Sugar Cookies, Christmas Eve

So this is a first for me.
We made sugar cookies for Christmas. Cookies shaped like Christmas trees and angels and gingerbread and stars. NOT! We made Christmas dolphins, honus, suns, butterflies, and sugar cookie fish. This is Hawai'i, not the continent. So yummy whatever the shape.


Super cute Celeste decorating. She was there with me from the beginning. Mixing, rolling, cookie cutting, baking, and frosting. She's a little artist in bloom so it was fun to see how precise she is even when decorating cookies.





Carol and Camille. Two tweens in a pod. Together since the 2nd grade and like the rest of us, loving the sugar!

Tevita O. Ka'ili, PhD

You know how in the introduction part of this blog, I wrote that I am starting from the beginning of our marriage? Yeah, well, I'm skipping ahead to the present for a little while.

December of 2007 has been THE GREATEST month of this year. There are tons and tons of fun and exciting things that happened. Too busy living the excitement, no time to blog. So gear up for a good read.

First and foremost

Tevita defended his dissertation on December 10th and has been awarded a PhD.

Photos of his defense:




It went very well. After the defense, Mimi Kahn, the Chair of his committee sent an email to the department stating that it was a "stellar" defense and an "excellent" dissertation.

Tevita worked long and hard for this. After seven years of grueling work at the University of Washington, five of which I vicariously experienced, he is all done. So proud of him.

After leaving Seattle, he went to Utah to spend time with Grandpa and the rest of the Ka'ili clan.

Grandpa Tonga

Grandpa Tonga is going to be 95 next year. Tevita moved from Tonga to Salt Lake City when he was just a boy and was raised by this man and his wife, the late 'Ana Malohifo'ou.

After his PhD was finalized, Ti flew to Salt Lake City and went straight to Grandpa's house.

Grandpa Malohifo'ou was and is a remarkable influence on my husband.

In the "Acknowledgements" section of his dissertation, Ti had this to say about his Grandfather:

"Tonga Poteki Malohifo'ou, taught me the invaluable lessons of endurance and persistence as he planted the seed to pursue a Ph.D. He is my hero and my
kindred spirit, I am who I am today because of him."