faith, family, wellness
At times you have to take a certain road for a destination you can't fully see. This past summer, we packed our car and drove across the country to the flat, green prairie lands of Texas - a place we never imagined we'd call home. It has been an adventure, and we have met so many new people. Our world has … Continue reading Second Guessing Your Journey
I will be flat out lying if I said my boys, just two years apart, get along all the time. Sometimes it's a daily war over the littlest things. Part of it is that they are so different from each other. One goes fast, the other slow. One likes bold flavors... the other, nothing but vanilla. "I want a different brother!!!" … Continue reading A Piece of Home Again
Honestly, it's hard not to see her. We're stopped at a gas station on one of the crowded avenues in San Francisco. I watch her as she digs bare-handed through the garbage can. I see her dirt filled fingernails pull out empty plastic water bottles. She shakes out the water, dirt, or whatever else is in them, and stashes … Continue reading She Needs Five Cents
On Sunday, we drove for miles and miles. Endless miles. Eleven hours to be exact - from one end of the state to the other. Just the five of us, packed in a warm car, windows splashed with rain and highway dust. The wind blew hard against our wheels. Outside, the clouds hung thick and stormy over the Central California farmlands. … Continue reading Endless Miles, Endless Sky
Our little preschooler has become such an expert in matters, that she loves to ask questions to test our facts. "What has a big long gray trunk, a tail, and three legs?" she asked the other night. My husband, mother-in-law, and I glanced at each other puzzled. "Three legs?" we asked her. "Yes, three legs," she repeated … Continue reading When Elephants Have Three Legs
Last Thursday night, my husband, the kids and I drove up California Interstate 5, San Francisco bound, late into the early morning -- kids fast asleep in the backseat. It took nearly eight hours with three stops. But we finally rolled onto my mother-in-law's driveway at a perky 2:30am. The garage door opened with a familiar hum against the … Continue reading Our Lives in Only Four Words
I never thought I would miss having chickens hang out around my feet. But I believe the Hawaiian countryside has grown on me. And even on my city slickin' kids. Yes, it'll be good to have some relief from these horrific mosquito bites, but I'm sad to go. Actually, when we first walked into this beach … Continue reading Why Every City Kid Should Spend a Week in the Country
It's not an ordinary summer morning. I can hear the waves softly crash onto the shore. I'm in Hawaii, steps away from the beach, just steps. "Go, walk barefoot on the sand," my dad says to me. "It's good for you." It's humorous how the ocean is such the panacea for everything on the islands. So my … Continue reading When Hope Washes Away
Sometimes everything becomes shrouded beneath the reality that... all life is grace. Just as we drove our little red rental car into Granville Island to meet up with some extended family for yet another touristy gig, my husband's mom called to say that she and Gung (my father-in-law) never did make it on their flight home. Gung was in the hospital, and he was in the … Continue reading Bittersweet Alaskan (Vancouver) Memories ~ Part Three
Well ... the weather in Seward, Alaska could not have been more welcoming. I was prepared for cold, but we barely needed a jacket that day. The five of us, along with my husband's parents, boarded the cruise and met up with other extended family folks and friends just in time for dinner. Juneau, Alaska was our first port stop. … Continue reading Bittersweet Alaskan Memories ~ Part Two
invited by grace 