Some Disappointment

We were supposed to go to Catalina yesterday at 6 a.m. We were going to be there for 4 days. We would have had all 4 of our kids and their girlfriends with us. We would have taken our boat across and all of our camping equipment. We bought all the food and had packed it carefully. We had lots of fun plans to knee board, be pulled in the big tube, to snorkel, explore a water cave, eats lots of good food, drink a couple of Buffalo's Milk (a very tasty drink from the little bar on Two Harbors), laugh, hike, enjoy our family and friends and simply appreciate God's splendor. BUT, that was all denied! Our reservation for our 3 campsites for 19 of us were given away, the reservations we booked in December 2009. Somehow they did not get paid for and the 5 phone calls they said they made to our reservation-maker did not get through. What I'm saying is we think they gave away our primo spots to someone they knew and made up the effort to contact us. Most of the girls (in our group) cried and most of the boys were very aggravated. So, we did not get to have our little trip with all of us together. After all the planning, purchasing, securing the time off, and the excitement that led up to it, we did not go.

We have made this trip 4 times. This was going to be the first time that our whole family would go together. I, as the mommy, am very disappointed!!!! As my kids get older it gets harder to get us all together at the same time. I soooooo looked forward to them not being able to leave early, answer cell phones, have other things to do, fall asleep watching sports or just go into another room.

Okay, enough of that! We are all healthy, happy and safe. We had lunch together and the boys played basketball yesterday. We rode our bikes, with the younger kids, to the movies and saw Nanny McPhee. Today, we worked on my new classroom, which I desperately needed (and still need) to do. Tomorrow, the boys and their girlfriends will come over, after they play a round of golf together, and swim and have a bbq with us. We are happy, healthy, and safe. God is good.

I will get over my disappointment! I am blessed and I really shouldn't complain. I'm done. Thank you for listening(reading).

Beach Bonfire

I love having a bonfire! We make sure we do, at least, one bonfire each summer. It seems like it's a lot of work, but once we are there and night falls we are thrilled we did it. Usually we have to be there all day long to secure a pit. So the day could be from 10 AM to 10 PM.

It was really hot during the day (90)(and not at the beach, it was about 72 at the beach), but once the sun went down it was cold (60). We stayed warm with a great bonfire and s'mores :).

Jenna (friend) & Brady

Corey(friend), Brady, Jenna

Jake & Cameron(friend) skateboarded in the parking lot

The kids

Friends

Us

Jake & Corey(friend)

Me & Lisa(friend)

The girls

Camping

First of all, I have a blog friend who is hurting and it has been hard for me to post anything because of the pain they are going through. People have been praying and praying and things are starting to hold more promise. God is good. He does answer prayer, we just don't always understand why He answers the way He does until, sometimes, much later. I will continue to pray and hope and keep them close to my heart.

We have been blessed with more family time. We, just our two younger kids and us, went camping in Lake Arrowhead. It is our go-to campsite. It's less than two hours away and easy to get ready for. We hike and bike and swim at Lake Gregory. We explore and shop and eat by the campfire. We talk and read and tease for hours and hours. It's great fun!

Thankful Thursday- A Healthy, Supportive Family

Tuesday morning Jr. Lifeguards had their "Ironman". We all participated and supported, in one way or another. It was great! Our older boys and their girlfriends took off from work to be here with Jacob and Brady. It's a great event. Afterwards we took everyone out to a well-deserved lunch.

Brady-11 1/2

Jacob-13

Kierstin, Taylor, Ashley, Robbie, Jacob, Brady, Me & Brad

Healthy, Happy Family