a local holiday

this past week has been an honest-to-goodness dream come true. i love christmas & i love summer. so combine the two & i am in heaven. we definitely took full advantage of the 85 degree weather & pristine beaches. we enjoyed some of our pre-established traditions while adding new ones to the mix. our favorite new costumes included checking out the banyan tree lights, devouring doghnuts on a stick, making seashell ornaments, & Christmas dinner beach barbeque. Since we didn't bring any holiday decor with us & there wasn't much to chose from on the island so i opted for a handmade holiday. that's right, with the exception of a few items, coop & i made our Christmas decor from scratch. in fact, i whipped up our stockings in 35 minutes flat. it wasn't the best looking but we did have a lot of fun. our favorite part was an advent calendar filled with treats & small toys.

as usual, i totally over did it on the presents. but i excused it since the kids have been so good about leaving almost every thing they own in california. plus it was totally worth it to see their little faces light up with each gift. they were so excited & unbelievably grateful. they were just as excited for each others' gifts as they were for their own. tj kept squeeling over all of mylo's presents. and anytime someone would say, "merry Christmas" he would shout, "happy cooper-mylo!" coop said it was his favorite day ever. he got everything on his gift list (lego ships, fish tank, surf board, nurf guns, surf posters & books, a microphone, & so much more). he named his first fish Swim Around 5 & Sir Eats-A-Lot. tj was received a new ride on toy & about a milllion wee-wees (cars) & he was overwhelmingly excited each time he opened a new vehicle. mylo was given some new baby toys but his favorite presents were the yummy treats from his cousin maddie-waffle flavored wagon wheels! my favorite present was a card cooper made for me all by himself. it was simple he wrote i love(a heart) u. i tear up just thinking about it. that sweet little man knows just what his mommy loves. todd & i got a new sup board, an underwater camera, & all types of new gear for enjoying the island.

as soon as we finished our traditional christmas brunch, breakfast bagel sandwiches, we took off to the beach for a white sand Christmas. we loved trying out our new presents. this was definitely a Christmas for the books.

(i didn't bring my camera the next time we took the boards out but just for the record coop is already able to ride the waves standing with just a little push start.)