Walking into Summer 08

Transferring photos has many downsides...the stress of not knowing if the hard drive will make it (the demise of my external hard drive still haunts me), ensuring that all the photos are correctly filed so that I can find them when I'm a little stressed yoda (that takes forever with my anal retentive personality), and endless amounts of photos that I wonder why on Earth I took the photo keep the process lengthy.  However, there is a huge positive.  Walking down memory lane....

LD's 1st Reaction to the Beach...
my have things changed!
We can't get her out of the water!



1st Trip Snorkeling along the North Shore
We were hooked from the start.

HS before he snorkled for the 1st time
June 2008

LD showing off one of her famous expressions.

Bonding in the Navy Lodge...our home for almost two months

LD warmed up to the beach quickly. 
Bellows was one of our favorites...and still is.

Snorkeling at Hanamaua Bay.  I spent more time sitting on the
shoreline our first year here...then that all changed drastically once LD
could walk.

The view from Punchbowl National Cemetary is incredible.

God was gracious and had dear friends already on island
that we had been hoping to be
colocated with since our days of Jacksonville. 
They would be with us for over half our tour.

Time for us was captured whenever we could get it. 

Kendo kept the bad guys at bay while we were gone
from our room.

I love this man.  The month before moving to Hawai'i
we celebrated our 12th Anniversary.



What boys do during a lunch break at the pool.



We spent a lot of time at the Hale Koa Pool in Waikiki while we
awaited moving into our house.

We finally get to walk around the house free of fences!
We still haven't been given the keys in this
photo, so we would be kept on our toes until the
movers show up a few days later.

LD obviously very comfortable and tasting
the sand.

Celebrating our departure from the lodge
and our
arrival into our new home.

HS started 1st grade a few days after moving
into the house.

HS learned how to ride his bike without
training wheels a few weeks after moving in.
Notice the fence is still up as they finished
the houses across the street.

 Making the hale OUR hale.



Dear Diva's Employer

 Dear President of Juilliard,

It is my pleasure to write to this letter of recommendation for my three year old LD.  She is quite versed in dramatics, dance, and singing.  She would make the perfect candidate to take over as your Drama Department Head.  You could get no other personality quite so fitted to this role:

1.  Easily transitions her emotions to fit her situation.

2.  Maintains correct posture complete with standing on her tippy toes as she walks.

3.  Adores to hear herself talk over others.

4.  Enjoys being the center of attention.  When she does not desire to be she will allow her emotions to dictate (see point 1).

5.  Creates a set and story wherever she goes.

6.  Unafraid to make a big entrance and depart with as large of one as she entered in with.

7.  Loves to make people laugh.

8.  Emotes a wide variety of facial expressions with ease.

9.  Loves to dress up and dance.

10.  Multi-faceted and determined.

She will be a fantastic fit to your school.  No doubt, drama students will learn a great deal from her.  Although very busy with starring in Broadway shows, she will be ready to take a break after her long run starring as the Diva in Diva and the Beast.

Respectfully,
Her Mommy

Hosanna

View of my beloved
St. Joseph's Church
Newport, Rhode Island

Tonight's mass begins us on our pathway through Holy Week, one of my most favorite times of year.   Palm Sunday is as HS put it, "one of our longest masses" as we hear the story of the Lord's passion from the Last Supper to the Crucifixtion.

It is hard for me to sit now through a regular Palm Sunday mass after the two years spent in Rhode Island as parishoners of St. Joseph's.  There, the story is sung and my eyes were never dry by the end.  Now, as I sit listening to the story in our current church, I allow myself to be taken back to sitting within the enormous sanctuary of St. Joseph's.

 I can feel the space of that church, see the coolness and brightness of the walls, the voices of those who sung reverberating with the space, and the quiet and solemn nature of all of us as we felt the story come alive within.  I must be honest, I will be hard pressed to find a better retelling of the Passion on Palm Sunday. 

However, Holy Family Catholic Church now holds a new hurdle for future parishs.  It is always a custom to get a palm and wave it singing our Hosanna's as we reflect upon how those disciples felt as Jesus arrived into Jeruselem.  The palm that we received at this mass was always taken back to the house and placed behind our Light of Christ portrait.  There it remains until the following year when we take it and turn it into the ashes used for Ash Wednesday.  Then we wait through the season of Lent until we celebrate once again, the Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion  and the cycle repeats. 

Our Light of Christ
Adorned with Palm Frond from
this year's Palm Sunday

In past churches, we were given a leaf from the frond. 



Not at Holy Family...they give the entire frond. 

So as we embark on Holy Week, may the precense of our frond remind us that He is to be praised, thanked for his sacrifice to us, and remembered in song, thought, and deed.  Hosanna!

And as he rode [into Jerusalem), they spread their garments on the road. As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" ( 19:36-38, RSV)
Luke

Dear Perspective Employer

Dear Johns Hopkins Chief of Surgery,

I am writing this on behalf of my HS who even at the tender age of 9, has continually proven to have a Doctor's personality.  He:

1. enjoys a thrill (makes him ideal to assist in the highest levels of surgical situations)

2.  loves the thrill until he figures out the million and one ways it may cause undue damage to his body. (suites him well at figuring out how to alleviate someone else's injuries after they have failed to make the assessment for themselves)

3.  enjoys examing injuries (how many people can say they don't faint at the site of blood?)

4.  concerns himself with making sure that he is assisting those who are injured, may be injured, or will soon be injured even at the expense of listening to directions from his momma (see positive from the 3rd point)

5.  dreams new ways of avoiding the mundane. (compliments your need to have individuals come up with clinical trials)

6.  loves to be up before the sun rises (ensures that you can count on him for the earliest of surgeries)

7.  falls asleep easily when necessary (perfect for those moments that he needs to recover from sleep deprivation)

8.  handles pressures well (I don't know many surgeons who aren't cool as cucumbers)

9.  adapts quickly to change (a necessary personality to have when a surgery takes a turn for the worse)

10.  discusses the human organs with ease, as if he were blowing bubbles with hubba bubba. (makes him easily suited to a life found within the hospital walls)

He would make a great asset to your surgical team in twenty years after he has honorably served as a Flight Surgeon for the U.S. Navy.  It is my hope that you'll give him that opportunity to wear a white coat and stethescope with pride.

Respectfully,

His Momma

Note to Readers:  Sometimes I see a topic idea that intrigues me.  Mama Kat gave the idea write about our child(ren)'s future job based on their personality.  So, I'm having a ball with this one...