Braving the Rough Water Swim

Oh how we look forward to the LaJolla Rough Water Swim each year. The event is held in the LaJolla Cove every September and draws swimmers from across the US and beyond. Our swim team makes a weekend trip out of it by meeting at the Cove for a practice swim on Saturday then going back to the beautiful hotel, The LaJolla Sheraton, cleaning up and going to dinner at TGIFridays. Sunday morning, bright and early, the first race begins with girls ages 6 and under taking to the beach and swimming their hearts out. Then, the race continues by age group and boys and girls. It continues through the Gator Man, a 3 mile swim that only the fiercest swimmers dare tackle.

One of the things I like best about this event is spending time with all of the swim team families that participate. Our team is constantly growing and I often only get to know people by casual "hello's" at the pool deck and seeing their checks each month since I'm the treasurer. Our Saturday evening dinner allows lots of time to chat, laugh and get to know each other. Trust me, there is no shortage of laughter!

This was our 4th year participating in this exciting event. Makenna first competed as a 7 year-old, braving the rough ocean waves with a fierce competitive spirit. The second year we went, Kiley, Makenna and myself all competed. We were so thrilled that Kiley competed as she's not much of a risk taker. It was also a huge accomplishment for me since I'd never competed as a swimmer before, especially a 1 mile ocean swim! Our third year, Kiley decided she was perfectly content as a "one-hit-wonder," she earned her medal and had no desire to compete again. However, Makenna and I welcomed the challenge again. This year however, Makenna faced the event alone. I was out with a knee injury, unable to train and could hardly handle walking up and down steps. So, Makenna competed solo, making us proud parents even prouder. Way to go Makenna!

Saying Goodbye to Grandpa

My Grandpa Jake lead quite an interesting life. The stories that compile his life would make for an interesting read. He was born Dec. 27, 1915 into a "Conservative Mennonite" or "Old Order Mennonite" family. If that brings to mind the people you see at your local Mennonite Church, you're probably way off. I'm talking Pennsylvania Dutch speaking, horse and buggy, no electricity, plain folk Mennonite. In fact, to the untrained eye, a person driving through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania probably wouldn't be able to distinguish the difference between them and the Amish. They left "the Order" when my mom was a young girl, for reasons that I've never really been certain, but needless to say, he didn't live your "typical" life. He has lots of stories about his strict upbringing, his mean grandma and what it was like growing up Mennonite.

He's always been a private man, so I didn't know much about him until his later years. My grandmother, the complete opposite, was such a prominant figure in my life growing up, but Grandpa, well, "private" just seems the perfect word to describe him. All of that changed 5 years ago though when my grandmother suddenly passed away. Since he was under the care of my grandmother, he suddenly found himself dependant on his children and grandchildren, something I don't think any of us saw coming. In a matter of days, he went from living independantly with his loving wife in the desert to moving into an Assisted Living Facility in Orange County. Over the next 5 years, he began building strong relationships with not only his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but even got in contact with siblings that he hadn't spoken to, in some cases, decades.

It's been a special 5 years with Grandpa. He loved when I would bring the kids to visit, espcially my daughter, Makenna, as he felt a special bond with her since she was born on his birthday (which was also his father's birthday). In fact, she was the only great-grandchild that he sent money to when she was born....$2. That may not sound like much to you, but that was a big deal coming from Grandpa! Kiley, with her love of horses, loved hearing about his childhood horse, Dolly and we all enjoyed the stories he would tell about hiding from his grandparents in the barn. He especially loved my husband, John, and loved to hear his work stories. We even heard him say, "I love you" as we would leave from a visit, something we had never heard from him before.

On September 2nd, Grandpa went home to be with the Lord. We all knew he was in his final days and all of his kids and most of his grandkids and great-grandkids were at his bedside in the days leading up to his death. Most important to Grandpa, his son, my Uncle John, was there. Uncle John is quite a bit younger than my mom and her sisters and while my uncle was growing up, my grandfather was living in the desert away from his wife and son due to health reasons. Uncle John and my Aunt Janet were his primary caretakers after Grandma's death and they built a special relationship, the relationship of a father and son that my uncle never knew. It was only appropriate that when my grandfather took his final breath, it was his son at his side, holding his hand as he entered into Heaven.

The following was written to me by my Aunt Janet in an email after Grandpa's death and I find it so touching that I've decided to include it in my blog (with her permission, of course):

"You could see that he was going between two worlds. While he wasn't in any pain, it would seem he would get peaceful and then be pulled back to consciousness. It seemed that while he tried to let go, something brought him back. At times he seemed surprised to see us, in fact one time he snapped open his eyes and saw John and said,"Oh it's you." He seemed confused as if he had been somewhere else and didn't expect to see John. He kept calling out "John," and John would reassure him of his presence. He wanted to hold John's hand a lot. You could tell it comforted him to know John was there. Then one time he called out to him and turned and looked at him and said "I love you" and reached for his hand again. We knew then that he realized that he was dying and we began to sob and told him to go home. Then he looked up at John and said, "Can I follow the light?" and John told him to go ahead and follow the light. Grandpa became very peaceful and we thought this is it, but all of a sudden he came to and at the same time said "no." I think he realized that his body as it relaxed was letting go of everything. From that point on he seemed very ill at ease. After that, he never regained consciousness, was very peaceful and soon after he was gone. It is so hard to believe that it happened so quickly. Hospice was surprised too, especially that he communicated to us up to the end. That is unusual. But it was nice to be able to share his final moments with him alone and know that he went home."

I love you Grandpa and you will live on in my heart until we'll together again.

Grandpa with some of his great-granchildren at Grandma's memorial

Eternity - The Greatest Choice Ever Made

My heart leaps for joy every time I see people give their lives to the Lord as I know that they have ultimately saved their lives. I will spend eternity with them with our Heavenly Father. As all Christian parents desire, I want nothing more than for my daughters to give their lives to the Lord and know that their salvation is secured and any separation I might have from them will only be temporary. It's been my constant prayer that the girls would make this decision on their own, without my "pushing" them into it. I've known for a long time that they know Jesus, but my heart's desire has been for them to have a relationship with Jesus. So, I've prayed and taught them the LOVE of Christ and waited patiently.

My waiting came to an end a couple of weeks ago when Makenna made the decision to give her life to Christ at CCV's Vacation Bible School. I rejoiced with her and celebrated the best decision she could ever make. Several days later, we were in the pool when she told me she wanted to take the next step of obedience to Christ and be baptized. As we discussed this, Kiley asked me to pray with her. She, too, wanted to give her life to the Lord and pray the prayer of salvation. Right there, on the step in the pool, we joined hands and secured her salvation too! The girls decided to be baptized together, so I acted swiftly and contacted one of the Children's Pastors at CCV. The next day, the girls were in her office as I patiently waited outside the door. Pastor Dawn and Pastor Roy wanted to make sure the girls understood the decisions they had made and that they made their decisions freely and without persuasion.

Several days later, during one of the morning Worship Services, there we were, as a family, baptizing our daughters. John and I were each able to "dunk our daughters" as they buried their former lives and rose to a new life in Christ. I imagine that the rejoicing in my heart was echoed in Heaven as all the saints rejoiced with us. Two more lives for the Lord.

As parents, we know our jobs aren't over. God calls us to continue on the path of nurturing their relationships with the Lord and guiding them through their Spiritual journey. We praise God for the gift He gave us by entrusting us with His children and now we praise Him for the good work He has done and continues to do in their lives. It's with amazing joy that we celebrate their salvation!

Our Hearts are Seeing Polka Dots

Many of you know that my home is filled with so many pets that I should start charging admission to my "zoo." Yes, I'm a pet lover! Growing up, it was cats. I had a huge heart for cats and my parents nearly strangled me one evening when I came home from a babysitting job with yet another new kitten. I believe the most I ever had at one time was 4 cats, but I can't say for sure. I've also been known to bring home birds, hamsters and fish. The one pet my parents never allowed growing up was a dog, what cruel parents they were! While John and I were dating, my love for cats spilled over on his place and soon I was bringing cats to his bachelor pad. John had no weakness to my sympathetic face and sweet kitten in my arms, but his roommate was a sucker and he took in every cat I brought their way.

John and I got our first pet the day after we arrived back from our honeymoon, a sweet kitten we named Peter. A year later, we purchased our first house together and soon after, Trapper joined our family. He was a Hungarian Vizsla and was the love of our lives, although he had to take a backseat to the girls once they arrived. The pets just continued joining the family over the last 16 years. Until 3 weeks ago, we were standing ground at 3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 fish and a mouse. We decided that was it, no more! But then........Kiley, our oldest, finally found her absolute passion in life and our lives changed....BIG TIME!

Kiley has a love for animals that reaches way beyond her mother! I do believe if we let her, we would have so many pets that we could star in the show "Animal Hoarders!" Her heart is big and she fills it with animals. Unlike her sister, who found her passion for life in swimming at the age of 5, Kiley tried many things, but just couldn't find that one thing she loved. Piano lessons failed to capture her heart, as did soccer, swimming, tennis, gymnastics and many other activities. She often found things she enjoyed, but just didn't bring her to her knees in excitement the way swimming did for Makenna. As all devoted parents do, we continued to pursue new activities for Kiley, but never finding that one thing.

John's brother happens to have beautiful horse property just up the road from us and he boards several horses at his place. Just about every time we visit, the first thing she wants to do is visit the horses. That got me thinking. I spoke to my brother-in-law to see if one of the horse owners might be interested in teaching Kiley some "horse basics" in trade for her helping with the mucking. He introduced her to a 16 year-old girl named Hailey and they formed an instant bond. They worked together twice a week and we started to see tremendous growth in Kiley. She started to develop a strong work ethic, responsibility, confidence.....all the things we pray she'd develop. It wasn't long that she was asking for riding lessons, which we did, and then her own horse. For those of you that don't know, horses are a HUGE responsibility!!! Their stalls must be mucked daily, exercised often, fed huge amounts of food twice daily and I'm not even at the part about them being a giant money pit! BUT, all that seemed to not matter when it came to the "passion" we finally saw bubbling over in Kiley. She wanted a horse and she wanted it bad! So, she set out on a journey to prove she could do it and we made an agreement with her that if she could prove to us that she could handle owning a horse, we would get her one. We made no promise in terms of a timeline, we just said "some day."

That "some day" came three weeks ago when her trainer found the perfect "Kiley horse." His name is Polka Dot and when you see him, you know exactly where he got his name! He is 12 1/2 years old, just like Kiley. With Kiley visiting my parents for a week, we quickly began planning her big surprise, her very own horse. I set out early on a Saturday morning with our trainer and we drove to Palm Springs to pick up the horse and take him to his new home at John's brother's house. We arrived "home" about 11am and got him all set up to meet his new owner. I even attached a blue polka dot bow to his halter. At noon, Kiley arrived at the barn with my parents for what she thought was her riding lesson on Hailey's horse. It was then that we took her to the stall and revealed her gift. Her initial confusion over what was happening quickly turned to excitement. The joy on her face brought tears to my eyes. The moment was captured on video as well as in the minds of all that were present.

Three weeks have gone by since that day and Kiley is building a bond with this horse that will be with her for a lifetime. Together, they are learning how to listen to each other and work together. I couldn't be happier for my first born to finally find her "thing" and I praise God for bringing us Polka Dot, even as I also pray for my sanity as we now have a HUGE responsibility!

Graduation!

"Graduation" is such an exciting word. It brings to mind things like, accomplishment, success, hard work and much more. This may only be a 6th grade graduation, but for Kiley, this is huge! Kiley didn't have a "typical" start to school. My husband had just had life altering surgery after a life altering injury from a life altering accident. To say that the Moore household was in the midst of CHAOS when K started kindergarten would be an understatement! It didn't help that I was also having some serious health issues and underwent 4 surgeries in her first 7 months of school either. Add Kiley's shy demeanor to the mix and you get a rocky start to school. Along the way, K was surrounded by wonderful teachers, great friends, close family and supportive parents, which lead to extreme growth in her life. We are so proud of the young woman she has become.

Her last week of 6th grade was an adventurous week. Monday brought a softball game of 6th graders against the school staff. The staff won 24-12 (the closest the 6th graders have ever come to beating the staff). Tuesday held a pool party at Pitzer College and a feast fit for royalty! It was games in the park on Wednesday and finally the big day on Thursday......GRADUATION!!! Of course, it had to be the hottest day of the week and no "June Gloom" for this outdoor event. My parents, "Mamaw" and "Guga," were also there to cheer on Kiley. We all beamed with pride as we watched Kiley graduate. The biggest excitement of all came early in the ceremony when Kiley won the "President's Award of Academic Achievement." Of course, I would have preferred McCain's signature was on it as President instead of Obama, but it's still very exciting, none the less. We all applauded with joy over her achievement and I teared up at the memories of walking my sweet 5 year-old to her first day of kindergarten. How quickly 6th grade came and is now gone. K accomplished so much in her 7 years of elementary school, obstacles that many other students take for granted. It is K's determination and hard work that makes us so proud and caught the attention of her teachers that they would choose her for such an honored award. We LOVE you Kiley!!!

7 Years with Mrs. Colinco

Patti Colinco first approached me about Kiley joining a new Daisy Girl Scout Troop she was starting during the first week of kindergarten. With K being so shy and weary about making friends, I thought it would be a great opportunity for her. The troop started the next month with 12 girls. Little did I know then that this group would still be together 7 years later, with Patti still the DEVOTED leader. Even more astonishing, 10 of the 11 girls in the troop today have been in the troop for all 7 years!

These girls have done so much together, it just blows my mind when I think about it. They've gone to camp together, sold cookies, ice skated, swim parties, many trips to Raging Waters, dance classes, painting, community service, 4th of July parades.....the list goes on forever. It's been such a pleasure to me as a mother to watch these girls grow from tiny 5 year-olds to preteen 12 year-olds. They've learned to work out issues with each other (bound to happen with this many girls entering puberty!) and share their lives together.
I have no doubt in my mind that Patti Colinco is the only reason this troop stayed together so long. She is beyond AMAZING at what she does. She is the definition of patience and kindness. She just happens to be a teacher at the girls' school and both of my girls were fortunate enough to have her for their 2nd grade teacher. Although her family has gone through some tough times (the death of her mother after a battle with cancer, her father's heart attack and surgery and the death of her father-in-law) she has never neglected these girls. The woman should be declared a saint!

Recently, the girls participated in a "Culmination Ceremony" wrapping up their 7 years together under the guidance of Patti. It was a beautiful ceremony, honoring the girls that have gone from Daisy's to Brownies to Jr. Girl Scouts and now to Cadets. Patti will be passing the leadership baton over to Maia West, the mother of one of the girls, but she will ALWAYS be a huge part of all of our lives. To honor her, all the girls wrote a letter to Patti and I put them in a Shutterfly book along with 7 years of pictures and presented it to her along with gift cards to all her favorite stores. It was truly not enough to pay her back for the incredible dedication and impact she's had on the lives of these girls. I know Kiley and I will never forget her! I also believe Kiley is a well-adjusted, kind-hearted young woman because of Patti's influence on her life.

True Respect is Earned

Today, as I sat at the softball game of the 6th graders vs. the staff at the school, I just couldn't believe that my oldest daughter had only 3 days left in elementary school. In the fall she will be off to Jr. High. Where has the time gone? I can't believe she will soon be done with elementary school and that my younger daughter only has 2 years left! As I walked home from the game, all I could think about was blogging!

I actually have another blog. It's where I write to my daughters and a handful of other important young women in my life. It's not necessarily for them to read now, but for them to read later on in life. I use that blog to write my desires for them, the things I pray for them, my dreams for them and much more. Today, as I'm realizing just how old they are getting, I decided to write about marriage.

Here is just a little of what I wrote:

As I've mentioned before, I have been praying for your future spouses
since before you were born. I often wonder about them. Who are they? Do we
already know them? Are they living a good life or is life difficult for them?
Most of all, I pray that they are growing to be God honoring men. I pray that
they are growing to be fully devoted followers of Christ, just as I pray that
for you. I believe that if they are fully devoted to Christ, then they will
treat you like gold! The Bible is clear on how men should treat their wives,
therefore, they'll treat you as God intends a husband to treat his wife.

Recently I was reading Ephesians 5:22-30 and focused on verse
25, Paul says, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave
Himself up for her." Husbands are to be equally respectful to their wives as
wives are to their husbands. Marriage is to be GOD CENTERED! A
marriage is set up to fail if God is not the center. With God as the
center, it won't always be easy, but it will be good. That's because God is
perfection and will bless your marriage if you honor Him.

What I'm about to say is extremely important! If you are
dating a young man and he is not living for Christ, run! If he pressures you
about anything, run! If he says the only way you can prove your love to him is
by sleeping with him, RUN FAST! A true, good man will TREASURE you and RESPECT
you. A true, good man wants nothing more than to meet you at the alter
completely cleansed and pure because he loves God and he loves you and wants to
honor you both.

I realize that's kind of deep for today, but it was on my heart and I'm committed to sharing my heart on my blog. :) Don't worry, my next couple posts will be much more light hearted and will include everything about the end of the school year. God bless you all!

San Diego Sunshine

We are currently on the road, coming home from a 4 day trip to San Diego. To say we love San Diego is a complete understatement. Personally, I could live there, but as much as John loves it, he prefers just to visit. We stayed at a “luxury” RV park in Mission Bay. There is nothing like full hook-ups and being right on the water! We did lots of bike riding (well, John only did a little since his knee isn’t 100% yet) and relaxing. The girls are on “contract” with school this week, so they did “school” each day.

The highlight of the trip for me was joining our friends, Derek and Christiana, in their ministry in San Diego. They are friends of ours that are missionaries in San Diego that minister to the homeless, broken and marginalized people in the community along with training other leaders in missions. We have been big supporters of them since they first answered God’s call for them to go. I helped a lot as they organized, raised support and transitioned into full time missions. We support them both prayerfully and financially and are so honored to be a part of their lives. They have 2 adorable daughters, a 2-year-old and a 2-month-old. I joined them Sunday evening for church, which they do in someone’s home with other people from their missions team. We enjoyed a delicious meal of soup, salad, homemade bread and pies. After the meal, we gathered around the living room as Derek lead us in worship with his guitar while others helped with percussion. No words can describe how uplifting it was to listen to Derek do what he does best. He is so talented! I always tell them that I’m their biggest fan (Christiana has a beautiful voice too!). In fact, they released a great CD a couple of years ago titled “We’ve Got the Victory.” (Please let me know if you would like a copy.) Back to the story, we also talked a lot about prayer and its importance and what it means to us. It was a great honor for me to join them and share in just a small part of what they’re doing in San Diego. Then on Tuesday, my entire family got to have lunch with their family at my favorite pizza place, Filippe’s Pizza Grotto, in Little Italy. It was a great time of fellowship, laughter and the best pizza ever, in my opinion.

As always, the trip went way too fast! Now we’re headed back to reality with more laundry to do and housework to catch up on, but at least we’re relaxed as we reenter the “real world.”

50 Years of Wedded Bliss

Last week marked 50 years of marriage for my in-laws, Jean and Roger. Fifty years of marriage certainly deserved a great celebration (especially since their marriage was able to survive 4 children, 4 rambunctious children I might add). Jean and Roger were introduced to each other in November 1959 by their close friends Paul and Carol. At the time, Jean was living a carefree life with some girlfriends on Coronado Island, working at a bank in the morning and hitting the beach, just a block from her house, in the afternoon. Roger was a young engineer working in San Diego. They were married March 25, 1960 attended by their best friends Paul and Carol. The Moore Girls

As a family, we decided the best way to celebrate their anniversary was a weekend trip to Coronado Island. Roger's brother, John, and his wife, Barbara, flew in from Oakland to join us on this trip. Sixteen of us in all stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado, probably the most beautiful hotel in the United States. We had such a great time exploring the island, playing on the beach, shopping and a whole lot of eating. We even walked by the house Jean lived in when she met Roger. A special treat included meeting Carol (aka "Aunt Carol") for the best pizza ever in Little Italy in San Diego. On Saturday evening, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the ocean. We were seated against a window with an incredible view. The restaurant manager even had special menus made that said "Roger & Jean, Happy 50th Anniversary."

I'm so proud to be a part of the Moore family. They are such a fun, tight-knit family and it's such an honor and blessing to call them my family. Although the trip went way too quickly, it was an amazing trip and the memories of it will last forever. God bless you Jean and Roger and I pray we will be back in Coronado in 10 years to celebrate 60 years of marriage!

40 Looks Good on John

It may be a couple of weeks early, but due to my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary trip and Easter, John’s 40th birthday got celebrated early. John, not one for surprises or much attention at all, I knew that if I wanted him to ever talk to me again, a surprise party was out of the question. Instead, I convinced him that turning 40 did warrant some sort of gathering. He agreed to celebrating with family, then I added that he should have his closest friends there (I had to ease him into the whole party idea). So, on March 20th, our family and friends (50 of them, we do have a lot of family) gathered at John’s brother’s house for John’s 40th birthday bash. His brother, Bob, kept busy at the wood burning pizza oven making all kinds of yummy pizzas, our friend, Rick, manned the bbq with hamburgers and hotdogs, my mother, of course, played anyone she could get her hands on at ping pong, there were kids in the pool, teenagers playing Wii in the pool house and friends gathered around the pool table and the bbq/bar area. We also feasted on a delicious white cake with cheesecake filling that was decorated with a “capatilla” (you have to be from CCV to understand the humor with that). What a blast! It was such a treat to visit with close friends from all different stages of John’s life, some that we hadn’t seen in quite awhile. There were PLENTY of fun gifts: hair color, creams for all kinds of “old people” ailments, a “40 Sucks” sucker and many more. There were also special gifts, like the traditional poem that my father writes for all our birthdays. It was SO APPROPRIATE that John is still healing from knee surgery and was on a crutch for his 40th birthday (he graduated to 1 crutch instead of 2) and I decorated it with black ribbon. I also made a picture collage that included photos from many of the special moments in his life and put them in a large matted frame for everyone to write a message for John. It was a special day that we will remember for many, many years to come.

My Baby Girl is Growing Up

"Train a child in the way she should go, and when she is old she will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6

Kiley is my first born and in what seems like a blink of my eye, she has grown from the precious little baby I held in my arms to a "preteen." I can hardly say her age without feeling the sadness of the rapidly passing time. Just a few months ago, she turned 12! Next year she will officially be a teenager and I will send her off to, dare I say it, Junior High.

I remember well when I found out I was pregnant with her. It was February 14, 1997....Valentines Day! After several days of being suspicious that I might be pregnant after trying just a short time, I took a pregnancy test. Positive! I was teaching elementary school at the time and it just so happened to be "Grandparents Day" at the school. I didn't want to tell John about the positive pregnancy test until after school, so I had to go to work and act like all was normal. Then it happened, one of the grandmothers of one of my students looked at me and walked over to me, grabbed my hand and told me I was glowing. "Are you pregnant?" I know my smile gave away my little secret. I made it through the work day and stopped at the Hallmark store on my way home. I purchased a Valentines card for a child to her father and I signed it "baby." We still have that card and I still remember the joy on John's face when he opened it and realized what it meant. We were overjoyed! God gave us the child that we had prayed for.

My pregnancy wasn't difficult, but it certainly wasn't easy. Kiley was insistent on arriving early. Thanks to modern medication and bed rest, she didn't make her arrival until God's perfect timing. It was a very difficult delivery, in fact the doctor predicted she, me or both of us would not have survived that delivery just 10 years earlier. She was our miracle. She wasn't an easy baby either. One word says it all: COLIC! Once she hit about 4 1/2 month, the colic began to disappear and the sweet, happy Kiley emerged. She was such a good baby once we got beyond the "C" word. Due to the difficult delivery, I was quite ill for a couple of months, which required extra help from Daddy. However, I don't think that would have made a difference, once she was stable after delivery, she gazed into her daddy's eyes and they were smitten with each other. Kiley warmed our hearts as we watched her grow from a baby to a toddler, then to a little girl and now into the young woman that she is. She is shy, fearful to take risks and loves to be close to her family. Her innocence and inner beauty are among the many reasons that we love her so much.

Along with her shyness comes difficulty in feeling comfortable in a group and please don't ever put all the attention on her. We know that this is just how she is and don't see it as a problem, but we still encourage her to take risks and step out of her comfort zone. She did that twice this month in just 1 week apart. First, she played the piano along side her friend playing the violin for the school's Talent Show. Then the following week, she stood in front of all the kids in her class and gave a 4 minute speech on Helen Keller. This may not sound like much to a parent of an extroverted child, but for Kiley, it's like conquering the Iron Man! We are so proud of her and love her willingness to try new things. On top of these 2 big milestones, she has also called and made visits to many of our friends and families to sell Girl Scout Cookies. Gone are the days of us making the calls and going to doors as she hides behind us. Our little baby is growing up and we couldn't be more proud of her. She is God's gift to us and we treasure every moment with her!

Adventures in Traveling

I've just returned home from a trip that took me to Ohio, then Indiana and back to Ohio again. This trip might even be called the "2nd Annual Shawna-Time Trip." I went to Ohio last year in February to visit my aunts, uncle, cousins and their families. That trip was a trip of discovery for me. I took it about 6 months after a difficult period in my life. It was during that trip that I was able to return to my childhood and spend time with my family in Ohio reminiscing on old memories, laugh-out-loud moments and catch up on life in general. I've been back to Ohio several times as an adult, mostly for funerals, weddings and reunions, but last year was the first time going as an adult by myself for no other reason than to visit. I came home last year feeling renewed and reminded that even though I now go by my married name, I am still a Stuter and my sarcastic humor, fun loving, compassionate personality came from my Stuter family. That trip also reminded me that no matter what happens in life, that I need to allow God to pick me back up and jump right back in again with a new lesson learned and a positive attitude that God is in control and there's still a lot of enjoying life to do. All that said, I had no doubt I wanted to take the trip again this year.

I started my trip in Canal Winchester, just outside of Columbus, staying with my aunt (my dad's sister). I enjoyed time antiquing with my aunt, a big dinner with all my cousins and their spouseand kids, which includes 2 sets of twins and all around the same ages as my girls. It made me miss my family and wish they were with me. We also ate out a lot....my aunt doesn't cook.

Some of my cousins' kids

New to this year's trip, I added in a side trip to Indiana to visit my nephew, Ryely, at college. He is a freshman at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT), one of the top engineering colleges in the world. RHIT is also known as "Rich Husbands In Training." :) Since I was a college student once, and I remember the dorms well, I made the wise choice to stay in a hotel rather than the dorms. It's a beautiful campus and I enjoyed looking out Ryely's dorm window to the view of a frozen over lake and beautiful chapel. I had so much fun with Ryely! Although we spent some time in serious conversation, there was a whole lot of laughter. With a boy to girl ratio of 4 to 1 at RHIT, I stood out on campus. I was also treated to the hilarious adventures of college boys away from home for the first time. Two of Ryely's friends even went to the local Goodwill to get clothes and dress up as Mario and Luigi. Did I mention one of them was wearing maternity overalls? We pondered duct taping one of the small guys onto the bare wall of Ryely's dorm room. We also pondered painting a meaningless mural on the wall. Instead we settled on writing on the underside of the top bunk so that each time Ryely wakes up he can look up and remind himself of the fun time we had when I came to visit.

It was soon time for the next part of my trip, which entailed a 6 hour drive back to Ohio to a town called Orrville, near Akron. Have you ever driven 6 hours by yourself? It's impossible to stay awake. How do truckers do it? Caffeine became my buddy, which caused me to get dehydrated with a bad headache and sick to my stomach. By the time I made it to my aunt and uncle's house, I felt like death, even though I was greeted with open arms by all my cousins and their families. They were all ready to have fun and all I was ready for was a good nights sleep. My cousin's daughter insisted on tucking me into bed and by morning I felt much better. I spent a few days with that side of the family and as always, it was an adventure! They live in an area heavily populated by the Amish so driving is always interesting. You really have to watch out for Amish buggies while driving. There was one funny moment where I wanted to get a picture of a buggy and so did one of my cousins. I would have been content just taking a picture as we passed by one, but my uncle had the nerve to embarrass us all and stop right next to one on the road and roll down the window. I quickly took the picture while we all kind of ducked our heads and yelled at my uncle to drive. I even got to be with my cousin, Cindy, as she decided to get another tattoo, the scripture from Philippians, "I can do all things through Christ..." on her wrist.












The trip was so much fun and before I knew it, it was time to return home, which proved to be quite a challenge. While I was freezing through winter on the east coast, Southern California experienced some of its worst storms ever. There were even tornado warnings....in So Cal! After 4 canceled flights, being rerouted to Las Vegas, where I was stuck in the airport for well over 8 hours, and 17 hours of travel, I finally made it home, although I had to fly into LA rather than Ontario. My luggage made it the next day to Ontario and I picked it up only to find it soaking wet. Luckily, all that was ruined was a pair of shoes. It was definitely a trip to remember! I'm ready for next year, but I want John and the girls to join me.