Isabella - "I LOVE Hawaii!"

Isabella loved everything about Hawaii!

The swimming pool

The beach

Marriott's Pirate Ship Play Area

Mango Smoothies

Shaved Ice

A toast to Maui....

The playground

 This photo is a perfect example of the only time she was mad....when we told her it was time to get out of the pool.

We tried the 'Ok Bella, we are leaving. Good bye Bella' method.  Surely she would get out when we all did.  Nope.  She just swam away.  It didn't seem to phase her that she was the ONLY person in the pool!

So many times I was reminded of the song, "my belle ami", which says, "You are the child of the sun and the sky and the deep blue sea."  

Isabella is definitely a child of the deep blue sea...or the deep blue pool!  

We got back to Boise on Wednesday morning and John and Monica say that it was Friday before she stopped asking to go back to the hotel!  

Our little Island Girl!  I'm looking forward to many more trips with you!

It's All About Ohana!

Just in case you haven't watched enough Hawaii 5-0 or traveled to Hawaii enough to know - OHANA means FAMILY!  Our Lewis Ohana 2019 vacation trip was almost perfect!  If Mary and Mark and their little cutie had been there it would have been!  Next time when the little guy is older, I hope they will be there too.

Walks along the pathway

Plenty of pool time....

And lots of sand between our toes!

Sunset on Kanapali Beach!

Brothers bonding time

Plenty of Grandma and Grandpa experiences with Bella....

Evening excursions...

Amusing moments with Mom

This view from our balcony with entertaining whales to watch

Lots of memories were made!

Dinner Time Fun

I love being back in Eagle, Idaho!  I always envied my friends in Portland who enjoy Sunday dinner with their kids and grandkids each week.  Now I have that same opportunity!  Monica, Johnny and Isabella come over every Sunday.

This last week we celebrated Chinese New Year.  According to Chinese mythology in our family we have 2 rats, a snake, a monkey, a ram, and a rabbit.

Rats are quick witted, resourceful, versatile and kind

Snakes are enigmatic, intelligent and wise

Monkeys are sharp, smart and curious.

Rams are calm, gentle, and sympathetic

Rabbits are quiet, elegant, kind and responsible.

Not sure how accurate these descriptions are.  John and Monica are rats.  I am a snake.  Matt is a monkey.  George is a rabbit and Isabella is a ram.  

Whatever....we did have fun celebrating the Year of the Pig.

I love my paper dragons.  I bought them from a funny little man with 3 or 4 super long chin hairs....like maybe 12 inches long...he was selling the homemade dragons just outside of the dam museum on the Yangtze River.  I later learned that they were made out of cigarette papers!  Oh well!

Orange chicken, veggies, egg rolls and rice were on the menu.  Followed by some wonderful almond cookies and fortune cookies too, because they are fun, even if not traditionally Chinese!

Monica quickly learned to use her chopsticks with ease.  Isabella used them for drum sticks and to jab into her food but she is so cute who cares???

I didn't agree with the Chinese zodiac symbols but I love Matt's fortune from his fortune cookie.  Real wisdom in this one! 

Sunday night was the Chinese dinner and then on Monday night we invited Matt's good friends Zach and Jessica and their adorable children over for dinner and to decorate Valentine cookies.  

 Two 3 year old girls meant that we had lots of pink icing and lots of sprinkles.  Some of the sprinkles even made it onto the cookies!

 Isabella and Addie had lots of fun and had to hug each other good bye.  Then Addie looked at me and said, "You are old. Will you be my grandma?" I guess having three grandmas is a good thing!

I am so blessed to be close to family and that our children have such nice friends!

Rain Give Rainbows

Our week in Maui was a bit rainy.  Truthfully, I believe I could safely say that is was very rainy.  Most of the time the view from our window looked like, this still not too shabby!

My visions of spending days like this in the sun actually became days of relaxing in the rain. 

See those people huddled under their beach towels.  We would get all set up for an afternoon of relaxing by the pool and then the rain would start.  Optimistically, we would think that it was going to be a drizzle and try to wait it out and then the heavens would open to give us a tropical deluge.

I spent one whole afternoon on the couch in our room, under a blanket, reading.  Still it's not a bad place to be!

And as the Hawaiians say, "Without rain there are no rainbows."  Photos never quite show the true colors of a rainbow!

We talked to lots of people who were in Hawaii from the midwest where the temperatures were colder than Antarctica!  In some areas, considering the windchill, it was 50 below zero. No one was feeling sorry for us with a bit of rain in Maui.  It was actually quite a wonderful week.

Captain Steve's Whale Watching boat didn't disappoint.  We saw multiple breaches, a calf that was less than a week old, and even a competitive pod fighting over a female.  You could easily hear them slamming into each other.  Such power!  Definitely one of my favorite parts of a Hawaii trip.

Her tail is very distinctive.

In spite of the rain, Maui is still my HAPPY PLACE!

Grandma's Boots

When Mary and I left her home to drive to the airport, I noticed that both of us were wearing boots! Now that isn't unusual since there was snow on the ground.  What was unusual was that these boots were my mother's!

When she died almost 10 years ago, Mary and I got several pairs of her boots and we're still wearing them and they still look good! So blessed by having Bessie Montgomery as my mother and not just for her fashion sense, but Mary and I are glad for her sense of style.  I think she passed that to us along with her boots!

Full of Joy

I just got back from a wonderful visit with Mary, Mark and their little guy!  Watching them be parents warms my heart and fills it with joy!

While I was there, the parental rights of the birth mother were terminated by the court.  No father has come forward so the rights of the 'unknown' father were also terminated and the Grandmother was also denied her request for custody.  My heart sings for Mary and Mark and all of us, but it aches for the poor birth mother and her family.  Drugs are such a tragedy.  I am sure she wants to do better but is too controlled by her habit.  I pray for her that she will get her life together but I also know that Mary and Mark's home will be the best place for the little guy to be raised.  What a blessing for him and for all of us to have this sweet addition to our family.  Hopefully this summer it will all be final!