Hangin' Loose With Lots to Say

So I finally resolved myself to the fact that by the time I got around to editing and posting all of my favorite Hawaii pictures, well, the year would be 2020. I hit the ground running when we returned from Paradise, and more important things required my attention. Sadly, photo editing was not one of them. So that you can catch a glimpse of the fun we had, I'm gonna cheat and send you here. Melody did a wonderful job capturing our children's beautiful faces while we were on vacation with them, and I'm so thankful to her for printing this one out for me...making it one of the most prized souvenirs from the trip (aside from the coconut-chocolate-covered macadamia nuts). :-)

I'm also gonna send you here because I think this photographer captured my family at its best. We laughed and giggled and were completely at east with Tammy, and I'm so grateful for the wonderful shots she snapped while we frolicked and played (and Facebooked!) on Waikiki Beach during our shoot.

We had the best trip. Too much to share in a blog post. And, really, I wouldn't want to. I'll relive the memories in the gazillion pictures I took. And through the eyes of the children. They have better memories anyway.





I love this one of Melody and I. My arm was reaching so far out behind me with the camera that I thought my shoulder might be dislocated. And she was doing her creative thing with the camera on her shoulder. I thought our kayak shot turned out pretty cool.






My sister is visiting us from Idaho, and Tuesday through Thursday we enjoyed "hangin' loose" (favorite new Hawaii phrase) with her and my niece and nephew. Kristin has rearranged a lot of my house without spending a dime (THANK YOU!) and has showcased her gift that has sparked her new business. Check her out. Even if you don't live in Idaho she may be able to give you online consultations. Or she can come to your home the next time she's in town.

Kristin and her family are spending the weekend with her inlaws, so for us the last 2 days have been spent doing a whole lot of nothin'...but at the same time it has been 2 days of a whole lot of somethin's. The kids and I spent yesterday "hangin' loose" in our jammies, and it rocked. Today we ventured out only as far as the grocery store and Home Depot, and we couldn't wait to return home and put our jammies back on.

Since our vacation I've been more intentional about doing what I say I'm gonna do. Not just committments at church or elsewhere, but more specifically with my family. I want to be a wife and mother of her word, even if it means digging deep and doing something I said I was gonna do but didn't actually have the intention of following through. Or hoping that the kids would forget so as to let me off the hook. Because even though they may seem to forget...they always remember at some point.

Anyway, it's something small but I think it's rather huge in Deven's world...for 3 months he's been requesting that I bake a pumpkin pie ever since he spied a can of pumpkin in the pantry. I kept putting him off...especially today when the last thing I wanted to do was to bake a pumpkin pie...but at the grocery store I gave in to his pleading and bought the ingredients. To see this kid slowly and deliberately enjoy every single bite topped with whipped cream brought tears to my eyes. He thanked me repeatedly for making his favorite dessert. It was then that I realized it's not really about the pie...but the act of following through...that means so much. Who would have thought that baking a pumpkin pie would remind me of such an important life lesson?

My sister and her family will spend another week with us starting Monday, and we're all looking forward to fun in the sun, laughing, and "hangin' loose." To see the cousins (ages almost 8, 7, 6, 5, and 4) bond and play as if a year hasn't passed fills my heart with joy. Family really is what it's all about...even with all of our dysfunctionalities and quirks (c'mon...you know your family has them, too!).

I've got a hefty "to do" list to accomplish this Fall. Lots of projects and little annoying things. I am excited and slightly overwhelmed at the lengthiness of the list. But I know that once I start crossing them off the weight will feel less and less. Organization is something that makes me so happy. One of those things is to learn to play my playlist song. I've loved the Indigo Girls for years...but I have a new-found appreciation for their amazing guitar-esque ways. And I can always stand to be a little bit more "closer to fine." Can't you?

Side note: A beautiful young lady found me on Facebook. Turns out I was her church camp counselor 9 years ago. She now lives in Canada. And I barely remembered her when she "friended" me. But she remembered me...and she told me how much I had touched her life that week in June of 2000. Hmm. And to think I thought my time at Camp Gilmont was kind of a waste. I guess you never know when you may be impacting someone's life...either positively or negatively.

Kind of makes me want to keep planting those seeds of kindness. Ya never know...they could find their way back someday.