Our protector

His ship is in!

 

Okay this is maple syrup from my sister, Heather and Brent's

honeymoon, about 18 years ago!  They brought this back as

a gift and we have moved these four little syrups to every home. And on

 this morning after Andrew's return, like fine wine, we broke the seal!

(I have no idea why we waited this long, just one

of those pantry items your eyes seem to pass up each time you look).

A celebratory return!

He is our protector of our home.

I realized this in a new way.  We don't experience Andrew's absence from

our home.  Maybe one other time for a couple of days was he gone while we stayed. 

I saw that Andrew is our gatekeeper.

Often I ask to see his spiritual leadership, in the way I want to see it.

I saw that God has given Andrew this leadership in part by being this

protector in our home.  I look for his leadership, his presence, he fights

our dragons, he steps in front, he answers the door, I look to him for

guidance, he will do the task I back away from, he takes out the trash,

and deals with the maggots. 

Thank you Andrew for being on the front line and standing firm at your post,

we love you so!

hanging out on a Sunday afternoon....

My dad grabbed my camera and took this shot, this

was the first homeschool planning session I had.  It

felt great and I hope to have more!  It was also great

that the Oscar's were on!

Andrew took the kiddos out and they came back each with

a surprise for me, a part of their cookie.  I just had to

capture Bobo's offering...it is that little bitty piece on the paper.

Dev's was a little bigger.

Some time at Baby Beach....Dev and I took a walk

and she found a tree rope swing and was so excited.

Practicing to be a blind girl to try out

for the play, "The Miracle Worker", the play

my dad is directing.

So glad he was naked, reminded me of the old days

at the beach.

We briefly met this man while waiting in

line at Office Max.  We struck up a quick conversation

about all the pins on his hat, especially his Olympian

pin.  I asked if he had been to the Olympics.

He had actually been a figure skater, ice dancing,

and almost made the Olympic team.

You just never know!  That was our "take away".

Seeing a man not using his own feet to walk, it would be

easy to not believe he was once more than a man

with pins in his hat...he was an ice dancer!

Everyone has a story!

Heading into the local coffee shop to say hi to our friend,

Dave who owns the shop. 

Look at Gigi!

"Is Jesus lap big enough for me to sit on forever?"

Deveraux asked me one day.

The sky and ocean out our back is sometimes just breathtaking.

You notice the sky in Maui.  I am not sure if some of it is the expanse

one feels or where sky meets ocean.

Bobo loves this horse.  Dev was the first to get one and then

we had our eyes out for one for Bobo.  They were stocked

back on the shelf at Walmart, so I snagged one and Andrew

"brought it home" from Florida for Bobo's souvenir.

Auntie Gail is our dear friends, Lance and Catherine's, sister in law.

She has become our friend and we are so glad.  We went to hang out

with her for a bit while she was here on a trip.  She is so good with our

kiddos and we felt glad to receive her love for the day and look forward

to the next time. 

We hung out in a very cool cabana. 

day by day with Gigi

We have decided that Tuesday nights is our family night. 

We had Ron, my dad's long time best friend over for

dinner one evening and heard some stories and enjoyed

hanging out.

After a Thursday night Bible study, Bobo was out!

We started a couples study in our home on Thursday evenings,

we have held three so far...we are grateful to open up

to community.

Thank you Young and Eugene for some Army "stuff" 

all the way from CA...Bobo was in Army heaven!! 

Bobo has been asking for the slip and slide

since we have been in Carmel.  We promised

in Maui that we would bring it out.  We have

continued to promise, soon Bobo....as we are

unpacking an entire house.

Well the weekend Drew came home, it was time...

for the slip and slide.

It was fun to watch them!

The last time for this slip and slide was at

Bobo's 2nd birthday party.

 

Now

Then 

 

Had to include this one from two year old sweet cheeks...

couldn't resist!

He is a bold one!

 

Now 

Then...oh man, he is a cutie!!

They had so much fun and then they moved into bath time!

Bobo was ready to go on our outing...winter hat,

Coastie the dog, a tripod for a camera, and his backpack!

I have many pictures of this scene, walking hand in hand,

 and I will continue to capture it as long as they do.

Our first time together in Ka'anapali.

A fun place to see Maui as a tourist.  Lots of hotels,

beautiful landscape, and shops.

Andrew's new office.  Deveraux prayed for Drew as

he was starting this new work...she said, "We are all

going on te journey with him."

Yes we are!

Free hula shows at the shops at Ka'anapali...the kids

loved watching the show!  It is been awhile since they

have seen hula and Deveraux actually used to dance hula.

Might need to duplicate these, found in a sweet

shop we used to love visiting, Cinnamon Girl.

One of the things we have encouraged our Bible study

couples to do is take a picture a week of ourselves.

Often many of the pictures are with our kiddos and

we need to reclaim the "us" in pictures as well.

Another family date night...McDonalds!

Hanging and waiting for Dev's first audition for

Miracle Worker, Papa is directing.

Chatting with Deveraux before she performs her audition.

Deveraux memorized two poems and did such

a good job...Bobo memorized as well.

I rang the school bell, something Deveraux thought would be

fun to have a bell and they came running in with

backpacks and all....

I promised a bike riding day as Drew surprised me by

getting my bike all ready for riding after many years

in storage...there was still water in the water bottle

after 12 years of sitting in a box! Wow!

We celebrated a great week of school at a local coffee shop.

One of my favorites at Napili Coffee shop is the vanilla latte.

My first one upon our return to Maui!  Yummy goodness in a cup!

So we are sitting finishing up our treats and I look over

and notice the hair place and think, mmmm, Bobo

needs a hair cut, so we went in.  It was long!

I am not sure where he gets it, but he likes Mohawks.

I told the hairdresser and so she worked hard

to please the little man with some good hair gel!

Pedicure!!  First one in a couple of years...it felt nice!

And this is what my mom and I walked out to after

our pedicures.

Bobo had a gift for me one morning as we

were starting school,

This is what was in my bag! 

But this was the most exciting, me, dada, and

Bobo in a tank.  The best part was coming

down the stairs and seeing Bobo poured over

his paper, sitting at the table, with great concentration!

Bobo needed a consultation for an absence on

his tooth.  We headed to the oral surgeon.  Bobo

did such a great job as he was just in the dentist

chair a few days prior when the dentist saw the issue

in his mouth.  We will need lots of courage for his

tooth extraction!  To be continued....