We're baaaacckkkkkk!!!!

Aloha friends and family we ARE home. I have been trying for the past hour to download photos to my blog and I officially give up today. Sorry. :( I will tell you we had the BEST time. It was such a good time for our family to get away, so badly needed. Just the break from phones, computers, T.V., work etc. was priceless. We got back Sunday afternoon and are having a hard time with the fast paced week ahead of us. Laundry everywhere, sleep messed up from changing twice in the last two weeks and just trying to finish our last two weeks of school and all that entails. I kept a daily travel journal while on our trip so I will leave you with a little bit of what I wrote. :) Have a great week and I will try with the photos again tomorrow when I have more patience.

Sunday April 25th-Beautiful day in San Pedro to sail away in. Warm sun and in the 70's. Fun to see our family down here before we left.

Monday April 26th- Woke up to rough seas, poor Morgan was so pale and sweating through her clothes with sea sickness so we spent the morning in the Dr.'s office on board. They gave us good drugs and so Monday we slept the day away and woke up feeling much better. Ryanne LOVES kids club and is there ALL the time. :)

Tuesday April 27th- Much calmer seas and so everyone is feeling good. We LOVE our cabin, the people on board and the kids are loving all the salads and fresh fruit.

Wednesday April 28th- Weather warming up fast although its a bit rough today, not to bad though. Accosted a women in a bathroom stall thinking it was Ryanne as I flung open the door. Opppssss........Then later in the day Ryanne locked herself in my mother in laws cabin bathroom and the lock broke so as she freaked I called for help.

Thursday April 29th-Calmer seas all night, thank you God! 4th day at sea and we are starting to wonder what the rest of the world is up too. We got so excited when we saw two cargo ships pass by, sad really. ;) We are loving having a balcony and sleeping with it open every night. We got a complaint from the front desk informing us the people below us don't like our kids so up and about early in the morning. Ooppss, sorry they are on CA time still. :(

Friday April 30th Hilo- Best day every! We went to the volcano and walked through a lush rain forest area and through a lava tube. Amazing! Then we went with friends to black sands beach and watched the turtles swimming the surf. Must have been over a dozen of them. They loved watching us just as much I think. I won't even begin to tell you how Dan and John smuggled a little black sand off the beach for our jar. Yikes! On our way back to the ship we stopped in this little coffee mill and met the nicest people. We stayed and chatted for an hour and bought lots of yummy organic coffee for Dan and his crew back at work. As we dropped off the rental car Ryanne informed us she "lost" her gum and with 84 degrees and leather seats I will let you do the math. Enough said right?

Saturday May 1st Kauai- This was one of those days that won't do me justice even trying to relive for you. I will say the kayaking up a fresh water river for 2 miles rocked my world and I just kept thanking God that physically I was there and present and able to do this amazing thing. What a treat. We then hiked through the jungle/rain forest for over 2 miles stopping to check out coffee beans, birds and allowing Morgan, Becca and Ryanne to catch enormous frogs. We stopped at a waterfall and rope swing and had a blast launching into the water. Oh Ya' so much fun!!!! We ended our day at Duke's barefoot restaurant right on the water. Then walked over and swam and played on the beach. We were so tired we could barely eat dinner that night. This is my favorite island so far and I told Dan we are SOOO moving here someday. ;)

Sunday May 2nd Honolulu- We pulled into port just in time to meet a huge storm front. Still warm and humid but man did it rain HARD all day. It didn't stop us from completely enjoying our time over at pearl harbor and swimming at Waikiki beach. Then off to a great luau where Betty and the girls got on stage to dance. ;) Oh and FYI I am up at 4am since I am on CA time still. Uggghhhh!!!!!!

Monday May 3 Maui-Today the sun was out as we headed into Maui to meet our snorkel boat. We headed out to Molokoni crater to snorkel but not before this little girl Katie puked on the boat as did Ryanne and a couple other guys in the back. Blaaaahhhh! Sea sick meds were flying like crazy. ;) We then headed over to this AMAZING barrier reef and swam with the turtles. I can't say enough about that experience. I felt so small out there with all those fish, turtles and so vulnerable to the sea and all it held. Once I pushed that aside mentally I was so in awe and felt small in a good way. the girls LOVED this time and I could barely get them back in the boat. We even saw two mama whales and their calves. Thank you Lord! We ended our day by shopping, playing in the surf and collecting sea glass. Blessed time!

I won't bore you with any more journal entries. Those were just a few. Maybe later I will tell you how Ryanne told this man on the boat who had a long beard and round belly that her Grandma said he looked like Santa or the time she thought our waiter was in our bathroom when it was really Dan and she had this full conversation with "Armindo" through the door. ;) The girls made lots of new friends from all over the globe and Morgan even got a chance to share the Lord with her little friend Lauren from London. So fun. :)

Bon Voyage!!!

Dan's mom and I took the girls to get their first pedicure today so I guess that means we are now officially ready to go on our cruise tomorrow. ;) I will miss reading all your blogs while I am away but plan on catching up when I get back. I will take lots of pictures to share and also journal in case something really exciting happens like Dan having to pee on me to kill a jelly fish sting. :)

BON VOYAGE!! HAWAII HERE WE COME!!! Oh and if your some crazy blog stalker that breaks into homes after people post they are going away, don't bother we already thought of that. We have family staying at the house for us, a shot gun by the door, an alarm system and attack killer dogs. OK maybe not the killer dogs (we have cats) but they are ferocious. We also do have an alarm and the shot gun? You will have to find out for yourself.

I LOVE Birthdays!

I love birthdays! My birthday, your birthday, his birthday over there. They are just fun. I have never understood why people lie about their age either I mean you couldn't pay me enough to be in my early 20's again. And I am just certain that if we are still all here my 40's are gonna rock even more than my 30's have.

I turned 36 yesterday and was so excited cause the alternative means I'm not here with you lovely people to entertain you with my random blog. ;) Plus Dan is going to be 40 in July and well that is just plain fun to bug him about. He's hot though so I guess 40 is the new 20 or something like that. :)

My day started off with my husband coming home after three days and that was all it took to make my day. I was so glad to just hang with him. The cards the girls made me, the singing, the massage I went and got and the surprise gifts from family and friends not to mention lunch out with friends, and then dinner and video games with Jason, Ruth and Taylor to round out my day really helped too! :)

Thank you to everyone who stopped by, emailed, sent cards, text me, gave thoughtful gifts and who prayed for me yesterday. So blessed to be here another year to see God's transformation in my life and see what he has for me to do while I am here serving him. I always look forward to the growth and the change another year brings and oh so thankful to be healthy at my one year mark of no meds this week. Love you guys!

"The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slow, and lie about your age."
Lucille Ball

Chocolate by Carolyn

OK so a new business went up here in our little town and I have been dying to go in and check it out. Since I don't eat dairy or sugar I have been avoiding the Chocolate store. But it just so happened I needed a little thank you for our travel agent and I didn't want to send the usual flowers; I wanted something unique and special. I got just that when I popped into Chocolate by Carolyn's shop on Wed. afternoon. Each chocolate is hand made right there in the little shop and unfortunately my pictures don't do them justice cause they are beautiful! They smell, taste (yes I cheated on one free sample ;) and look amazing. The other thing that is amazing is how nice the owner is. She greeted me when I walked in and right away I noticed the prayer request dry erase board hanging on her wall, they go to our church! So fun to meet another sister in Christ who just so happens to deal in my very favorite thing.........CHOCOLATE!
Carolyn also makes dipped apples, fudge, almond butter toffee and truffles. You get to hand pick your chocolates, pick the box and ribbon you like and then...... she wraps them up for you and off you go with a special little something for someone. :)
If you have a teacher, pastor, new mama, a friend or neighbor that just needs a little lift stop in and get them a little box. The boxes start at $6.00.

I love when you can support a business in your own small town and at the same time find something special and unique that not everyone is getting somewhere else.

So if you are out and about please go by Carolyn's and support her yummy endeavor.

She is at 35268 Yucaipa Blvd. Right up there near the corner of Yucaipa Blvd. and Bryant Street. You'll get great chocolate, a warm smile and welcome and you can see who around town needs you to be praying for them. :)

Our Weekend..........

Dan did the SuperFrog (Navy Seal) Half Iron Man down in Coronado this past weekend and shaved an hour off his time from last year's half Iron Man.

The girls and I had fun cheering him on along with our friend Eric who also competed. They both did great.

The weather was sunny and nice when we first got down there but by Sunday at 5am the storm was rolling in and standing on the beach was cooolllllllllllld! The girls hung in there and were troopers once again about getting up at 4am to cheer on their daddy.

We were all so tired we opted to stay another night and come home Monday afternoon so we could rest and just enjoy our time. Yet another great thing about home schooling. :) Dan's mom was also in San Diego so we got to spend time with her and the girls LOVED it! :)

Good job Dan, so proud of you.

Just Because..............

Just because they were so excited to search for their hidden Easter baskets.............. Just because they were thrilled to get new books and night gowns..........
Just because they were excited to wear new dresses.............................

Just because they were excited to have their daddy come home that morning..............

Just because I LOVE them and after seeing this photo of them next to me realize just how big they are actually getting...................
Just because. :)

Some Easter Fun.............

We had a really busy week but it was full of fun stuff. We made carrot cake bites and contrary to what Morgan said,"Mom those look like bunnies on top." They are supposed to be hearts. ;)We then got out some cute bags and Easter bobbles and wrapped them up to deliver to friends, coaches etc.
The girls got a special Easter delivery yesterday from their papa. It was one of those edible arrangements. Can I just say that I think this was probably the most exciting gift that has come to our door. No really, the girls left it out all morning and ate practically the entire thing. They loved munching on the dark chocolate covered bunnies and the cantaloupe flowers. And mama here much more enjoyed watching them eat fruit than candy. ;) I am going to remember this for future gift ideas instead of real flowers.
We took some time to decorate eggs and the girls put their own special touch to each one.

So cute, so fun and so excited to spend tomorrow with my friends and family. I LOVE Easter. it blesses me. It reminds me. It makes the cross come alive for me. I pray Easter is more than egg hunts and jelly beans for you this year but rather a time to reflect on God's goodness and love for you. He is RISEN and he loves you! :)

HAPPY EASTER!