The big hike

Playdate

Pearce and Max Ohki.

Christmas Day 2010

Christmas Morning!!!

Pearce must have been a good boy this year.

Santa leaves all his presents unwrapped for Pearce.

Pearce starts opening presents.

Pearce is very slow and careful not to rip the paper.

And so Christmas morning is the longest morning of our lives.

Tool set!

What could it be?

Our little Christmas Candy Cane!

Pearce posing with his gingerbread house he made with Tutu.

Grandma and Grandpa Piller sent us some yummy Christmas goodies in these festive boxes.


Christmas Dinner with almost the hole Communist Block.

Hao from Vietnam holding Emry.

Emry's close ups.

Melinda from Hungary, Olga from Russia, Heber from Texas, Pearce from Hawaii, Eric from Arizona, Wendi from Canada, Hao from Vietnam, and Di from China. All we needed was a guest from North Korea and Cuba to complete the remaining old communist block at our Christmas dinner.

Christmas Eve 2010

We went to Honolulu to find some Christmas Eve Cheer.

We stopped to see the largest gingerbread town.

And stopped to see the largest Christmas sandcastle.

Back home, Pearce made and decorated cookies for Santa.

Pearce wrote his own note to Santa; Dear Santa, Please remember to close the door. Thanks for the presents. Love Pearce.

Phillips family time

With Eric's parents and Grandma here for the blessing the rest of the Phillips gang, Uncle Todd, Aunt Camille, and cousins Joci, Brin, and Amelia, came out to Hawaii for some fun in the sun. Eric took the week off to play along, while Emry and I stayed home to recover.

Pearce, Amelia, Brin, and Joci.

Connor, Joci, Pearce, Amelia and Brin.

Watching the dolphins at the Oriental Hotel.

At the beach in Waikiki. Connor, Sean and Pearce.

Emry and I met the everyone for dinner.

Eric and Connor.

Pearce and Tutu Jane.

Papa David and Pearce.

Last stop was to see Santa Claus at the Ala Moana Mall.

Emry's blessing day

We decided to have Emry's blessing in December, hoping my Dad would recover from his brain surgery by then. Unfortunately he didn't and so his doctors denied our request for him to fly out to Honolulu. I still wanted my parents to feel apart of Emry's special day, so I asked my Mom to pick out a blessing dress for her to wear. My Mom sent it with Jane and David.

The blessing dress hanging in Emry's room.

Perfectly long and delicate. Just like Emry.

After the blessing. Wendi, Eric, Connor {13}, Pearce {4}, and Ermy {1 month}. Special thanks to those who participated along with Eric in bless Emry: Marlo Lopez, Brian Walter, Derick Hatch, Heber Moulton, Bishop Skinner, and David Phillips.

In front of the historical Honolulu Tabernacle. Pearce, Connor, Wendi, Eric, Emry, Jane, David and GG Phillips.

In front of the Banyan Tree.

Proud Daddy and his girl.

Thankful Momma and Emry.

At The Banyan Tree Plaza for Ermy's blessing after party. Decorated in pinks, whites and browns with the help of Olga, Heber, Darrick and Kellie. Thanks guys.

GG Phillips, Wendi, Kellie, Darrick, Addison, Chelsey, Eric and Connor.

Eric, Connor, Di, Tammy, Marty, Olga, Heber and Mike.

Pearce, Darrick, Kellie, Addison, Olga, Wendi, Brian, Reese, and Connor.

Chocolate cupcakes filled with coconut chocolate yum centers by Kellie Hatch, who is a baking diva and guru!

Baby Eclairs!

We call Emry Claire 'Eclair' as her nickname. This is kind of a family joke because one of our Piller family's favorite desserts is an heirloom eclair recipe that my Gramy (Piller-Jamison) at age 81 still makes every weekend. I have to confess these are not the coveted Piller heirloom eclairs, just mass-produced mini eclairs from the Costco freezer section.

At the end of the party, Jane and David gave me a beautiful pair of pearl earrings. This is their tradition, to give the Mom of a new grand-baby pearl jewelry. Thank you Jane and David!

This turned out to be a perfect day shared with our family and friends. We feel truly blessed to have Emry in our family and excited to watch her grow.