Sisters Four…together again

We’re all four home together for the first time in months. It’s only for a few days…one of us will be leaving soon. Maybe that’s what makes it easier to not take our “sisterhood” for granted. Knowing that we have only a limited time to enjoy each others company…frankly…makes us nicer to each other! Not that we are EVER NOT nice to each other…noooo…not us.

Being surrounded by sisters is a beautiful thing. And the older we get the more I think we realize what amazing individuals we have for sisters. Each of us have different strengths…and weaknesses. Each of us have different talents and gifts. And working together…it all comes close to a pretty neat whole. It’s really lovely being able to depend on a helping hand or opinion or advise. It’s very special to be able to talk together about our hopes and fears and thrills and dreads. And it’s especially nice to know that we each have three sisters that will love us…even when we drive each other crazy.

I pray that we will be close for the rest of our lives…that we will never be too afraid to ask “What’s going on?” or too distant to answer. I hope that we will learn to ALWAYS appreciate each other for what we are…and be understanding when that falls short of what we should be.

And I thank God for my sisters.

From Sea to…Home. With Such AMAZINGNESS in between.

And then…of course….we got behind on the blog. So all we can give you now is a quick overview…and 454, 235 pictures. (Just kidding…not that many pictures.)

We were so happy to see the D’s again. Tera and I haven’t seen most of them since they were all here in Oklahoma….6 years ago. They are just as they were…only more grown-up. Still the lovable, adorable, friendly, wonderful, sweet, hospitable, REAL people that we remember. But some of them are SO much taller!

They  showed us where we would be staying in their wonderful, comfortable guest room and we all started talking…yes, all at the same time…just as we remembered.

We had a great time with them, going to a special Chinese restaurant,  visiting T- in her adorable little home with her adorable little children, going to San Onofre Beach and watching the sunset, eating hot dogs Will roasted for us over the fire they built, watching them surf till dark. The rocks on the beach make a beautiful sound when the waves roll in and out again.  It was all lovely.

And in between those lovely times, we visited our cousin D- and had a delicious dinner while our hearts were encouraged by the faith and love she shared.  The next day we visited our cousin Alex and Aunt Kim in downtown LA. So fun to see them, and the apartment they are fixing into something really cool. And lunch in Little Tokyo was fun!

LA is big…..like…HUGE!!! We couldn’t get used to how big it is, really. Just because something is on the other side of town doesn’t compute to be HOURS away in our Oklahoma mindset. But in LA…it is. Lesson learned. Be careful planning next time and it will feel like you have more time. Tera did an incredible job as navigator, and God answered our prays and kept a bubble around our truck the entire time. It was good.

We were sad to leave everyone…and realized that there is a lot we’d like to see in that area someday. So hopefully…we’ll be back.

Driving out of the complexity that is LA and into the vastness of the desert was an awesome contrast. Such openness…such simpleness…for so long! Lesson of the desert….fill up your gas tank before you head through…cause that gas station out there in the middle of nowhere is out to GET YOU! $$$$

When we planned our day, we had forgotten that even though we didn’t go through a time change…it was definitely darker earlier by the time we arrived at the Grand Canyon. After debating and discussing…we decided to stay the night there and see the Canyon the next day. Good decision!!! Read more about those adventures here:  Overwhelmed

That morning…waking up to a snowy wonderland and seeing the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon…which no photo or film could ever do justice…driving through the desert and into Flagstaff…those mountains in the swirling clouds…it was all so beautiful. So perfect.

We didn’t make it all the way to Albuquerque that night, which ended up saving us two hours of sitting in traffic, but the next day’s drive was uneventful…aside from being pushed off the road by a semi that was determined to change lanes no matter what.  We listened to a mystery story from Libre Vox, and the time went pretty quickly…but we were SO happy to be pulling into our driveway…and home.

Home.

On the way down to LA…

Just a short post with a few pictures from our drive down to LA. We took Highway 1….wow, so impressive! Through the fields of strawberries, artichokes, brussel sprouts, and being smacked hard with the overpowering smell of garlic in Gilroy. We stopped and saw elephant seals at Piedras Blancas It was fascinating! We did realize that we were the only two people that seemed to be trying to hold our noses…wow, all those seals stink! The variations of the landscape as we made our way south with the salty air of the ocean and the anticipation of seeing our friends, made the drive a pleasant one. I must admit though, when we lost sight of the ocean we were both sad, and kept looking for glimpses of that ever intriguing body of water. As you can tell, we can’t get enough of the waves, the smell, the sand, the feel of the ocean.

Santa Cruz

We had such a wonderful time in Santa Cruz with our brother Josh and sister-in-law Erin and niece Sophie. We went don’t to Natural Bridges and saw monarch butterflies. We spent hours on the wharf and the beach watching whales. Sophie and Sage made Grandma’s French Bread and Sophie and Tera made Josh’s favorite apple pie. We played the Wii for hours. Josh beat everyone and Sophie beat Sage. We laughed so hard our stomachs ached. Time flew by, and we were so tempted to stay longer…especially when Sophie tried to talk us into it. But it was time to move on. Can’t wait to go back sometime soon. We love you, Santa Cruz family!!!

Aloha Hawaii

The last morning we were on Oahu, we said goodbye to our family there and boarded a small commuter plane to Maui. Seems Alaskan Airlines doesn’t fly from Oahu to San Jose…but that was okay. The very short trip to Maui was so fun. We were able to see Moloka’i and Lana’i  on our way. So beautiful! The flight back over the ocean was much more comfortable than the last, though the sunset was shorter.

It was wonderful to see our brother waiting for us at the baggage claim and to be taken to his comfortable house. Sophie was already in bed, but we visited with Erin for a short time and then slept…long and hard.

And so ended our Hawaiian Adventure 2011. We loved being on the island – having the ocean as part of our daily routine. Hearing languages from all over the world everywhere we went. Feeling the soft, tropical air on our skin. Learning about the old Hawaiian culture and the new. Breathing the intoxication of fragrant blossoms that never are seen in Oklahoma. Tasting luscious fruits that embody the whole of ambiance of bits of land in the middle of a great ocean.  And spending time with family too seldom seen.

We miss it already. Muchly.