Month: December 2006

We wish you a peaceful, joyful Chrismas and a prosperous New Year!

Click on the “>” to play silent night!

Trude created this beautiful Nativity scene.

Leilani’s cousins Lilith…

… and Kiron

We are off to Austin in Texas and will return on the 2nd. In the meantime you can (maybe) reach us on the cellphone, and possibly by email.

Andy wrote a post on his Kauai blog, I liked it so much that I paste part of it in here:

Happy Holidays wherever you are and enjoy the following pictures of light displays on Kauai from this year and last.

Inside the county building, there are Hawaiian themed Christmas displays crafted by a local woman.

Then, there’s a light parade in Lihue early in December, which I like to call “generators on parade,” but it is really fun for the children.

Finally, some people set up very nice lights on their house, from understated to over-the-top.

On December 10th Adam, Aditi and Jaya, Carey, Alain and Raya and the three of us hiked from the Moalepe trailhead at Olohena Road over the Kuilau ridge to the Arboretum at the end of Kuamoo Road. The weather was good, the babies as well as the adults enjoyed it, and we had a nice picnic at the shelter, where we were joined by a dog that we thought was lost. Turned out he was just too lazy to continue on with his owners and wanted to wait near the food until they came back…

Aditi, Adam and Carey

Andy and Leilani in front of Makaleha mountain

Same view different focus

Near the end of the hike

2 Weekends (12/9) ago we went over to Chris’s for a gingerbread party, and afterwards to Monicos for some Mexican food.

With Chris

Raya, Chris, Joseph, ? and Jaya

Jaya, Joseph and Leilani playing in the yard at Monicos

A few days after that we checked out the christmas displays and lights at the county building

Andy finally got a new camera, I picked it up at Cosco today, so the photos are going to get better again (hopefully :-)

Leilani talks a lot more now, and is harder to understand because she says so many different things, and some sound alike (apple and open for example). Book she says really well, pronounces it German “Buch”, but often I have no idea what she says. She is also throwing more tantrums, but I guess it is really frustrating when she says something and either we can’t understand, or we do understand and she can’t have it. I got the Dr Sears discipline book and am reading it, but a lot of the advice seems a little unpractical. I suppose I’ll get another book on a different approach called behavioral modification.

We are starting to get nervous about our trip, what to pack, the redeye flight, still no seat reservations…and Leilani is still not all healthy. I took her to see the doctor today again, he was not concerned, at least not about her. He gave her some vitamins, and me some really disgusting pills (I made the mistake of coughing there).

Randy and Jilda (nice camera, Randy):

Zen in the bouncy castle:

Jaya gets the photoshop art-brush treatment:

Looking down at the Taro Patch (note height of big tree):

Children around the bouncy castle, adults around the food tent:

Note the size of the large Albezia tree:

Simultaneous photos:

Chris and Chris with Joseph and newborn Alex:

Proof that I did take some pictures:

Smart parents brought strollers for the long walk to the Taro Patch:

Who needs a bouncy castle when you have a stuffed monkey. Joseph with Momo Judy and in the background Anna with (hidden) Joshua and Ajava with Ramana:

PS: Mahalo (Thanks) to all the guests who contributed their photos.

Andy’s dad found and sent us an old family picture. Andy is the one in yellow.

In relation to Leilani, the people are from left to righ in the back:

• Great-grandfather Herman Kass (deceased)
• Great-grandmother Ruth Kass (nee Massa) (deceased)
• Great-aunt Mary Beth Borsetti (nee Kass)
• Great-uncle Arnold (Arnie) Borsetti
• Grandmother Rosemary Kass (nee Sigler)
• Grandfather James (Jim) Kass

And in front, left to right:

• Father Andrew (Andy) Kass as a boy
• Uncle David Kass (nice collar :-)