Christmas 2025

“Christmas is like candy; it slowly melts in your mouth sweetening every taste bud, making you wish it could last forever.” – Richelle E. Goodrich. 

All in attendance:
Me, Trevor, Jeri, Geoffrey, Mom, Kalib, Christopher, Gemal, Jose, Brenda, and Shawn.

Geoffrey was our first guest.  He got here about 3:00pm.  Kalib and Chris came in about 3:15pm.  Gemal, Jose, Brenda and Shawn got here about 3:30pm.  Jose, Brenda and Shawn had to get back home soon because they have Christmas with their family, but we had Christmas gifts for our godson Shawn.  He got all kinds of Bluey items, this year, as that is his new obsession.  Plus, my son's got to meet my godson for the first time.  Shawn, who is normally very outgoing, was very shy.  He was the only child in the room and we all had eyes on him.  So, he opened his gifts, and Jose and Brenda opened theirs, and they left.

For Christmas dinner, we had prime rib, 2 huli-huli game hens, mashed potatoes, candied yams, deviled eggs, Portuguese sausage bean soup, Hawaiian sweet rolls, cranberry sauce, and peas and carrots.  I'm a little old school, I do miss having macaroni and cheese, turkey and ham, and all the Thanksgiving fixin's for Christmas.  Some years ago, my sister began making prime rib for Christmas dinner, which I am not fond of for two reasons.  The first reason is I don't really care for steak-meat.  The second reason is I have a disorder called dysphagia that I have been suffering from for about 12 years now, which makes it difficult to swallow food.  For me, certain meats like steak meat, chicken breast, and pork chops are choking hazards.  So, I do not eat them.  The cornish game hens, cooked huli-huli style by my husband was delicious and soft.  I love chicken skin, but the game hen skin was a bit too tough for me.  

We had a Where's Waldo? ornament this year, that Trevor bought from Walmart.  We decided on a new tradition of hiding Waldo for Christmas every year.  The first to make a comment about Waldo will win a prize.  This year, Gemal spotted Waldo in the tree.  She won a mug and cocoa set.  Later, my son Kalib told me he saw the Waldo way before Gemal mentioned it but he didn't say anything.  I gave him a prize, too, of Guava cookies.

The prank gift this year, was Trevor decided to take the first layer of chocolate cookies out of a gift box, and refill it with Marlboro cigarettes.  Then, he replaced the second layer of chocolate cookies over the cigarettes.  He wrapped the first layer of cookies separately, and then wrapped the cigarette/cookie box, too.  I thought cigarettes was such a tacky gift, but he pointed out, "Hey, it's expensive!"  It is an expensive gift, but geez...cancer sticks?  That was his revenge for Jeri wrapping a package of socks individually the year before, and hiding it as tree garland, and making Trevor unwrap 24 individual socks.

Gifts were simple this year, and I think everyone was happy with what they received.  Mom was so elated for her Christmas socks, she made the cutest gesture by, joyfully, clapping her hands.  She has lost most of her ability to communicate in English.

Shawn was so excited for his Bluey Legos

Shawn and his Bluey Activity kit

Shawn and his Bluey Christmas ornament

Brenda and Shawn

Me, Trevor and our godson Shawn

Trevor's present

Jeri finally got her prank present open

Kalib's magnifying screen from Aunt Jeri

Geoffrey with his robe and slipper from me and Trevor

Gemal's Philosophy bath gels from Jeri

A sweet treat for Chris from Mom and Trevor

Old Navy PJs for Kalib from Mom and Trevor

Earbuds for Geoffrey from Jeri

PJ pants for Chris from Mom and Trevor

A lumberjack shirt for Trevor from Jeri

The Perfect Man for Gemal (she's had bad luck with men, lately)

A sweet treat for Kalib from Mom and Trevor

A magnifying screen for Trevor from Jeri

A magnifying screen for Chris from Aunt Jeri

A magnifying mirror for Jeri from me and Trevor

Gemal got everyone a bouquet of flowers

Danish cookies from Gemal

3 generations, Chris, Kalib, Me and my Mom

Chris and Grandma

Kalib and Grandma

Me and my sons

Chris and Aunt Jeri

Kalib and aunt Jeri

Gemal and Me

Gemal and Jeri

Las Vegas 2024

We went to Las Vegas, Nevada and to add to my collection of cute Christmas ornaments, I bought two Santa Ornaments.  I know I always want tiki and island decor, but I could not resist.  Santa takes vacations, too.  They do call Las Vegas "the 9th Island" because so many Hawaiians have moved to Las Vegas.  

We got these at the ABC Store on Fremont Street, which is a store located every few buildings on the Waikiki strip in Oahu.  If you're looking for Li Hing Mui candies and powders, the ABC Store on Fremont Street has it all.  They have expensive chocolate mac nuts and Hawaiian coffee, that you can get cheaper in the Islands.  

Anyway, Vegas Santa will be decorating my tree this year.  I don't care if my sister puts her tree up, I'm putting mine up too, even if it's a little tree, because I want to look at my ornaments.

Christmas 2023

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

2023 is a bittersweet Christmas and is probably my mother's last Christmas with us.  That's our reality.  Every day could be her last, in this End-Stage Alzheimer's.  There's just no way to know as she gets more forgetful (not just in memory, but in how to physically function).  She also has become weaker by the day.  We are also both sick as well.

To me, it was very important that her family be there for Christmas, even though I have flu-like symptoms.  It isn't about me.  Time is all my mom has left.  I wish people would put their differences aside and think about my mom, instead of whatever it is they are mad about.  Shamefully, not everyone came over.  It was expected, but still hoped for something different.  It is what it is.  We still had fun.

We bought lots of food, and spent hours cooking.  But, we made the best of our Christmas.  This Christmas included my mom, my sister Jeri, her boyfriend Geoffrey, my children's father Mike, my two sons Kalib and Christopher, my husband Trevor, and myself.  Small and intimate.  

Our endeared neighbors Shawn and Katie also came over for a short time.  They had their family to visit.  They gave us an extremely soft and beautiful, fuzzy, faux fur blanket.  We gave them wine.  

My mom has been lying down a lot.  She doesn't have much of an appetite these days.  She can barely have a conversation.  I made her sit up for Christmas.  She was happy to have us around her.  She was showered with gifts.  I only wanted to share a handful of the many photos we took.  I'm glad I took photos and video (which I won't share).  

Geoffrey got his Cowboy's football for future autographs from me and Trevor.

Mike got a special hoodie made with recycled bottles from me and Trevor.

Three Generations photo with my sons and their grandmother and me.  We've never taken a Christmas picture with her before.

Trevor giving my sister the bird finger for this idea of wrapping each sock individually and tying them together tightly with ribbon.

My mom and her Christmas socks.  She's always cold.  It's a symptom of her Alzheimer's progression.

A Moai glass vase my sister got me for my plants.

Money from me and Trevor, so Jeri could get her nails done after her cast comes off.

Surprisingly, my daughter sent us a gift.  A projector. 

A cookbook on Edibles for Trevor the cannabis enthusiast.

Christopher's pajamas from me and Trevor.

Almond cookies from Santa (of course it was me).  Santa Claus used to give all my children cookies every year.  I haven't forgotten.

A teeshirt for Christopher from Trevor and me.

Christmas 2019

“Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive.” ― Robert Lynd

 

My nephew Daniel, knowing how depressed I have been, decided to pick me up from Salem and take me to his place in Portland for Christmas.  They had a gift under their tree for me and I had a gift for them.  They gave me a Bath and Bodyworks Winter Apple trio (and it smells so good).  I got Daniel a Green Bay Packer's throw blanket and Pam some European chocolates.  I was just happy to be around family, even if just one family member.  In Trevor's tradition, I got us a Green Bay Packer's ornament for a future Christmas tree.

Christmas in California

“Christmas is a bridge. We need bridges as the river of time flows past. Today's Christmas should mean creating happy hours for tomorrow and reliving those of yesterday.” ― Gladys Bagg Taber

 My sister, Jeri, decorates and feeds the family every year for the year-end holidays.  Here are a couple pictures she sent me while I was in Oregon.