At least we got lunch before the car died on the side of the road. Also photographic evidence of Santa's existence.

We decided to go up to the North Shore today to see the big waves. Surf report said 25 foot waves today. We had a nice lunch at Haleiwa Joe's and as soon as we left the parking lot, the BMW up and died on the side of the road. We couldn't have broken down farther away from home. We think it's the alternator. Thank goodness the weather was nice because we waited over an hour for the tow truck to show up. Which... I have to wonder where the heck he was because you could have driven from anywhere on the island in less time than that. Finally he came with a flat bed truck so we thought the four of us were going to ride in the Beemer back to Kaneohe, but he said that's illegal y'all are ridin in the cab with me.

Mom and I took one look at the cab and started cracking up because - seriously? we have to ride in THAT? Hahaha. The guys were still loading the car on the back and Mom and I were taking photos with her iPhone of the cab and laughing our heads off. Poor Mom and Dad were all scrunched up in the back seat and all of us went bouncing down the road all the way back to Kaneohe.

The fun never ends.

But we had a great day yesterday! We woke up and discovered that Santa had visited our house during the night.

Santa left us that big grill in the box over there.

First things first, though, we had to make monkey bread! It's a New family tradition to have monkey bread on Christmas morning. This year's turned out especially good, thanks to the lake of butter we cooked it in. I used this recipe. YUMMM! It didn't last very long. There was just a little chunk left that we ate this morning.

Then we tackled the presents under the tree. I got a nice new computer from Adam, and he and I got a new digital video camera. Adam is also getting a new alternator for the BMW for Christmas. Haha. Mom and Dad spoiled us with gifts too (including the grill - thanks Mom and Dad!).

The Little Princess is going to be spoiled for sure because she is not even born yet and she's already receiving gifts! Mom and Dad gave us a couple baby things, and Aunt Katie and Uncle Kelly gave her the cutest little outfit! Her first designer clothes OF COURSE came from Aunt Katie.

The cuteness - let me show it to you. The jacket has little monkey ears on it!

Tee!

After the presents we headed over to the beach for a walk in the sand, then came home to start dinner. We (and by we I mean Mom) picked the most elaborate recipes available from Martha Stewart despite my protests! We had a beef rib roast with rosemary, a green bean casserole that required us to dirty about 7 different dishes, and mashed potatoes (you know your meal was hard to prepare when mashed potatoes are the easy part). We were alternately cracking up over the mess and complexity of the recipes, flinging butter and various herbs around the kitchen, praying to Martha, and collapsing on the couch for 5 minute breaks. The whole meal took about 4 hours to put together. Perhaps it is not really as difficult as we made it. Then again, Martha makes everything look and sound easy, and she has people to clean up her kitchen.

The roast before it went in the oven. We did not get a picture of it after it was done. We were too busy serving it up and digging in!

I did get a picture of my plate before I started eating. Rib roast with horseradish & creme fraiche, carrots & onions, green bean casserole (HOME FRICKIN' MADE, YO), and mashed potatoes with cream cheese and BUTTER! Mmmmm. Mom and I both agreed it was worth the time it took to prepare. It was one of the best meals I've had, monkey bread excepted.