News
Obama and family have a laid back Christmas in Hawaii
Many of the service members stationed at Marine Corps Base Hawaii have deployed to Afghanistan, as well as Iraq, where the last American troops were withdrawn earlier this month.
Back in the Washington area, Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill Biden spent Christmas visiting wounded service members and their families at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Obama also called 10 service members stationed around the world, two from each branch of the military, on Christmas Eve. The White House said he thanked them for their service and the sacrifice of being away from their families at the holidays.
The Obamas were wrapping up their Christmas festivities with dinner at the rental home with friends and family. Among those joining the first family in Hawaii are the president’s sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who lives on Oahu, and several friends Obama has known since high school.
The president has kept a low profile since arriving in Hawaii on Friday evening to start a vacation delayed by the stalemate in Washington over extending payroll tax cuts. He has no public events planned, and his only outings are expected to be to the golf course or to take his daughters for shave ice, a Hawaiian snow cone.
The Obamas are expected to return to Washington shortly after New Year’s Day.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
