Christmas Morning

Mele Kalikimaka!

Our family had a very nice Christmas this year. Not our biggest Christmas, but definately a memorable one. I mean, how often do you get to spend Christmas in 80+ degree weather? The twins got new bikes and were outside riding them most of the day! How cool is that?

I had planned on uploading a video of how the twins had to "hunt" for their bikes, but I couldn't get it to upload here or even on YouTube, so I guess you'll just have to deal with still pics.

I think they were getting a little worried at first because they had opened all their gifts under the tree and Andi still had more presents to open. Then they found the first "Candy Cane Clue" and the race was on:)

Just a sidenote...we got the estimate for the repairs to Dave's Harley yesterday. It is going to cost over $3200!! YIKES!

Thankfully the Army has to pay for it, the problem is that we have to wait for them to get around to cutting us a check! That could take up to 8 weeks!

On the bright side, the guy at the shop yesterday told us that it will probably take 9 weeks for them to get all the parts in anyway, so hopefully by the time it's done, we'll have the money from the Army to pay for it. I don't think Dave sees 9 weeks without his bike as a "bright side", but what are you going to do? It's kind of out of our hands at this point.

Here are some picture of the damage.

This is what it looked like in the box when they opened it.

Here you can see the damage to the tank, pipes and the brake handle is broken off!

Happy Birthday Andi!

We have had a lot of change and excitement in our lives since my last blog entry. I will try to keep up a little better with this page. But for now, here's some pictures of Andi's birthday.

She turned the big SEVENTEEN this year! WOW!

Our normal tradition is to go and pick out a live Christmas tree on Andi's birthday and then find a local light display to enjoy as a family. Because we are so new to Hawaii and were still living out of boxes this year, we decided to just put up the "fake" tree and decorate it all on Andi's birthday. First we went out to dinner @ Ruby Tuesdays (Andi's choice of course), then after decorating the tree, we all sang Happy Birthday and had cake and ice cream. It wasn't the most exciting birthday for her, I'm sure, but it was a nice evening as a family.

Here are some pictures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWINS!

Every year it gets harder and harder to believe that I have kids this old, but yesterday, the twins turned 14!

Because we just got to Hawaii less than 2 weeks ago and money is SUPER tight, it wasn't a very exciting birthday for them, but we had fun:)

Kylee wanted a bodyboard to surf on when we go to the beach and Kierian wanted a skateboard because our new housing area has a skate park at the community center...so that's what they got.

We went across the street and went bowling then came back to the hotel and had cake. It was fun:) Here's some pics.

We're in HAWAII!

I can't tell you how many times people have said, "Oh you're so lucky!" or "I wish I could go with you!" when we would tell them we were moving to Hawaii. After one week here I can honestly say they were right to be jealous! (wink wink)

We don't have a house yet and since last week was a short work week for the military (due to Veterans Day) Dave hasn't had to officially report to work yet, so we have just been cruising around the island checking out our new surroundings and seeing some of the sights.

We visited the USS Arizona Memorial. It was a very somber but beautiful experience.

Dave and the twins @ the USS Arizona Memorial

We have also had the chance to visit the North Shore a couple of times. The first time we went to Hale'iwa beach and the next Waimea Bay. I've never had so much sand in so many places it SHOULDN'T be! YIKES! But we had a lot of fun playing in the waves and Kylee shared the new body-surfing board she got for her birthday.

(L-R; Kierian, Dave, Andi and Kylee @ Waimea Bay)

We are hoping to be in a house here on post sometime next week. As much fun as this "vacation" has been, we are ready to find a place to call home.

Temporarily Delayed

Please bear with me folks as we complete our move to Hawaii.

The last few weeks have been kinda crazy and weird. We are currently what you would call "homeless" I guess. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Los Angeles right now, getting ready to fly to Hawaii where we will live for the next 3 years at least.

We don't have a house there yet, but we're hoping to get one on the Army base within a few weeks.

As soon as we get settled a bit in the hotel, I will try to figure out how to upload pictures from our camera and give you all a new update!

Polo anyone?

Last Sunday our family had the oportunity to attend a polo match at the Upatoi polo club (I personally had no idea that Columbus even HAD a polo club!) Dave and two other guys from his work were asked to do the flag ceremony at the opening...it wasn't pretty. LOL

First, one of the guys wore his regular hat instead of his beret, then this same guy was in charge of bringing the flags and instead of the American flag he brought their battallion flag! So they sent him back to the barracks to get the right flag. This caused the start time of the match to be delayed by about 10 minutes and when he never showed up, Dave and the other guy went ahead and did the ceremony using a flag the polo club had hanging on their bowery. It was too short so the GA state flag pole they were using had to be adjusted...basically both flags ended up being too short for the belts the guys were wearing. Because they were so flustered by Sgt Greene's screw-up, they forgot to practice or talk about what they were doing and the whole ceremony was....well, not good...LOL

Anyway, here's a picture of the girl's with one of the horses. I also have a video of the "ify" flag ceremony that Dave MIGHT let me post...or not...LOL

Columbus River Walk

We have lived here in Columbus for over 3 years and I had yet to walk the Georgia side of the River Walk. The River Walk is a walkway that goes along the banks of the Chattahoochee river (yes, as in the Alan Jackson song...we live way down yonder on the Chattahoochee...and yes, it DOES get hotter than a hoochie coochie...not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound right, does it?)
At Christmas time, on the Alabama side of the river, they have a Christmas light display that is really fun to walk through, so we have been on that side a few times. But this was my first time on the Georgia side. There are markers along the path that point out historic things and notes regarding Columbus and the river itself. It's kinds neat...although after walking 6 miles or so in this dang Georgia heat and humidity I was POOPED! I can't wait to get to Hawaii and feel those "trade winds" :)

In The Beginning...

I blog all the time on other websites, but since this version has become so popular with my friends and family AND since we're moving to Hawaii soon and will hopefully have lots of new experiences to share, I thought I'd give this a try.

Welcome to the new Kirby Family Follies blog!