Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
~Philippians 3:12
These snails were right out our lanai this morning... the picture does not EVEN come close to telling the actual size; one fit into Syrah's entire hand. It made me think of our dear friends Samuel & Micah!
Both Billy and I woke very early (according to Hawaii time) and this was him taking a walk back from the beach before any other people were seen this morning!
One of the many visitors out our lanai this morning.
Sadie found this little gecko; he is shedding his skin! The girls spotted a few others today too! This little guy was released as he was found.
Lauren & Eric before breakfast.
LOVE this picture... seriously... I am SO blessed!
Can you see it? Beautiful!
We spent HOURS at the pool today! Most of which was time without any other people there!
For many, many months my Grandma has been planning a family trip to Maui for all of us. At times we wondered if the trip was going to happen, but Grandma was insistent that this trip was very important to her and that she wanted to be on the beach!!! So, after many uncertainties, today we left for Maui. The fact we were even going was HUGE to us... what a great experience for our family as a unit and for all of our family together (my Grandma, Mom, Brother and Sister-in-Law). So, to find out that my grandma was flying us ALL first class was a HUGE surprise! I have never (and can't imagine again) flow in first class. Seriously, talk about feeling spoiled.
Another surprise... once we got off the plane there was a beautiful women waiting to give the girls leis - what a treat it was for them, she even knew their names!!
Here are the girls getting their leis.
The girls with Grandma Connie (I was NOT very ready with my camera so not the greatest shots).
Waiting for the luggage we got a shot with the girls and Grandma Valerie.
When we arrived at the resort Sadie went to take in the incredible view.
The girls found a good place for the leis overnight!
This is the view from our patio (All I keep thinking is... really? seriously? is this real? and then I go too "and he saw all and it was good"
To top the night off Billy and I had a super romantic dinner... it will blow your mind. So hold on...
yep, Captain Crunch!!!
It was a long day... up by 4am, 5+hr flight, long drive to resort, hours in the ocean... all lead to the girls in bed VERY early according to Hawaii time, but VERY late according to home time. Which lead us to having this romantic dinner once they were tucked in.
I honestly hope we are basking at the beach and don't have any further time to post updates, but should we have an early night in... I will try to post a pic or two.
I don't know how I can have a calendar that looks like this:
yet have so few pictures to share. I missed so many photo's and events this month: family gatherings (both sides of our families), my Mom's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM), a garage sale with some awesomely fun friends and with all that written on the calendar there is more I am sure I missed too!
This summer was a summer that taught the lesson in the saying "the best laid plans..." (which the meaning of the phrase itself it quite interesting - you can read it here), but we adapted to lots of change and most of all enjoyed all of the moments we shared with each-other and others.
One big event missed this summer was the visit we had with Grandpa Bill & Grandma Cindy who stayed with us for a few days and took the girls one day on quite the adventure. The girls painted pottery (well, Grandpa and Syrah did Sadie made some amazing art out of glass). Then they went fishing for the very first time. At the start of summer the girls made a list of things they wanted to do this summer and "fishing with Grandpa Bill" was on this list... well, now they get to check that one off:
Here they are before the fishing fun started (thanks to Grandpa for taking this picture with his phone).
Syrah snagged a BIG fish; so much so that Grandpa had to take over cause the fish was pulling on her so hard. Unfortunately the line eventually got stuck on a log, so they never got to see how big it was, but Syrah is still pretty excited about it!!
We had plans to go to the Aquasox (minor league baseball and a ton of fun) this summer, but it never happened (even with tickets in hand). However, we didn't have plans to go to the Mariner's Game and that did happen:
It's been a long time since the girls have gone and they were both excited, not to mention the seats we were given (Thanks to Uncle Daren) were awesome!!
Serious HOT DOG! wow!
With the end of summer come fall soccer; practices started a few weeks ago:
Team meeting with the coach!
All kids are ready for drills!
Syrah taking a break after a long practice.
I had a goal to get our Disneyland scrapbooks done (each girl is making her own) before summer was over... yes, that says 2007! We made it about half way through, so this goal won't be met, but we will get them done in due time (whatever that means).
So as we turn the page to September this week, we say goodbye to summer!
sewing table cloths - I have two sewing machines that sadly have done nothing but collect dust; both had a "clog" in them that I could not muster the patience to fix. Luckily, Sadie came to the rescue and fixed them both!!! Now that they are working a friend and I were thinking we might have a project day sometime and make table clothes. I have a few other ideas too which I am excited about!
lyrics to Speak O Lord - this song was part of our worship at Church on Sunday and the words just rang in my ears over and over and over... I have listed the lyrics and a link to the song should you want to hear it. It is an amazing song and also is serving to me as a daily prayer right now!
Speak, O Lord, as we come to You, To receive the food of Your holy word. Take Your truth, plant it deep in us; Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today, In our acts of love and our deeds of faith. Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us all your purposes, For Your glory.
Teach us Lord full obedience, Holy reverence, true humility. Test our thoughts and our attitudes, In the radiance of Your purity. Cause our faith to rise,
Cause our eyes to see, Your majestic love and authority. Words of power that can never fail; Let their truth prevail over unbelief.
Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds; Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us. Truths unchanged from the dawn of time, That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises; And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us. Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built, And the earth is filled with Your glory.
how to keep cat from digging indoor plants - I think the google search explains the problem. Ultimately, the things we have tried have not worked, so the plant is sitting in the garage. Any suggestions??? (we changed the soil, used cayenne pepper, used bitter apple spray)
Last week the girls and I took Ava to the dog beach in Edmonds. We had gone once before, but we were all a little more nervous the first time. Ava had a blast...
In July our family didn't have a ton of family time together so we escaped for a day to do something really special together. We went to the Olympic Game Farm in Sequim, WA. I remember going to the game farm when I was the girls age and Bill and I have gone twice; once when Sadie was really little and once when Syrah was just a baby (she doesn't remember).
We took the ferry over in the morning (which again is a special treat because ferry rates anymore are crazy!)
Here are the girls on the top deck - all smiles as we go for our adventure!
It took quite a while to get there, but the scenery was beautiful; both girls feel asleep on the way there and Sadie woke up just in time to get a glimpse a road sign directing us to the Farm.
Our "adventure" was a surprise to them and so they were both overjoyed to find out where we were!
The Olympic Game Farm is a drive through farm that was founded as a rescue safe haven for old film animals; to read more about the history of this farm click here. Originally it was mostly circus bears and large cats that were featured in movies or on tv. Now however it is a rescue for all kinds of animals and also a buffalo farm.
The unique part of this farm is the hands on ability to feed the animals, the lamas, zebras, buffalo and Elk that roam the farm all know it is feeding time when the cars come through. This is Sadie hesitantly feeding a yak... they have the worst breath ever!
This is a old film star, do you recognize him? There are several bears on the properly and although they are fenced in they will are willing to wave or stand up in order for you to throw them some bread.
Pictures were a bit hard as you can imagine, but here is a large female Elk getting a treat from Syrah.
And the buffalo - I have a lot of pictures that look just like this!
Had to share the photo of the Elk and the girls... the Elk actually get pretty aggressive (not in a mean way, but I want some food way and they are HUGE!).
We had a great day and lots of laughs, you can tell that economically this Farm is not the same as it use to be, but they are still rescuing and doing what they can. Just last March they took in a bear cub that had been separated and unsuccessful reunited with it's mother. The hope is to get it strong enough to release back into the wild.
On our way home we stopped at a little shop on the side of an undeveloped road where they had converted old train cars into an ice cream shop! Enjoying some ice cream!
Here are the girls standing in one of the old cars.
Hope you can visit the Olympic Game Farm sometime too!
