remembering

last week, i was talking to darilyn after our monthly GNO (girls night out), if you don't have a GNO, i highly recommend them! anyway, we were talking about photos and she told me that her all time favorite photo was one on my sister's blog. it was a picture that mitch took while in colorado. she reminded me of a wonderful part of our sabbatical trip that i never got around to writing about.

so, i decided i would write about it today. i am remembering that day back in july with a big smile!

one of the first places we put down "roots" (meaning: where we stayed for more than one night) was vallecito, colorado. mitch's grandma (aka grandma great) has a cabin in the mountains there. if you remember the missionary ridge fire back in 2002, that is where grandma great's cabin is. it was amazing that she didn't lose the cabin when you see how close it got! anyway, it is a very peaceful little retreat in the mountains.

my sister and her husband were selling dish network in albuquerque this past summer, so they were close enough for me to drive out and pick them up. okay, so a four hour drive both ways might not sound very close, but when we are comparing it to thousands of miles to fly from oregon to hawaii, a four hour drive seems like minutes! i made the drive and we were able to spend a wonderful 5 days with them in vallecito.

probably, my favorite thing we did was to rent a pontoon boat and take it out on vallecito lake! the weather was perfect. the sky was blue with beautiful fluffy white clouds. we drove out for awhile and found a good spot to cut the engine and enjoy a cool but refreshing dip in the water. plus, lala had to go tinkles.

she was a little hesitant to jump into the water, at first, but then her "i have no fear gene" kicked in. she was the first one to jump in after uncle stuart. she didn't really want to go tinkles in the water, at first either. so, she played around in the lake with uncle stuart. as uncle stuart began to lift her back up into the boat, she said, "wait! i'm going tinkles!" sucks to be uncle stuart at that moment! but he's a good sport!

once we got that out of the way, everyone jumped in!

nani:

uncle stuart:

auntie malia:

mitch:

me:

lala, again:

we were all having so much fun!! the boys, or i mean the men, were trying to flip each other off the boat, much to malia's discouragement (i think that was the first time that i almost saw them argue! malia was NOT happy!)

during all of this fun water play we didn't seem to notice the dark clouds encroaching on the edge of the lake from between the mountains.

it wasn't until we heard the thunder in the distance that we paid any attention to the darkening sky. it was then that we decided we should start making our way back. i'm afraid, though, that we were a bit late on starting back. there was no way that we were going to out ran those clouds or the pelting rain!

of course we were not prepared for the 20 degree drop in the temperature! we were all wet from playing in the water and now we were in the wind and rain without a warm coat to protect us from the storm! thank goodness we left the sunshade on when they asked us if we wanted to leave it up or take it down!! even still, we could feel the sting from the rain as it hit us! i get goosebumps just looking at this picture of nani freezing in her life jacket.

i'm not sure if you can tell, but in those last two pictures you could see the rain hitting the water. by the time we docked the boat, the rain was coming down so hard and cold. our teeth were chattering and our bodies were shivering uncontrollably. as we ran for the shelter of the tiny tackle shop feeling the force of each drop of rain, we were amazed to see hail bouncing off of the deck. no wonder it was so stinkin' cold and the rain was hurting so bad!!

as soon as we crowded into the tackle shop along with everyone else whose boating plans got cut short lala announces that she needs to go to the bathroom. i reminded her that she had just gone. then in a very loud voice, much too loud for the smallness of the crowded room, she announces, "NO! i have to go poop!" embarrassed for her, and okay, for me too, i respond, "let's just announce it to everyone!!" she just gave me a really weird look!

even though or trip got shorten, we all loved every minute of it. even the freezing cold! great memories!

oh, and i almost forgot the picture that got this all started! this is darilyn's all time favorite photo (i think it is pretty awesome too! not only are we synchronized, but we are even wearing matching bathing suits, well, the colors are a little different):

and this last picture is one of my favorites. it just makes me smile! how can you see lala's big smiling face without smiling yourself?! i dare you to try!

but the best part about this picture, her shorts are practically down around her ankles and she doesn't even care! you've gotta love this girl!!