One Year Older and Wiser Too...

(My famous German Chocolate cake. That's how you know how much I really love you!)

Happy Birthday, To You!

Happy day to you, Mer Baby. 19 years of WOW!

Grandpa and Grandma Van Horn and Bam and Dandad Mordue

Markelle gets a lot of her spunk and sparkle and creativity from these four folks. As Grandad is fond of saying, "She has 25% of my genes!"

Channelling Sarah B.

This is Sarah B., one of the most genuinely beautiful--both inside and out--people I know. She is thoughtful, kind, gracious, helpful, uplifting, and eternally positive. Her spiritual depth is breathtaking and she has an incredible brain in that beautiful head of hers. She always has an enthusiastic "Wonderful!" or "Fantastic!" ready to unleash under any circumstances, whether it truly IS fantastic, or an utterly chaotic disaster. I find that when I want to be really, really, really nice (for instance: when I at work, or answering the phone at home, or meeting people I don't know very well) I ask myself the very important question, "WWSS? (What Would Sarah Say) and before I know it, phrases such as: "That is absolutely FANTASTIC!" or "Wonderful!" or "Thank you so much!" and "I would LOVE to!" come rolling off of my tongue.

Something very magical happens when I channel my inner Sarah: I have a smile on my face and in my voice and I feel HAPPY!

But it's exhausting to keep up. How does she do it?

Roy G. Biv

One of the greatest things I learned from books is how to remember the order of the colors in a rainbow. When I was about eight, I read a mystery novel, and one of the clues that gave away the criminal was the use of the name Roy G. Biv. The smart young detective spotted this immediately for the mnenomic device it was: the 1st letters of the colors in the rainbow. I have used this immeasurably over the years, and today I shared it with my nephew, Asher. I realized after watching a very informative episode of Dr. Oz that I am not eating nearly enough of the recommended daily amounts of fruits and vegetables. So with Roy G. Biv and Asher in hand, we headed to the grocery store, where I had Asher pick out: Red apples and bell pepper, Orange grapefruit and carrots, Yellow lemon, Green cucumbers and broccoli, Blueberries, Indigo grapes and Violet (purple) cabbage.

Just look at that smile:



Dang, now I can't get that cheesy song out of my head...you know, the one that was played with the primary lesson? "I'll build you a rainbow...."

The Trust? Fall

"Just put your heels on the back of the platform, spread your arms out and fall."--Dan, Outfitters of Kauai.



This, coming from the man that snuck a picture of himself on our camera! We found this nice surprise as we were looking through our pictures after we got back from our zipline adventure.

Kauai on my mind....

Things to remember during the long, cold months of winter:

Lappert's macadamia nut coconut hot fudge ice cream, Pukadogs, fresh fish: mahimahi, ono, ahi, opah, lava flow mocktail, hula pie, plumeria scented lotion, orchid gardens, warm rain, humidity laden air, soft breezes, fresh fruit stands, tropical forests, soft sand, tropical fish, sea turtles, colorful roosters, no schedules, changing sky, long walks, beautiful music, fire dancers and beating drums, cute water boys (Madi and Ashley, haha), hawaiian quilts, being sung to by the local LDS ward, long drives along beautiful coastline, mysterious mountains, wearing "slippers," running in shorts and tank top, adrenalin rush of zip lines and pouring down rain, being together in a beautiful place.

Until next time, because we WILL be back!

Po'ipu

On the flight out to Hawaii, the in flight movie was "Life as We Know It" w/Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. There is a line in the movie that was overplayed in the trailers, but still got an immature laugh out of Steve and I every time we heard it. Now that we are staying at a resort in Po'i pu, we keep saying that line to each other: "Darling, you've got po'ipu on your face!" Hahaha, are we a couple of eight year old boys, or what?

Conversation in car today:

Dandad: Those are taro fields, it's what they make poi out of.

Madi: What does poi taste like?

Dandad: Let's just say that Po'ipu is aptly named.

:)

To Love it is to Run it

This morning I got up, put on my running clothes, laced up my shoes and headed out for a run. As I passed by beautiful and unique vegetation, listened to the birds chirp and the roosters crow, felt the warm island breeze and eventually the light sprinkle of rain on my face and I couldn't help but feel on top of the world and fall in love with my surroundings. I'm sure it's the endorphins pumping through my brain, but I am convinced that to truly love a new place--and to really appreciate it's charms--you have to RUN it. I have fond memories of running along the river walks in Portland, OR and Spokane, WA and the red rocks of Lake Powell, the beaches of California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii, countless roads across the U.S. and even a parking lot in Ontario, OR (believe it or not, I eeked out a 6 mile run using the parking lots of big box stores such as Home Depot!) There is nothing that makes you feel more alive than running in the open air and elements, feeling your heart pumping, your lungs working and all the parts of your body humming in unison to move yourself forward. I love it!

Getting old...

We left this morning for Kuaui (yippee!), and when Boyd arrived at 7:45 to take us to the airport, it took a good half hour for Steve to go through the house ONE MORE TIME to make sure that every light was off, every lock was in place, every little possible item he would need for our trip was packed. And please do not rush him, it will just fluster him even more. I've learned this over the years. Getting out the door is a process. We had to move all four cars around, and get keys/remotes together to give to Jody (who will be picking us up when we come back). Finally, I just joined the girls in the waiting car, knowing that Steve would come out eventually. He came out the front door, locked it, checked it and we were ready to go. After a little glitch at the airport (I had to run back to check some lacrosse sticks through--the TSA wouldn't let us take them through security...you have to worry about Madi using it as a weapon!) we finally made it on the plane and all the worries and stress of the last week were a memory. Then Steve leaned over to me and asked, "Did I lock the front door?" I am just wearing a Big Ol' Smile!

Happiness and Love

I came across this picture on www.leweddingparty.com, and I was bowled over by the pure happiness and joy of this darling couple. I don't even know who they are, yet I can feel their excitement and enthusiasm for each other and life and their upcoming marriage adventure. Here's a big Toyota leap to happiness, joy and LOVE!

Sometimes, all you can do is laugh....

Because otherwise you would cry!

Happy New Year, world! Happy New Year to us, also. As the man at Hale Center Theater stood up and began to count down--in a very loud voice--the last 10 seconds of 2010, Steve and I grabbed each other in a big hug and with a sigh a relief exclaimed, "We made it!" We made it through a very FULL year of some really big--I mean HUGE--ups, and some equally big---er, HUGE--downs. As the balloons were falling down from the ceiling, and theater goers on either side of us were blowing their noise makers, Steve and I gave each other a fist bump and told each other that 2011 was going to be quiet compared to 2010. HA, HA, HA! That joke was on us...not more than 12 hours later we learned that the car we let our daughter drive was impounded. Three days and $580.00 later we are now looking at each other, and truly having a good laugh (okay, and a good cry, too)!