Mele Kalikimaka came early for the Mellor family. We were invited to Maui, Hawaii by one of our closest friends, Kristina Pluta, to celebrate her upcoming 40th birthday. Not sure the Mellors could ever turn down a birthday celebration… or Hawaii. And, best of all, kids were invited. That means Charlotte was included on this Hawaiian extravaganza. (Phew, I can’t be the only one with a baby on the beach OR a 5 hour flight.) It was a wonderful eight days with amazing friends, to say the least.
Our dear friend, Kristina, likes to say “it takes a village” and I couldn’t agree more. It not only takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to ring in your 40th. Cheers and happy birthday, Kristina! Thank you for the invite and thank you more for the memories we created. Charlotte was surrounded by her village and we all walked away more enriched and full of gratitude for having such beautiful people in our lives. One of our highlights from the trip was Kristina’s tradition of “highs, lows, and gratitudes” – a way to think about what made your day great and what could make your day better. We did this every night at dinner which led to great conversation and also gave us perspective on what really matters. John was only able to stay for half of the time because of work but thank goodness I had the village to help out with Charlotte. Thanks and love to Kristina, Mark, Jansen, Brett, Averi, Maxx, Vicki, Dennis, Brian, and Carolynn.
Charlotte and Maxx, twins for the day.
Jansen is a stud.
I guess he’s trying to work.
Mark and Kristina
Jansen, Kristina, Brett, and Maxx
Averi, Maxx, and Brett
Charlotte’s first beach.
Day 6 of Hawaii… Now eating sand.
Bye bye Hawaii, until next time…