Finding JOY in the JOURNEY...: Mele Kalikimaka!

December 25, 2009

Mele Kalikimaka!

We were blessed to have Lee's family spend Christmas Eve and Day with us this year. It was really hard for me this year to be away from my family. Im not sure why but I really was heartsick for my siblings and their children but especially for Savannah. I think that what makes Christmas so fun is seeing the excitement of children and I really have been missing that these past few years. I will just have to try and find a way to get to Utah next Christmas:-P

We ate a lot of good food, watched movies and just spent time together relaxing and did I mention eating???

Christmas Day our neighbors came over to ring us some presents and we just LOVE their girls. They are just the cutest things and really brighten my day with their smile and giggles.

The Sister missionaries joined us for dinner. Sister Ochiai and Magno always bless us with the sweet spirit they bring into our home.

Okay...I tired this recipe for the first time ever and OH MY HEAVENS I am in LOVE:-P Pumpkin crunch which consists of pumpkin, pecnas, yellow cake mis and TWO sticks of melted butter. It is my new favorite thing to bake but I have to cut the recipe in half or I will eat the entire pan myself. It was a big hit and I think I will try and add some kind of cust on the bottom.

This is Christmas Eve dinner. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of Christmas Day Dinner which was much better. I made stuffing from SCRATCH and it came out GREAT. Granted it took a few hours but I could have cut that time in half if I had baked the cornbread ahead of time like I had planned. Once again it wasn't fat free by any means...it was a cornbread stuffing with bacon,onions, celery, apples, pears, mushrooms and two more sticks of butter. Stuffing/Dressing is my favorite holiday food and I have to say that htis is the BEST stuffing I have ever tasted.

1 comment:

Emerson Experiment said...: Hi Mibi! I just wanted to say that I love pumpkin crunch and someone suggested to me once to make a cream cheese icing (from scratch, any recipe u like) and flip the pumpkin crunch (so the nut/cake part is the crust) and put the cream cheese icing as your topping. Ooooh soo good! Your layout looked fabulous! Food tastes better when u cook from the heart! Luv ya!; 9:37 PM

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Once upon a time...

Mibi grew up in Laie and attended Kahuku High and Lee grew up in Haleiwa and Mililani and attended Mililani High. Mibi went to College at BYU-Hawaii and then served a mission in the Utah Ogden Mission before meeting the man of her dreams. After school, Lee jumped into the workforce looking for his career and eventually ended up working for Mibi's family flower shop at Turtle Bay while Mibi was serving her mission...and never thought that this job would lead him to his "Angel". We met in Septmeber of 2001 after I returned home from my mission. I came back to the flower shop to manage things for my Mom and Lee had left to pursue his education. Well a few months later, Lee's education path didn't take the direction he had hoped and instead life lead him back to Turtle Bay. The first thing he did was call Mom to get his job back and of course she said YES. So, I was Lee's boss and there was an instant friendship...it felt as if we had known each other our entire lives. We kept it strictly business for a few weeks and then one night I was gong to make a Wal-Mart run after work and called him to see if he wanted to come along. His phone was busy (the days before call waiting) and I almost gave up...but after a few more tries he picked up and from that night on we were inseperable. I think we told each other our life stories that night and we both knew then that our lives would never be the same! Over the next year, we formed a deep love and respect for each other which kept us connected through a few rough patches and across the ocean as Mibi moved back to Utah. Finally after a year of being best friends, we both realized that there is no one on earth we would rather be with than each other! We were a couple for about two years when Lee proposed to me and we tied the knot at the exact place we first met...the same hotel the flower shop was located when we worked there...TURTLE BAY. And to add to our JOY, we have a beautiful daughter Savannah (Lee's biological and Mibi's spiritual daughter ) who we just ADORE! She is so smart, funny, outgoing, a jabberbox like her Dad and just the cutest thing you have ever seen!!! We also are praying that we can give her a little brother or sister sometime in the next year or two!!! Until then we have a Doberman (Kayla) and a cat (Shadow) that we spoil rotten and of course all of our Nieces and Nephew's. It has been almost 8 years of wedded bliss and although we have had our ups and downs, each experience has made us grow more in love with each other and are still each others best friend!