Living the dream

We are in Maui, Hawaii (a.k.a. one of the most beautiful places on earth)!  We've been here since Sunday, and it's been amazingly, wonderfully wonderful.  I love this place!!  We've experienced a lot, relaxed a lot, and I could share so much but I shall refrain for now.  The photos speak for themselves a lot.  Yes, I have photos, as you can see below.  If you'd like to see more, click the obvious link at the end of the post.  For those who like lots of photos, you'll be pleasantly surprised, I hope!  Aloha!

The view from our lanai (veranda)

A pretty flower (anyone know the name?)

Wailea beach

Hibiscus

~Click here for more pictures!!~

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Haley who said, "Daddy, when I'm 16, I want to go to Hawaii and snorkel with you."

That was 8-9 years ago, and that little girl did not forget what she said.  Neither did her Daddy.  And now, 8-9 years later, here we are.  On August 26th, my family and I will hop on a 767 in San Jose and fly to Maui for a 10-day vacation!!!!!  Little girl's wishes do come true, you know.

I'm really, really, REALLY looking forward to this vacation for several reasons...Our family will be spending lots of quality time together in a beautiful place, with lots of new adventures and things to do...I will get to test my macro photography skills with my brand-new macro lens (which was a birthday gift from my Aunt)!!!!!...And we won't be bringing our instruments.  (Not that I don't like playing 2+ hours a day, but a break will be nice!)

Alright, I need to go for now.  I'll be posting pictures of the trip at some point, so keep looking for updates starting August 25th.  Have a great day!

Friendship and milestones

“A man of many companions may come to a ruin, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

~Proverbs 18:24

August 2011

“Let us not forget the dreams we share,

Forever like sisters we care.

You’ll always be a friend to me,

And that’s the way it’s meant to be.”

~Anonymous

July 2012

“Its so hard to find the perfect breeze,

One blowing none too hard nor soft,

Carrying a scent of wild flowers,

And moving clouds about aloft.

Yet no perfection’s so hard to find

As that which you extend

And none I’ll ever treasure more,

Than to simply be your friend.”

~Unknown

Taste of summer

I made this smoothie this morning for breakfast and decided to put the recipe on here...even though you all probably already know how to make a peach smoothie (who doesn't?).  But here I am.

Peach Smoothie


Ingredients
1 ripe peach, pitted
1 cup ice cubes
1/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup orange juice, with pulp
1 t. raw honey

Directions
Blend all ingredients together in blender until smooth and thick.  Serve at once.

Here is a picture I took of my breakfast.  A smoothie in a Starbucks tumbler...I love it!

4th of July Celebration

I love the 4th of July!  For me, it's not really summer until the 4th.  It is so wonderful to live in a country that celebrates it's freedom.

Yesterday, our family had a nice morning swimming in the pool and eating hot dogs, baked beans and watermelon.  At about 2:00, we all headed over to the Beckers house for a 4th of July party.  Most of our church family was there, along with some new friends, and we had a blast!  We watched a film called "A Nation Adrift", which really opened our eyes to the changes going on in our country since it's founding.  There was an egg-on-spoon relay, a sack relay, games of Ollie-Ollie-Over, a slip-n'-slide and a parade with decorated "floats" (wheelbarrows).  Everyone had so much fun!

After dinner and a dessert of flag cakes, a few of us went to Mono Rock early to secure a good space to sit.  (For anyone who doesn't know what Mono Rock is, it's a large rock above Bass Lake that provides a perfect view of the fireworks over the lake.)  All the locals are either on the lake or on the Rock to see the fireworks.  It's pretty awesome!  We got a very nice area on the Rock for our whole group and more, and then we waited for everyone to show up.

The fireworks officially began at around 9:30.  I had set up my camera on Delaney's tripod and set it up manually to get what I thought would be good shots of the fireworks.  What do you know?  It worked!!  I was so excited.  MANY thanks to Mr. Becker for letting me use his remote!!!!!!!!  I was quite pleased with how they turned out.  The best part was when the full moon rose over the mountain and was in full view for the finale!

When the firework show was over, we all hiked back up the winding trail to our cars.  There were lots of poison oak sightings and we all tried to keep from touching it when it lined the trail.  I hope no one gets it!

Here's an album of pictures from yesterday.  For some reason, a few of the slip-n-slide pictures made it to the very end of the album, but oh well.

I hope you all had an equally great Independence Day!!!!