Christmas cards

So Sara and I have started a fun and ridiculous tradition....we handmake our Christmas cards. We thought that it might be a good way to save a little money on buying the pre-made boxed cards...right. After developing the photos, and buying all the materials, not to mention the food that we eat when we are making them, we probably end up spending close to double what we would on the store bought cards. But that is beside the point, it is a great tradition and we have so much fun doing it together. And they come out cute, right??? We'll see how long we can continue the tradition when we have kids running around screaming while we cut out tiny pieces of paper....

This year we decided to go to Fashion Island to take eachothers pictures. We joked around saying that we should go into Restoration Hardware (they had a really cute living room setup as one of the window displays) and take our pictures there, and make it look as if it was in someone's house for a party or something. Even funnier is that Sara and Brian ended up using that photo for their cards! Sorry for spoiling the secret Sara and Brian!

Island time

Galel and I made it back to Hawaii....for a second honeymoon. This time we got to visit Kauai as well as Maui...our favorite. The hotel we stayed at in Kauai was not very nice (at all), but we didn't care. We were in walking distance to the beach, and thats all that mattered to us. We spent our time driving around and taking in all of the beautiful sites. It is amazing how green everything is there! We visited some gorgeous beaches, and did a lot of reading. We got to visit Kevin and Deborah Forth, who were gracious enough to have us over for a delicious dinner. What an insane view they have from their patio. We also had the chance to meet up with our good friends Foz (Chri) and Elissa, who were on their honeymoon. We joined them for dinner at Roy's...yum. Then the boys enjoyed their usual cigar out on the hotel patio. It was lots of fun. The trip was only 4 days, so too quickly it was time for us to leave and head to Maui. We will definitely be back!

Maui was amazing, as we expected it to be. We stayed in a condo, which turned out to be great! When we pulled up to the hotel, it looked a little ghetto-ish, so we were afraid. But we walked into a very roomy condo with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, laundry area, and our favorite, the lanai overlooking the gorgeous ocean. It felt like being at home, but yet still felt like being on vacation. There we did what we always do, found a few different beaches and soaked in the sun all day long. We made it out for some very yummy dinners (some of our favorites include Kimo's in Lahaina, and Mama's Fishhouse) and enjoyed a luau one night. We also did a little snorkeling. We aren't much into the tourist activies when we go to Hawaii, we prefer to lay on the beach and do nothing. It feels refreshing coming from the craziness of our daily lives to a place where it seems that time stands still. We love Hawaii and can't wait to go back!

The trip of a lifetime

When we first found out that a cousin was getting married in Belize, we thought for sure it would be impossible for us to go. Well, we made it happen! I can't even begin to explain the beauty of Belize. It is a place unlike anywhere you have ever been. The color of the water along with the gorgeous sand and palm trees reminds you of Hawaii, but then you look around and most of the tows are full of really poor people. What we loved most about it was it raw-ness, and how untouched it seemed to be. The first few days we stayed in Caye Caulker, and the second half of the trip was in Ambegris Caye, where the wedding was. We stayed in these really cool hut type rooms. We did a little bit of snorkeling, but spent most of our time just relaxing. One night was the rehearsal dinner and the next afternoon was the wedding. One thing I will mention.....it is HOT! The wedding was in an un-airconditioned church, and all I could think about was "I hope the groomsmen don't pass out!" They were wearing pink dress shirts, and about 90% of them were absolutely dripping in sweat. I felt for them. The reception was held on the beach. We ate great food and danced the night away. The combination of late night beer drinking and the heat was not a good combo for Galel the next morning. :-)

After Belize we flew to El Salvador, spent one night there and then flew to Honduras early the next morning. I was super excited because it was going to be my first time there! We had such a great time. We spent most of the time with family, having meals together and catching up. I greatly enjoyed the homemade tortillas! The food was delicious. We got to see a lot of really cool places too. It was really hard to leave, because we don't get to see that part of the family very often. This trip also put things into perspective for me...there is a lot of poverty in Honduras. And because these people don't know anything different, they are so happy! But coming home reminded me of all of the things that we have that we take for granted: plenty of food to eat, a roof over our heads that doesn't leak, running water that we can actually drink, and so much more.