{"id":3919,"date":"2024-02-06T11:37:45","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T16:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mayliang.us\/?p=3919"},"modified":"2025-08-06T14:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T18:15:09","slug":"christmas-in-hawaii-2023-dedicated-to-mommy-and-the-troops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/?p=3919","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in Hawaii 2023 (dedicated to &#8220;Mommy and the Troops&#8221;)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I wouldn&#8217;t call spending Christmas in Honolulu a tradition for us, exactly, but it is certainly lovely when the calendar for the 4 of us align and make it possible.  And so it was thisyear, when we spent 11 glorious days in paradise, enjoying the sun, ocean, and surf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The theme for this year&#8217;s stay in Hawaii was that all good things were dedicated to &#8220;Mommy and the troops.&#8221;  (Don&#8217;t ask because I don&#8217;t have a good explanation.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was amusing when the hotel staff continually apologized for the poor weather we had to suffer through.  (And by &#8220;suffer through,&#8221; I mean cloudy days with occasional rain and in the low 70s.  Terrible for December. :))  Although I am forced to admit that there was one morning when the rain was coming down pretty hard.  Three of us were already in the water surfing, so getting wet was a somewhat irrelevant issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Highlights included surfing lessons (always!), walks around Diamondhead, family time, and great food.  The island aloha vibe is real and welcoming.  And the Pacific Ocean (especially when it&#8217;s warm) makes all other oceans look inferior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jim and Jade tied for Mario Party champion, but every championship won by any member of the family was dedicated to me and the troops.  Such an honor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a short post because anything I can say about the loveliness of Hawaii I have already said in previous posts.  So I will leave you with an assortment of photos of Christmas and of Christmas in Hawaii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!!  Belated best wishes for the New Year!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5341-scaled.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" data-attachment-id=\"3915\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/?attachment_id=3915\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5341-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1920\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 13 Pro&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1703494622&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;5.7&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.000626174076393&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_5341\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;surfing on Christmas morning&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5341-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5341-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5341-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1920\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3915\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5341-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5341-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5341-scaled.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">surfing on Christmas morning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5351-scaled.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" data-attachment-id=\"3916\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/?attachment_id=3916\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5351-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1920\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 13 Pro&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1703494749&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;9&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;32&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0018115942029&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_5351\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5351-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5351-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5351-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1920\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3916\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5351-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5351-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5351-scaled.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" data-attachment-id=\"3914\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/?attachment_id=3914\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1920\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 12 Pro&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1702798372&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;4.2&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;32&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00103842159917&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_7655\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Waikiki&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1920\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3914\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Waikiki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5998-scaled.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" data-attachment-id=\"3913\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/?attachment_id=3913\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5998-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"2560,1920\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;iPhone 12 Pro Max&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1703409576&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;2.71&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;320&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.025&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IMG_5998\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Christmas Eve brunch&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5998-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5998-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5998-scaled.jpg?resize=2560%2C1920\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3913\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5998-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5998-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_5998-scaled.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Christmas Eve brunch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><\/code><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I wouldn&#8217;t call spending Christmas in Honolulu a tradition for us, exactly, but it is certainly lovely when the calendar for the 4 of us align and make it possible. And so it was thisyear, when we spent 11 glorious days in paradise, enjoying the sun, ocean, and surf. The theme for this year&#8217;s stay [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,82,4,26],"tags":[327,328,332],"class_list":["post-3919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-fun","category-holidays","category-honolulu","tag-family","tag-holidays","tag-honolulu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mayliang.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/IMG_7655-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p23QXm-11d","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3919"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3923,"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3919\/revisions\/3923"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mayliang.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}