is full of debris, two inches thick. We did some sparklers, pops, and fountains. But we by-standers for the big show. We didn't even watch the ball drop--the show outside was much better. I think people were going all out for the "last year of fireworks." But I also believe that people around here will live each year like it's the last!