Lovin it....

May 26, 2010




As I sit here this evening I am thinking of our last few days. Being near the ocean, on the sand. I just love it. It is the most relaxing place I have been to in a long time. The fact that there are not many decisions to be made here, right now as we just hang out together. Meeting new friends, reading good books, talking, swimming, laughing and eating. It is just good.



As we were snorkling with our new friends from India the other day. I was hit by the realization that Colton and Miranda are growing up fast. We talk about it together, while we are sitting around or eating supper or in a vehicle going from one place to another. We have all this time and Miranda is not shy about asking things that she is wondering about. So here we are, together, talking about life and puberty and anything else that comes up. Because we have all this time, it seems so natural to have these really cool conversations. We have them together, the 4 of us. It feels great and right to talk about growing up as it comes. So cool.

The other thing that I love about watching them is the joy they get out of everything. As Miranda runs full force into the warm South China Sea (I love saying that) she giggles. This wonderful amazing giggle that exudes pure joy. Then as she puts her goggled face underwater she squeals through her snorkel at the sea life alive all around her. She brings her face out from the water and yells, daddy, daddy look at this. As Dean swims over she dives down 10 feet and almost touches a funny creature that disappears back into the coral it is living on. The cool thing about this is that she also knows that what she is doing is safe. But I am amazed at how she just takes a deep breath and dives down to get a closer look.

Then as we were snorkeling with our new friends from India. Within moments, Miranda and Salome and off together taking turns diving down to touch a giant clam and watch how it quickly closes itself as they get near. They giggle and take turns doing it over and over. I love it. I love how she embraces new friends and new cultures and feels so at home wherever we are. Not that she doesn’t miss her friends back home. She surely does. We have seen a few tears over her missing them, but she very quickly wipes her eyes puts on her amazing smile and looks for the next adventure.

As we watch Colton growing at full force we know our time as a family is soon going to look different. He now stands as tall as I and his feet are as big as Dean’s. He is almost a man. He is such a responsible teen. He is an amazing brother to Miranda and we are so proud of him. He makes great choices and still over all loves to spend time with us. That is such a joy for us. Yes, we know that this will not always be the case, but for now I will embrace it. As we are always thinking of the next great adventure. We know that we are in the perfect place right now to do what we are doing. But there is always the talk of how we can continue and still have the kids go to school. Now that Colton is going into high school things will have to be planned a little differently. So yes, we will continue to cherish the place in life we are in right now. I love it.


These are the things that make it all worth every moment away from our friends and family at home. These are the moments I think of when people ask why we want to go. It is of course the new places we learn about and the amazing things we see. But on the top of the list is how we bond as a family. We try to cherish every moment for soon we will be back to the bustle of our regular lives filled with work and not nearly as much family time as I would like.