Meet Rosie

This is Rosie, one of the guard dogs for our sheep. They live with the sheep and are there to protect them from predators. The dogs (Violet is the other one) are supposed to ignore us and focus on the sheep. Yesterday we went out to take a few pictures and the dogs were so interested in my camera. Isn't she cute?

The job of parents

Parents can and must:

train,
shape,
mold,
correct,
guide,
punish,
reward,
instruct,
warn,
teach,
and love

their kids during their formative years.

-Dr. James C Dobson from "Parenting isn't for cowards."

Read this...

I have read this before but was glad to be reminded and read it again.

READ THIS VERY SLOWLY ..... IT'S PRETTY PROFOUND.

Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.

I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.

How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?

How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?

I cannot count the times I called my sister and said , 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a
late breakfast, It looks like rain' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.

Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!

We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.

Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I plan
on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'

When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.

My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and
bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.

Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to...not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?

Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.

Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on
the fly? When you ask 'How are you?' Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good
friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi'?

When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.

'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!

~unknown

Last day

On the last day, we took a group photo of our EL family... the kids didn't want to leave because they had so much fun!


We drove to Reno that night and the rest of the way home on Sunday. We had such a great two weeks but it sure is good to be home!

Next stop?

We had a relaxing last day on Maui and flew out on a red-eye flight. We got back to Sacramento about 8 am. Since we had about a 10 hour drive to Utah, we figured we should get as far as we could. We stopped for a quick breakfast in Reno and kept going until we got to Winnemuca, where we stayed overnight. The next day we drove the rest of the way (took 8 hours!) to Logan, Utah.

Why Utah? We went there for a Ranch Management meeting of our Executive Link board. We had some great meetings and the kids had an absolute blast hanging out with the other kids. J.T. is the second one from the left.


Besides our meetings, we toured around to see all the ranches the Parker family has for their cattle. It was great to see the places we had heard about.

Day 7

We took our (almost) annual family picture on our favorite bench first thing in the morning. We decided to go driving and exploring on the other part of the island. We went to Kahului for shopping and looking around. Then we headed to the cool little town of Pai'a. We ate lunch at Charley's, a restaurant that has become somewhat famous because its Willie Nelson's favorite restaurant. We also had some awesome gelato. Yum!

We also drove to Kihei and Wailea. We looked around and did window little shopping, but didn't really buy much.

After that, we were all tired so we headed back to the pool....

Day 5 and 6

Andy and the kids went to the beach, while I went for a little photography field trip. It was fun to play around an try to get some cool shots. Here are a couple....




We spent time at the pool for most of the afternoon and BBQed for dinner.... The kids enjoyed swimming while the guys did the BBQing.

Day 4

The Victorines arrived late last night. We met up with them in Lahaina. It was raining.... like really raining. Not just a tropical shower. We did some shopping and looking around. We had lunch at Bubba Gumps which is fun. The kids haven't seen "Forrest Gump" so they didn't get some of the funny things in the restaurant.

We spent the afternoon at the pool....



For the dinner that night, we went to my favorite restaurants in the whole world.... The Melting Pot. It was so good! The kids had a great time....

Day 3

It's beach day! There's a nice, little uncrowded beach right down at the edge of the property that was perfect for the kids. Andy and I laid on the grassy area right above it. The kids had a great time playing in the water and building their sand sculptures....





Later we went for frozen yogurt and shopping at Whalers Village. The kids just love "Yogurtland" because they get to make their own creations with any type of yogurt and toppings they want. I must admit, I am a pretty big fan myself. :)

We BBQed burgers for dinner and it was so nice to be able to eat on the balcony...

Day 2

We actually slept in later than I expected, til about 6 am (9 am home time). Usually we are up by 4 am or so on the first couple days. We decided to head to Makawao for a couple hours. It took about an hour or so together there with JT chattering or asking questions the entire time. Wow that kid can talk!

Makawao is the cowboy town on the island. There are a couple stores and an art gallery that I just love. First stop was Aloha Cowboy. It's a western store that has a hula girl wearing a cowboy hat, boots and a grass skirt, sitting on a surfboard as its logo. It's a really neat store with lots of cool logo gear.

We made a quick stop at Komodo Store and Bakery for what are supposed to be the island's best donuts. I'm not really a donut person but they were pretty good. After that we headed to the Piiholo Ranch Store. They also have cool western gear and clothing. JT wanted to buy out both western stores.

Last stop was the Randy Jay Braun gallery, which is one of my favorite parts about Maui. He does amazing photography ranging from hula girls to Hawaiian cowboys to sunsets. I could spend an unlimited amount of money there. There is a sign hanging near the cash register that says "Your husband called. He said to spend as much as you want.". I love it!

After that, we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise for lunch. No Lahaina shopping today.... We went back to the condo for some pool time and relaxation.

A few photos....

Happy 4th of July!


It was a nightly occurrence to try to get the perfect sunset shot....

Maui! Arrival day....

What a day! Yesterday we drove to Sacramento, spent the night, and caught an early flight to Maui. We arrived about 11:15, Hawaiian time. Since we got up so early (3 am Pacific time), some of us were a little crabby. After we picked up our rental car, we grabbed lunch at McDonalds, did some grocery shopping at Walmart, and were finally on our way to Papakea Resort. It seemed to take forever but eventually we made it. We unloaded and took a few minutes to relax before heading for the pool. After awhile, I ran to the grocery store to get dinner stuff while the kids swam with their new friends. Dinner turned out good.... my first time cooking mahi mahi. Andy crashed early but the kids and I found a few fireworks to watch. Off to bed.....

Love is in the air....

The V family.....