Sadly, 2012 had to come to an end. It was a great year of memories and good health.
The kids and Lindsey; we headed to her house for the annual mochi making
Cade getting a blessing of the powder
I wanted to get as many pics of the process this year... but still feel short.
Garrett's family has done mochi making every year since we've been dating/married. I know I didn't go the first year we dated (1995) but I think almost every year since I've gone. We do it using mochi machines; not the traditional pounding with the mallet. First the special mochi rice needs to be soaked overnight. Then Aunty Amy or Grandma Yamada is in charge of labeling names and how many pounds you brought.
Then Uncle Glenn times the machines to cook and pound the rice so it comes out smooth. We use a very modern "cranker" to make sure the mochi comes out even and uniform. We've found that 7, 5, and 3 cranks are the best sizes! :)
Some of the finished products
Kenny doesn't usually like Uncle Glenn because of his mustache. But, during mochi making, she didn't fuss at all! He took advantage and carried her too!
Silly kids with their oranges. They both ate sooo many!
After mochi making, we decided to hit the water for a bit. Most times, heading to the beach on Maui in the afternoon isn't the smartest thing to do. But, we took a chance and boy were we lucky! The wind usually picks up and comes around the mountain on the Lahaina side, so the waves get really choppy. It can be dangerous to be out on the water when the wind suddenly picks up because you can get stranded out there and pushed out to sea! AGH!
Garrett had to work on New Year's Eve, and come home not feeling well. We decided to stay home that night and take it easy, knowing on New Year's Day we would be out all day. We both thought it would be fun to document the hours before midnight.
7:41
Cade is VERY eager to start playing fireworks. He has become more interested in them this year and hears the neighbors all around us playing. We decided to watch some Netflix to kill some time, or else we thought we would've burned through the fireworks before midnight!
This is what $25 buys you: just right for us! Nothing too dangerous or loud
Kendyll was surprisingly very interested in holding some of the safer fireworks
Nice pic except for the closed eyes! Aiya! Our camera was having a hard time with the lighting!
We told the kids they could stay up as late as they wanted; I didn't think they would both make it! Still going strong at 9:24!
It was an absolutely gorgeous night- very mild temperature (probably in the high 60's) and very light wind. This was a little bad because the smoke lingered. Notice the waning gibbous moon! So beautiful! (Yes, Garrett had a small fire going! Sorry mom!)
10:27
Still wide away and going through more fireworks! I was surprised they still had some!
Alright- a pic with his eyes open!
In deep concentration...
11:34
Now the kids were starting to get a little tired and cold outside. Decided to end the fireworks and take a bath. We had anticipated finishing the fireworks at my Aunty Irene's house the next night, but Mother Nature had plans of her own.
We ended up watching all of our neighbor's fireworks from the deck. It was really nice (and loud) and lasted about 20 min; all we did was keep moving around the deck to see more! Cheap entertainment at its finest!
12:11
Happy 2013! As you can see- we are ready for bed. Kenny was already laying down in bed and I got her up to take the pic! :)
Unfortunately, the kids didn't sleep in much on New Year's morning! Bright and early at 6:15 am, Kenny came running into our room. Oh boy...
After the annual New Year's lunch with the Miyamoto family and friends, we ventured off to the beach again. Decided to press our luck a second time... low and behold another beautiful beach afternoon!
The kids eating Daddy's snacks
This is how Kenny spends her beach time- away from the "dirty" water and sand she says!
