Our Getaway

Today is my day to kick up my heals and celebrate 11 years of marriage to my life companion.

I love him!

Here's pictures (finally!) of our vacation in Mexico celebrating us. It was truly spectacular!

We took many walks on this beach everyday. I love the feeling of the hard sand underfoot.

On a recommendation we stayed at the Barcelo Maya about 1 hour south of Cancun, Mexico.The resort was beautiful. Our room was located about one hundred steps from the pool (which extends forever!)The food and drinks were all inclusive.

It was a continuous 'party in our mouth'.
seriously.

The Teppanyaki restaurant was a highlight. The Surf and Turf was soooo yummy!This is what my breakfast looked like on many mornings. I couldn't get enough of the papaya. It was delicious!One day we took an adventure by public bus to the Tulum Ruins. Tulum is considered one of the most beautiful of the Mayan Ruins. It is relatively small and poised on the fifteen-meter-high cliffs above the blue Caribbean Sea.After Tulum we went to Akumal Bay (place of the turtles in Mayan). The beaches of Akumal, Mexico are nesting grounds for two endangered species of sea turtles. We snorkeled off of this beach and swam with huge sea turtles, sting rays and a huge school of Sargent major fish (huge school = too many to count. maybe 5,000?).It was thrilling.

me and my Hubby, the love of my lifethis trip. to 'us'...a worthy investmentworth shouting for

Here's to walking another 11 years together.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Were Back!

Our trip was wonderful on this here beach.

It was idealic in every way.

A true vacation indeed.

But now were back and enjoying our little ones with lots of snuggles and love in our jammies. Its great.

More about our trip coming soon.

And a post of pics from the tots 3 year old birthday party!

Were Off!

We've got our bags packed and were set to leave at the crack of dawn.

Just the two of us.

Me, and my honey of 10+ years.

Mexico, here we come!

Birthday Eve

On the Eve of the kids third birthday we celebrated as a family of four.
Both kids received Harley Davidson scooters that light up and rev like a motorcycles.
It was fun and thrilling.

Happy Birthday sweet ones.

Kelli-O

Hello Everyone,

Meet Kelli.

Lover of:
life
learning
books

writing
hiking
people

good times
and muffins (little people)

She has come and gone and we miss her already!

Kelli was a part of our family this Summer. She lived with us, ate with us, worked alongside Jeff as an Intern at our church and shared life with our small family on Old Farm Circle.

Kelli and I have a wee history.

Back in the day when I was the Vocal Music Director at a High School in WA, Kelli participated in choir for a year. I also worked closely with her as the vocal coach in the musical productions. And, I knew Kelli through her mom Christy, one of my good friends and colleagues whom took me under her wing as a young teacher. Her mom was one of the people who interviewed me, a fresh graduate ready to take on the world of Choral music. I was pretty gung-ho then but that's another post.

It has been wonderful getting acquainted with who Kelli is now. I have so enjoyed our many adult conversations about life, love, theology and food.

In addition to Kelli doing an internship at our church, hanging out with friends, hiking (go 14ers!)etc... she also spent time regularly with Caleb and Carissa. This was a huge blessing to our family. In addition to scheduled outings on my own, Jeff and I savored weekly date nights which gave us an opportunity to connect on deeper levels without the interruptions of little people. (not that our little people are interruptions!)

In these moments I experienced a sense of 'space' that I had been longing for since becoming a mother of two. I experienced God working within that space and in every square inch of me.

It was a wonderful and a strong reminder that in these hectic times slowing down and creating 'space' cultivates a deeper relationship with God and with others. When I slow down I find that I am a healthier and happier wife, mommy, friend and servant of God.

Refreshing.

Here are a few pics of Kelli with the Muffin Heads.
One of the things that Kelli made-up is the 'Muffin March' - a fun way to get the Muffins to march up the stairs to bed, out the door, in the car, wherever. The 'Muffin March' is definitely here to stay!

Kelli is awesome. (one of her favorite words!)

We love her and are thankful for slice of time that she was able to spend with our family and our church community in Colorado.

Thank you Kelli-O!

Fossil Springs

During our trip to AZ we stayed in Strawberry for 4 days at the 'Cabin Sweet Cabin'. This small town in Northern Arizona has an elevation of 6,047 feet and lies beneath the famed Mogollon Rim.

Only 7 miles from Strawberry is the Fossil Springs Wilderness. We enjoyed two afternoons in this 11,550 acre wilderness.

I was surprised at the lushness of the creek bed because the surrounding dessert is extremely dry. The area has over thirty species of trees and shrubs and over a hundred species of birds observed in this unique habitat.

We drove down in to the canyon on a dusty dirt road to the lower parking lot. Once parked it was only a short hike to this glorious-ness. The stream gushes 20,000 gallons a minute out of a series of springs at the bottom of a 1,600 foot deep canyon. The water is incredibly clear! We could see to the bottom of the creek bed and also saw many small and medium sized fish. The kids loved swimming with the fish!Like many visitors to the Fossil Springs we swam, waded in the water, floated in the current,
and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.One of the highlights was the rope swings. The kids enjoyed watching people swing on the ropes and jump/fall in to the water. Even though there were some younger (read, more agile)guys jumping off of the rope swings, the kids favorite 'swinger' was Daddy himself. Click on the link below and you can see a short slide show of daddy on the rope swing.

Cabin Sweet Cabin

We spent four days at this sah-weet cabin in Strawberry Arizona.





Courtesy of my Aunt Melanie and her hubby Jerry our family was blessed to use this cozy cabin on our family trip to AZ.

And cozy it was.

During our stay we had lots of 'porch time' in the hammock, the big swing and the white wicker rocking chairs.

Caleb and Carissa sporting their morning jammies and huge, giggly smiles

Caleb and Carissa took these pictures of Daddy with the opposite twin

Uncle B: our surprise visitor who drove 2 pizzas from my favorite joint in the Valley of the Sun. His visit was short but sah-weet.

A beloved brother, aka 'Bub' and 'Uncle B'

My mom, aka 'Nana' was able to join us for much longer than 4 hours. It was more like 4 days. She is a blessing to us all.

Another cabin activity besides 'porch time' was...

filling the bird and squirrel feeders with seeds!

of course Caleb and Carissa thought this was....sah-weet!

And next...our fun adventures at Fossil Springs

sweet.