My DaughterJordan

It is amazing how quickly the last four years have flown by.  This was the scene at our home way back then.

It was so sad to say goodbye.  We've only seen her a handful of times since then.  She has served in the Navy, moved to Hawaii in four short years.  Now, her time in the Navy is over.  We're very proud of our girl!  Her birthday was a few weeks ago, and Mike blessed me and the girls with a trip to see her.

Ivy, Eva, and Joy haven't flown since they came home from China.  So, they were very excited about their long travels to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

But, after the layover in Denver, they had enough of flying.  After all, there are only so many Star Wars movies to watch on the airplane.  We They were exhausted after 12 hours of flying.  Eva begged to go to sleep at 6:00 pm Hawaii time, but I refused her until 8:00.  The reason...they were all up at 6:00 am the next morning.  At least we had a beautiful place to hang out at.

Yes, the water is really this turquoise.

And, in the evenings, we hung out, laughed, and watched movies together.

Jordan took us to a different beach almost every day we were there.  After too many days of big waves, we needed a break.  Some of them were scary for my two youngest.

Eva didn't make it in the water at the above beach.

And Jordan wouldn't let the girls go out very far at this beach.  She was exhausted after getting out of the water.

One night, we went to a Luau.  It was a great time, too.

After watching the various island dances, Jordan asked Joy if she could hula.  She replied, "That's a whole lot of butt shaking."  She says it like it is.

I'm not a fan of pig, pork, or any meat cooked in the ground.  I also have a hard time looking the animal in the eye before I eat it.  I don't know why.  My girls enjoyed it, though.

Speaking of food...I had my fill of Asian.  We went to a hot pot and another Chinese restaurant.  Very tasty.  I love all the flavor.

And, of course, the shaved ice.  Did you know that you put sweetened condensed milk on top?  Who knew?  It was so good!

We also had the expensive, unmentionables.  So I won't mention them, how much they cost, or how many I ate.

Snorkeling.  A first for the girls unless you count the swimming pool.  But, there are no colorful fish at the pool.

Hanauma Bay

And, I never want to go to Honolulu without going to Pearl Harbor.  I think I would get teary eyed every single time.

I sure miss Jordan so much already.  She will be in Hawaii until next year.  And, hopefully she will be much closer. 

 Selfie.  Couldn't resist because she is so beautiful.

Photos of Life

I admit that I have not been very faithful at snapping pictures like I used to be.  Life just gets busy and it quickly passes by.  I think I need to slow down.  I sat down the other night with the girls' old iPhone that they use as a camera.  I always find amazing things on there.  I love that every picture isn't perfect.  But, it tells a story...a moment.  Some pictures are just random, crazy.  Others have deeper meaning.

Sisters.  What could be better than having each other?

I'm enjoying our first very warm day of the year.

Ivy, Eva, and Joy spend a lot of time playing music... daily.

Would you believe this is colored pencil shavings?  Who would have thought they would make such an interesting photo?

Virginia scenery.  It's beautiful here.  I need to take time to look at it more often.

Pets are good.  Growing up, I always had a pet.  Hobo and Chip aren't ours, but we get to see a lot of these crazy dogs.

Just hanging out, coloring.  There is such a comfortableness about this scene.

I'm not sure what to say about this.  We live in the country.  Dogs bring things out of the woods.  The girls find them.

The girls find lots of things.  Eva, especially.  One day she was very thrilled by the fact that she actually caught a mouse out in the woods...with her bare hands.  My question is why would she want to?  She brought it in the house to show me.  Yep.  Placed it right on my kitchen counter...in a baggie.

She was told to immediately release it back into the woods.

 Random Joy

Loving baby Abraham

Life of Grandmother

I never realized the love I'd feel for my grandchild.  Everyone told me it would be different.  I didn't understand.  Until now.

  

Just home.

Meeting Great-Grandmother.

Aunts and Uncle

After first bath.  Crazy how much Abraham looks like both of his parents.

First soccer game...of course.

 Just hanging out with the grandparents.

Seth and Tia let us watch him for maybe 90 minutes one day.  But, they missed their "sidekick" and quickly came home.

I Have A New Title

I've always been a daughter, sister, grand-daughter, niece.  Through my life, I've added other important titles.  Wife, aunt, and mother (to this young man, for instance).

Over the last few years I've added Mother-In-Law.  

And yesterday, I became Grandmother.

I knew he'd be beautiful.