Mountain Man

Last weekend, Erik trucked off into the wilderness with three buddies and returned with an antelope. The two of us butchered it on the kitchen counter and added pork fat to the grainy pieces to grind into antelope burger. (Can you believe I helped do that???)

This weekend, he set off by himself - deeper into the wilderness - in search of a bull elk. He found one yesterday afternoon as he summited Mount Randolph (several hours away from his car.) He bugled the elk closer, and shot him at a distance of just 30 yards. Then it started to storm. Thunder, lightening, drenching rain.... and he was at the top of a mountain. He waited out a series of frightening storms, then quartered the 5X5 bull and carried out what he was able to shoulder on his own. By the time he reached the car it was 2:00 in the morning. He was freezing cold, and hoarse from singing at the top of his lungs as he tried to ward off any grizzly bears. Meanwhile, his wife is lying awake, wondering if he has been eaten by the aforementioned grizzly bears! He came home at 3:00, and shivered his way to a short sleep. This morning, he gathered up a few of his hunting friends and they headed back to retrieve Erik's elk. The womenfolk stayed home to care for the babies and enjoy a walk together... during which we speculated about whether some of the other men might spy elk of their own! We also speculated about the possibility of all four of them being mauled by a grizzly, and leaving seven children and two on the way to be raised by four widowed mamas. Well... I don't know about the grizzlies... but one of the girls received a call from her hubby two hours ago that Ryan (Block) and Dan (Tolson) had followed some bugling bulls off the trail. It is now 10:00. Hmmmm.....

Tomorrow is my 28th birthday, and I can only hope that it does not include a dead elk being butchered on my granite counter top. :)

Thirty-Five Years

Tomorrow would have been my parents' 35th wedding anniversary. Isn't this picture beautiful? I know it is crackly and a bit rough (it has been twice scanned) but I love their smiles. For nearly 35 years, my amazing mom and dad portrayed the grace and love of Christ in their commitment to their marriage and the sacrifices they made for each other. We are so blessed to be their children... to have witnessed the beauty and tenderness of a marriage that grew stronger with each passing year, the laughter of shared jokes and experiences, the partnership of raising children together, the unity of heart as they placed each other's needs above their own.

Daddy, we miss you. And I know that today, Mom misses you even more than usual. I know that my parents would have loved each other for another 35 years had they been given the chance. Thank you for teaching us what a loving marriage should look like!

New York, New York, and Other Happenings

I promised my husband's aunt Deb that I would post something about our trip to New York within a week of our return. So here I am, two days ahead of schedule! :) However, I did not take a single picture and am hoping to collect some from the many family members who made the East Coast trek with us.

After only six days at home, we boarded another Delta connection and flew to New York to be a part of Adam and Kristen's beautiful nuptial ceremony and celebration. We were so blessed to be able to stay in a charming cottage owned by Kristen's friends, providing us with a little extra space for the girls to sleep and play. It was perfect. Jennie and Jeremy are newlyweds who generously gave up their home for the weekend -- hospitality at its most extravagant, I thought. The wedding was perfect. Erik, Elisa and I were all a part of the ceremony. Elisa was a brave little flower girl -- and an adorable one. Erik was Adam's best man, and enjoyed a few special brother bonding moments in the days leading up to the Big Day. They even ran together the morning of the wedding. The rehearsal dinner took place at a Bath Club on the Long Island sound. Lasagna in the sand. The wedding itself was in an old white church in the town of Huntington, and followed by a beautiful outdoor reception at the Coyne's home. A live band, delicious food, amazing floral arrangements... the reception should have been featured in a magazine. (Or maybe it was??) I smile to think of my Eddie Bauer flannel-wearing brother-in-law now irrevocably tied to the flashy society of Long Island.:) Truly, the evening was memorable and beautiful in every way. I had a great view of Adam's beaming face as he watched his beautiful bride walk up the aisle. They are a wonderful couple and I am thrilled to have a sister-in-law.

On Sunday, we met up with my aunt, uncle and cousins from Maryland for an afternoon of sightseeing in the city. It was fun to see Central Park and Times Square... but an afternoon was definitely all Erik and I needed. We are county folk, and the Big Apple was a bit overwhelming for all of us. Home is a quiet town with wide open spaces. :)

The girls were champions.... we kept them up late and let them sleep til 9 or later... effectively keeping them on Mountain Standard time. It worked well, especially given our recent transition from Maui! I received so many comments on how cute they are, especially smiling little Sadie. :) We are a bit sad our much anticipated month is over, and yet relieved to be back to normal.

Erik's parents stayed with us for the week, and it was great to see them. The girls love their grandparents, and I am thankful we had some time apart from the busyness of the wedding weekend. Now we look forward to fall... starting our home preschool program again, settling back to routine, soups, applesauce, bread-making, Erik hunting, watching the colors change, and pulling out our sweaters and jackets for the winter. Summer is gone, autumn is here!

A Promise

I have had requests for more Maui pictures, and I hope to oblige soon! Erik and I purposefully took few photos... our camera is very simple and slow, and with several others having digital SLRs or higher quality cameras, we opted to take pictures with their cameras. So as soon as I have pictures from Amy, Mom, Ryan and Michelle, I will post some! It may be a while... but I promise!

In the meantime -- here are things I love and am missing from our tropical holiday.

-POG juice. Passion Orange Guava.
-Fresh pineapple from the market
-Apple bananas
-Haupia ice cream (coconut custard)
-the sight of white-crested waves curling up on shore
-the sound of those same waves
-the taste of salt water as I splash with Elisa
-humuhumunukunukuapua'as. (Hawaiian state fish.) :)
- sunsets over Molokai
- wind ruffling through palm trees
-papaya

-and mostly, my amazing family. The kids really miss them too, especially cute baby Ephraim.
Our second adventure in the month of August is approaching in a couple of days, as we head to New York to celebrate Erik's brother's wedding. We are switching gears from bathing suits and sand to formal dresses and sightseeing in the Big Apple. :)

The Music of the Ocean

I have always loved the ocean. There is something so peaceful about the soft rush of waves over sand, the ebb and flow of water. And also something so powerful and BIG about the strength God breathes into that same water, about the vast openness of the sea. And it is full of unique and amazing beauty - coral reefs that glow,vibrant fish, cathedral-like caverns of rock....

I feel so blessed to have spent the last week on the shores of West Maui. What a beautiful spot! I felt so sad to leave, and yet, so thankful for a week of sunshine, family and, yes, splashing in the ocean.

It seems a little silly to write a play-by-play of our week, since many who read this were with us, but I want to record the memories for myself, too.

We arrived on Wednesday evening, hurtling down the coastline in an open Jeep Wrangler. After finding our condo and meeting up with Ryan's girlfriend Emily and my aunt Trisha, who had arrived earlier in the day, we ventured over to the resort's pool. An evening Mai Tai party and our first plunge into the deep blue! The rest of the gang arrived later in the evening.

On Thursday, our girls awoke, not surprisingly, at 3 AM, in spite of the fact we had kept them up until 7 PM Maui time. Baby Ephraim woke Amy up then, too, so it was an early morning party at our condo. After naps we headed to a beach called Launiopoko, where there is consistent surfing and a sort of protective jetty that creates a small wading area free of waves. We met up with friends John and Dawn Smith from Oregon, and their three children. Erik got a short surfing lesson from John and Michelle while Elisa and I splashed with Jaci, Blake and Davis in the shallow water. He got up on his knees, but never quite caught a wave.

Friday morning, Erik, Forrest, and Ryan had their first guided dive. They got up early and drove to nearby Lahaina to catch their boat. They did two dives, one of which was off the shore of Lanaii, into an area called the Cathedral. It sounded beautiful, and I know it was a definite highlight for Erik. He got extremely seasick on the boat ride and threw up multiple times, including once through his regulator. Oops! He attributed this to a lack of sleep as our little ones continued to struggle with adjusting to a four-hour time change. The ladies and babies headed out to Kaanapaali for lunch with a view of the ocean and then some beach time. Amy and I left the babies with Nana for a ten-minute snorkel to Black Rock and danced with a big sea turtle! The water was a bit churned up and not especially clear for viewing fish, but I loved seeing the turtle so close.

Saturday was a low-key day, spent pool lounging and reading in the sun. We drove to Napili Bay in the late afternoon. This is a beautiful beach, and it is where we stayed during our trips when I was in high school. Lots of memories. Erik and Forrest had a fun snorkel trip, and Elisa grew braver and braver as she splashed and swam in the water.

On Sunday we went to an outdoor church service. More turtles splashed just off the shore as we sang along to a ukelele. In the afternoon we headed back to Kaanapaali and found a shady grass area to set up "camp" for few hours. Michelle jumped off Black Rock, the boys and Emily did some more snorkeling, and four of us parasailed. Yes, parasailed! On a whim, my mom, Michelle, my aunt, and I boarded a boat and then allowed the wind to carry us 800 feet in the air for a ten minute-long, breathtaking sail. It was so quiet in the air, hushed and calm and beautiful. Mid-ride, they lowered the sail and touched our toes to the water below, then let us fly back up. It was amazing. Michelle went solo, and she looked like a little kid, just stretching her arms wide and dancing. We ate a beachside dinner at my favorite restaurant, Leilani's. Most of us ordered fish - and it was so good. Huge, shared slices of Hula Pie finished off our evening. I should have taken a picture of this delectable Hawaiian dessert - macadamia nut ice cream, fudge sauce.... yummy!

On Monday, Erik and the boys dived at Molokini. Amy and I took the kids to the Maui Ocean Center. Amy has some photos of Elisa looking at the fish and saying "Yellow fishes! Come here!" It was fun to let her see some marine life up close since she couldn't snorkel with the grown-ups. We met up with everyone else back at Launiopoko Beach Park.

Tuesday, the boys had planned a shore dive. We gathered snorkel gear and two rented kayaks and joined them at the marine reserve at Honolua Bay. It was a long trek down to the rocky beach and there was little shade for the babies, but it definitely felt like "real" Hawaii. A private inholding of land just off the beach was home to beat-up cars, tents, and a wandering rooster. It wasn't a terrific spot for the little ones or their mommies, but the variety of marine life was amazing. The water was amazingly clear, and so many fish swam through the reefs. I snorkeled again for about ten minutes, and saw amazing, vibrant fish - including a bright yellow, scary-eyed needle fish. It is amazing that God splashed fish - so hidden under the water - with such vibrant colors. He didn't have to - but he did. It is so cool to see those small creative details that the Master Artist "painted" into our amazing world. Grandpa took us out to dinner in Lahaina to close our last full Hawaiian day.

Wednesday we packed, checked out, and were given free access to another unoccupied unit for the afternoon. (Kahana Village was so kind to us!) We spent more time at Kaanapaali Beach. I splashed through the waves and attempted a little body-surfing. (Kind of.) Elisa said goodbye to her beloved ocean with lots of wild running and jumping. After quick showers back at Kahana Village, we headed to the airport for our red-eye flight.





A sunset at Kaanapaali Beach, a few minutes south of our hotel. This was one of my favorite spots.... white sand, soft surf to play in, pleasant snorkeling with giant sea turtles!


The view from our lanai



Elisa and Erik at Napili Beach


Kahana Village Resort

I miss my family. What a joy to be all together in one place. We missed Daddy so much. I kept trying to mentally insert him into the picture - to imagine what he would be doing. He would have loved our week there. Mom brought a picture to hang on the wall, and I felt as though he was watching over us, so happy we were together.

I found it hard to sleep last night without the music of the ocean washing over me, and I am already thinking ahead to our next trip - which will have to be substantially longer than this one. :)

From the Mouth of Babes

I have to post a few more funny Elisa sayings....

Yesterday I helped at our church's VBS. Though Elisa is a few months too young to participate, she was able to tag along with her mommy while I herded rowdy boys through the stations. It was a busy, fun morning. We headed home for naps, took a long walk, then readied our home and prepared a meal for our Bible Study group... At 8:30 the group headed home and we headed to bed. Elisa lost it. She just sobbed and sobbed, saying," It's been such a long day. So long day, Mommy. So long day."

I reminded her of all the fun things, the friends, the yummy treats, the running in the sunshine and beachcombing for treasures in the sandbox, the "surfing" to Bible songs.... "Wasn't it a fun day?" I asked.

She said, "No. It was too long. Too long. That make it not fun." Erik and I had to chuckle. Poor little thing. I want so much to serve in the church and be a part of the various ministries, but I am learning to take it easy... that my own kiddos have be my first priority. And little Elisa may not be quite ready for such a "long day."

The other night, she was being a bit wild and rough and I said, "Elisa, let's take all the meanness out of your heart." So we ripped the yucky meanness out, and then acted out replacing it with handfuls of kindness. In the morning, I said, "Elisa, do you have meanness or kindness in your heart today?" She said "Kindness," and I said, "Yeah! That's great! We're going to have a great day!" A few minutes later she was being too rough again, and I said, "Hey, where is the meanness coming from? I thought your heart was full of kindness today. Where did the kindness go?" She thought and said, "It fell out on the floor."

Elisa - isms

"Mommy," she says. "Your house is a mess. You need to clean it up."
"Really?" I say.
"No. I'm just teasing." Big laugh.


"I'm Daddy's girl today. Mommy, I'll be your friend tomorrow when Daddy's at work."

"Mom, I can't go to sleep by myself."
"Elisa, Jesus is with you all the time. You can't see Him, but you can imagine that He is all snuggled up next to you."
"He fits, Mom? His feet are not too big?"

The next night.... "Jesus needs a blanket, Mommy. Tuck Him in. And, scoot me over. I don't want to squish Him."