My favorite month of the year!

December has started off strong, and it might be easiest to just share the pics! So much has already happened in the first two weeks of December...

The month started with Maunaloa erupting for the first time in 38 years, which means we have two active volcanoes on the island for the first time since I've been alive. :-) The last time Maunaloa erupted, I was about 10 years old, and we had to evacuate the military camp we were staying at. I don't recall months of earthquakes and ample notice an eruption was eminent (technology was lacking back in the day).

This time, even though we were forewarned, the actual eruption still semi-surprised us all. And when it did...social media LIT UP with pictures of an ominous red glow over the mountain range from nearly every resident's home. Cars lined up for miles to see the show, night after night.

So like every other resident, we drove out in the later evening one night after work/school, and picked up Keni along the way...and checked it out. I think we left home at 8:30pm, and were home about 11:30pm (after spending about an hour at the flow). But doing it this way allowed us to avoid most of the worst traffic jams...we still passed what looked liked a thousand of cars returning from the show though. It was pretty insane.

                                                 

My two nieces participated in a bamboo pole fishing tourney, and Uncle Jon came to watch and support the girls. They had so much fun, as their family enjoys going shoreline fishing.

The two nieces also recently performed in a holiday show. I so wished we could have been there, but we were hosting Rich's nurse manager holiday party that same night.

Ryan got an early Christmas gift form us, since we had to assemble it and try it out before the return window expired). He helped assemble it and loves it! It's a digital piano vs. a keyboard (I only learned the difference recently). 

However, this will hopefully be the final piano we will ever buy for him. The first one was an inexpensive keyboard (a year ago) we got him when he first started to play, since we were unsure he would have staying power with it. About four months in, we upgraded him to a full-sized, higher quality keyboard that had semi-weighted keys. But his piano teacher suggested we get him a digital piano, which Ryan assured us is vastly superior in that it has weighted keys, and a better feel than a plastic keys/working foot pedal (I have instructed to upgrade the foot pedal already).

The two nieces recently performed in a holiday show. I so wished we could have been there, but we were hosting a holiday party that same night.

The other night I hear Ryan dust off the VR and fire up the PS5, so I quickly snuck a few pictures while I could, as they always make me chuckle.

A few nights later we did a better clean of the house, and decorated for the first of two parties we hosted back to back on a Friday and Saturday night. The first one was for Ryan and a few of his friends, and the second one was of Rich's coworkers.

The kids had a simple spam musubi bar dinner, followed by Christmas cake and ice cream. They also had a few other activities- gingerbread house decorating, bumper ball, a Secret Santa gift exchange and 'Santa' stopped by to embarrass them all and force them into a few pics for their parents.

After the first weekend of soirees this month, the second weekend looked a little different, but was equally busy. On Friday night, we were put up at the swanky Auberge Mauna Lani...followed by a carefully curated meal (from my same benefactors) at the legendary Canoe House on property. Overall, it's probably the best service/food I've had on island...

We were set up to receive leis on arrival, bottled waters/juice (the bougie water from Jason Momoa or the Rock's company...can't remember which). And in our room, was a handwritten note from the GM welcoming us (I don't have this kind of pull, obviously...but my benefactors do) and a delicious plate of fruits. And even more impressively, though many were off season, they were all so sweet and delicious! And this is likely not a coincidence at this level of establishment...so it was quite a treat!

Above is from our ocean view room- loved that we could see three separate pools, the ocean and a number of fish ponds. 

Below was on our way to dinner. Our photographer did not manage to capture a single decent photo of us in the room where our legs were not cut off, his own body part was in the picture, or we were centered (partly because he is 14 and lazy/grouchy). 

This was the view the next morning...just stunning and a reminder of where we live...and also, haha, where I cannot afford to visit. ;-)

The next night (Saturday) we were back at home, where Rich was a parade announcer with this BFF/podcasting friend, Kerry...and Ry watched the show with friends. This is some of the beauty of small town living. Instead of firing up a crack pipe and heading to the club to make it rain, Ryan is still attending the community Christmas parade, where his cousins bumped into him (they were marching) and gave him candy.

Rich and Kerry love this kind of stuff, and I'm glad they had a chance to do so. On that note, Rich was just cast in a musical in a lead role, which means I will be a theatre widow soon, and our neighbors will hear a lot of vocal exercises going on at odd hours.

Tonight, Rich is at another play (the craziness has officially started, as rehearsals start this week), and we have one more week to get everything done (one more holiday dinner at our house, one more company holiday event, final gift wrapping/deliveries, packing, cleaning) before we head east for the holidays. I can post that, because I will have not one, but two house sitters and security systems in place. ;-)

Although I am very tired...I am also very satisfied this month, as there is a lot of good stuff happening!