Life is full and busy, but what I am most aware of these days is how blessed I am! In late April we finished up our school year. As I reflect back on this last year, I am so incredibly aware of God’s grace. Last summer, as I was planning and preparing to head into what I was expecting to be one of my busiest and hardest years yet (homeschooling 3 kiddos while trying to entertain a preschooler and a toddler), I specifically remember telling my hubby that I was a little (or maybe a lot) anxious about how I was going to get it all done. He kindly and graciously reminded me that I don’t need to worry about borrowing grace and new mercies for future days, but instead take it one day at a time and trust that God will meet me each day. And indeed, He did just that. This was such a fun year and I absolutely loved getting to spend my days at home with my kiddos! I am so thankful that Brian works so hard day in and day out to give me the ability and privilege of doing what I do at home … he is pretty much the best husband ever!
One of the kiddos favorite places to visit throughout the year is Longwood Gardens. Thankfully, since my parents have a membership we are able to go whenever we want and so we try and get there once every season. The spring visit is always a highlight because of the tulips. Here is my favorite picture that captures the love my mom (Mimi) has for our kiddos!
And let me tell you … they love her as much as she loves them! After spending 2 weeks with my parents, my kiddos are still calling me Mimi! Brian and I recently returned from our 2 week getaway to Hawaii to celebrate our 10 year anniversary that we had last September. Since we wanted Emma to be a little older, we ended up going this month and being there over my 30th birthday! We had such a wonderful time away, and it was such a blessing to know that our kiddos were in great hands. The kids were counting down the days until they got to be with Gramps and Mimi for 2 weeks! My mom is pretty much amazing and Lord willing, I hope that someday I’ll be able to serve my children in the same selfless, joyful and caring way that she does for us! Mom, thank you for taking the kids on a field trip for me, caring for each and every need (I realize one, or maybe two 
of my kiddos are a little needy!), feeding 5 little mouths, doing way more laundry than you normally do, bringing the kiddos back to our house a few days early so that you could take Justin to his baseball game and Hailey to her ballet, picking 65 quarts of strawberries for me and then ALSO freezing/drying them for me (while still taking care of my 5 kiddos!), tenderly tucking 5 kiddos into bed each and every night (sometimes multiple times!), and then somehow making sure that I come home to a house that is clean and tidy … you are my hero and I love you! Thank you soooo much!!!
It would be pretty crazy of me to mention our trip to Hawaii without posting any pics, so without further ado here are some favorites:
Sunrises in Hawaii are pretty great.
The beaches are pretty great too! We especially liked finding the hidden beaches that require a 5-15 minute hike to get to since they were pretty much completely empty. We hit all of the favorites for snorkeling and spent lots of time in the water.
Brian’s favorite kind of beach is either one that has really good snorkeling or really big waves … this beach, called Donkey beach fulfilled the big waves for him!
The helicopter ride was definitely a highlight of the trip … you get to see parts of the island (Kauai is where we took this one) that you can’t see any other way! We opted for the “sporty” ride which means that the helicopter doesn’t have any doors … it was a blast and we got much better pictures since we didn’t have to worry about any glare.
After seeing this sea cave from the air, later in the week we go to take a raft trip and actually go inside of it!
We saw lots of beautiful waterfalls.
We went on a zip-line tour which was a great time! There were 9 zips ranging in distance from 400’ – 1200’ with a one mile hike throughout. We also got to swim in a waterhole with a waterfall while eating our picnic lunch!
Here is Brian posing for me!
And here I am trying to master my cannonball so that I would have a chance at beating Brian while racing down the last zip (King Kong, the 1200’ zip has 2 lines side by side so that you can race!) … unfortunately, Brian still beat me (but for the record, I was told that I had him beat if the line was 5’ longer!)
All ready for King Kong, the last zip line and the longest!
The view from the other side of the zip after you race from the tower!
The boat ride was another highlight … we took the raft trip because it is voted “E for Excitement!” It’s a bit rough at times, but we had a blast! This was one of my favorite things we did because seeing the Na Pali coast up close and personal is absolutely gorgeous!
There were tons of spinner dolphins all around us!
Getting to visit my dear friend Laura, who lives in Oahu was another highlight of our trip! Chris and Laura, we absolutely loved our 3 night stay with you and your sweet family! Thanks for your hospitality, lots of laughs, games and fun times!
If you ever go to Oahu, visiting the Dole Plantation for some Pineapple whip (aka Pineapple ice cream) is a must … it was so good, we went back for a 2nd visit! We also had some pretty delicious pineapples while enjoying our visit, and just like at home Costco has the best price!
We saw sea turtles all over the place while we were there … we got to see them while we were snorkeling, on our boat trip, walking along the beach, and pretty much any place where there was ocean water … which was a lot of places!
At Waimea Bay Beach there are rocks that are known for being jumped off of into the ocean. You can’t do this any time of the year (unless you want to be slammed into the rocks by a 30’ wave and die!), but lucky for us, we went during a time when the waves were calm! We decided to make our kids proud by jumping off of the 30’ cliff rocks!
Once you get up there, you really don’t want to stand there for too long … you just gotta go for it! Here we are preparing to jump …
And here we are mid-jump before we have hit the water …
And here we are … STILL in the air … my form is obviously much better since I went down faster!
And here we are hitting the water! This was a fun memory that we made and our kiddos loved hearing about it and seeing the pics (and our son claims he would jump, ha!)
You should see what the locals do off these rocks! They like to see who can get the closest to the rocks without actually hitting it so they just step off without even jumping off. They also enjoy doing anything other than jumping normally (flips, twists, dives, backwards jumps, etc. … crazy!) But you are always guaranteed to see plenty of first-timers who scream the entire way down too!
There you have it … a glimpse into our wonderful time away! I am so thankful for my husband who made this trip possible by taking me and for my mom who made this trip possible by taking our kiddos! Being 30 is pretty great, and spending it in Hawaii was also pretty great … I am one blessed girl!
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