Windows of Paradise...

So I promised some pictures from our trip to Maui... so here they are.
Okay so this isn't Hawaii...

This was how our house looked the day before we left for Maui.

...and here is the green lush island of Maui. Notice there is no snow in this picture! Thank God!

Rachel, Cameo, Micah and I in all of our 'whiteness' early in the week.

This was a cool church made out of lava rock in 1832 that they still have services in every Sunday.

This is a neat flower shot with a wedding chapel in the background right on the beach.

The inside peak of the wedding chapel with sunlight flooding through. I liked the symmetry of the wood in this picture.

A waterfall pouring out of the lush rainforest that the road to Hana goes through.... it was a very beautiful drive.

My brother Micah wading in a serene pool along the road to Hana.

Micah swimming in the serene pool. Notice the old bridge of the narrow road above.

Rachel, Hannah and I in front of a beautiful waterfall on the road to Hana. Leah was asleep in the car.

This picture is one of my favorites of Hannah's hand and foot on the black sand beach in Hana. Hannah and Hana. Funny!

I love the contrast in this shot. This little plant was only about two inches tall, right on the beach.

Picture taken at sand level on the black sand beach at Hana looking toward the rain forest.

Another beautiful waterfall.

Us hiking through the lava flow to a great snorkeling spot known only as 'Fishbowl'.

Again, the contrasts in colors were amazing... too bad my camera couldn't fully capture the vividness.

Paradise...

... I just got back from Maui early this morning, and man, was it beautiful!! I took alot of pictures so I'll post some on here soon.
The whole family went including my parents and my girls loved it! Leah is darker than all of us and she had the strongest sunblock on... she looks like a little local hawaiin.
We were gone for ten days and the weather was awesome... shorts and flipflops the whole time.

It was alittle bit of a 'mind trip' because yesterday morning before we left I was walking in the ocean (which was about 80 degrees) and in less than 10 hours I pull up to my front yard covered in 2 feet of snow!
Anyway, I'm going to Glamis with my buddy Dave to do some 'end of the season' dune riding with the guys this weekend and then spending Easter with my girls and his fam at their house.

Got to get my last 'fix of fun and relaxation' before it gets chaotic in May in preparation for summer.

Absence Make The Heart Grow Fonder...

...I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long,... it isn't because I haven't been interested in putting my thoughts and experiences to the keyboard, it is trying to find the minutes in the day to do it.

Right now I'm in the middle of our last winter camp (Hooray!!), so I'll do a longer post next week.

I miss everyone and I'll be glad when Spring will finally be here.

In His Presence...

... she is finally 'home'.




She is finally without pain.


She is finally at peace and no longer has stress.... or sorrow.... or loneliness or any other thing associated with this earth.


I think I'm finally relieved.


And maybe envious.


Aunt Rachel and Leah, March 2005

No Title

... so I don't post much anymore, and that bums me out a little bit.... as you read below there is things weighing on my mind personally, we are in the middle of winter camps (which are going great, but still no snow...weird), and the staff recruiting 'beast' (task) is on my back. In short, it is hard for me to gather 'energy' to post anymore, even though I know in the back of my mind it is a good mental release and I do enjoy it after I get the 'ball' rolling and start typing.

My aunt is still with us... she has 'good' days (if you want to call it that), and she definitely has bad days, but she is still here just waiting for God's perfect timing.


On a different note, I'm responding to Nikki's post about movie favorites. Now if you know me I have a cabinet full of my movie favorites, but I'll only list some as this list could be a long one. And these aren't in order.

1) The Lord of the Rings trilogy (it is all one big movie to me). Peter Jackson did an awesome job and if you watch any of the behind-the-scenes stuff you can tell that these people enjoy what they do and the people they work with.
2) Band of Brothers, best WWII movie/series ever!
3) Office Space nuff' said.
4) Braveheart still and always will be a classic fav. Watch this after your married and put yourself in his situation... it might make you feel even more passionate about this film.
5) Gladiator (same as above) and Russell Crowe rocks
6) Spinal Tap great mockumentary, still my favorite, and the commentary is just as good as the movie
7) The Godfather trilogy, what can I say, it's about the mafia and it's roots.... and it has Pacino in it.
8) Heat, great L.A. heist story that has you going for the bad guys and I like Michael Mann's films (Collateral, Last of the Mohicans, The Insider)
9) Traffic and most everything else that Soderbergh does (Ocean's Eleven, Erin Brokavich, The Limey, Out of Sight)
10) everything Ghost in the Shell, it's anime (japanimation), it's a little weird, but I like it and I think the animation from the first movie (1995) to the series on Japanese television right now, is amazing.

Well, that's just the tip of my colossal movie iceberg... maybe I'll do more lists in the future... like favorite directors or best cinematography or best animation or movie scores. The possibilities for categories is endless for me.

That is......

if you want to know.


Peace people!