Surely there's sandy baby chunk in Heaven right?! ...Hawaii || Part THREE

sandy babies, the end.

seriously though, once you've taken your littles to the beach + seen them sandy from head to toe(mostly abel), rollies bulging from their swimsuits(mostly lucy), your vision of what Heaven might be like changes. SURELY there is sandy baby chunk in Heaven right?

the beach is my favorite. living ON the beach is probably the only way i'd wave colorado goodbye. We spent a good amount of time beachin' in Hawaii, naturally, and now I'm here sitting on my couch in sweats and a sweatshirt & dreaming of going back... like yesterday.

beach. zip lining. helicopter tour.

enjoy!

^^^watching my little brothers (who aren't so little anymore) play and play and play with abel was delight to my soul

^^^abel was NOT stingy with the kisses this trip

^^^how cute is my mama? i PRAY i am as cute as she is when i'm grown up! ow ow!

ZIP LINING!

If you know me, zip lining is NOT something that would be in my regular activity. But i mean, how often do you get the chance to zip line in Hawaii? like, never. so... I along with other members of my sweet fam zip lined! woop woop! there are a billion more photos that I don't have in my possession & also some cool video footage that will be in the Hawaii movie I'm obviously making :) But for now... these :)

Helicopter Tour

This was SO cool. We got to fly around all the islands and see places that have never even been seen by man, other than from a helicopter. It was so awesome to see little corners of the earth that God made just because He wanted to! We can't even see them, they aren't for us. They are just His creation living free. There was also a point in the tour that we were above some clouds that had settled low & all you could see was blue sky around you & clouds beneath you. With that, combined with the epic movie soundtrack music playing through my headphones, all I could think of was my Dad, and how I wondered if that might have been what it was like as he entered Heaven. It's definitely what I've always imagined it to look somewhat like, and if so, sign me up when my time comes. So many parts of Hawaii made me feel small, in the best way. Seeing parts of God's great earth from above like this was truly incredible.

^^^If you look closer at the photo above, it's like 9 whales!!!! They said it was a bull rush, one female & 8 males following her, trying to win her affection. 

babies, meet the beach... hawaii || part TWO

naturally, i took a half billion photos while we were in hawaii. for your sake + mine, i've split them up between a few different posts (part one is HERE)! today i bring you, traveling, our babies meet the beach for the first time, and a day in the sunshine! xoxo 

^^^and that wasn't even all of them^^^

 ^^^we have arrived^^^

i'd just like to go ahead and mention that the photo directly below this has not been retouched in any way... not a thing. i want to look like abel when i grow up :)

^^^oh, and he loved it.^^^

^^^Christmas card 2015, done + done.^^^

 ...just another day in paradise.^^^

^^^is this what they meant when they said "beach bum"?

^^^husband + wife^^^

Hawaii || Part O N E

we spent the first two weeks of 2015 on the beach in maui. a welcomed with open arms change from the three feet of snow we left behind us. if you've known me for more than five minutes, you know that i love fall + winter. chill in the air, boots on my feet, scarves + hats, warm hugs + on and on. this still rings true for the most part. fall, i love you. winter though? please snow from halloween until new years day + then be spring. my love of winter changed when abel turned toddler + being cooped up inside with a little explorer just isn't our bag of chips anymore. i mean, how many times can we watch frozen in a day? (no hate) :)

so hawaii called + promised sandy feet, sunshine + lots of time with loved ones... hawaii delivered.

during my dad's last year with us, he + my mom were blessed to go on an anniversary trip to hawaii. my dad had always dreamed of traveling + is hawaii NOT on anyone's list? my dad fell in love. when they returned home he "window shopped" real estate + magazines, and went on and on about how beautiful it was there + how he imagined it must be what Heaven looks like. one of the things he loved most about it was the whale watching, and he told my mom that if the time came, he'd like some of his ashes to be spread there with the whales. 

devastatingly, he did leave this earth for heaven later that year + since then, our family was blessed + given this trip by dear dear friends who loved my dad, so that together we could fulfill his wishes.

we ziplined, whale watched + saw the islands from a helicopter. stayed up late after the littles were asleep + fell asleep to the waves crashing on the hawaiian shore... you know, all the stuff the most wonderful vacations are made of. 

never have i had so many daiquiris in a two week period + like most vacations for me... i came back as a sunshine + summertime loving carbohydrate. because well...

breakfast: french toast

lunch: fish tacos

dinner: hula pie

& repeat.

It was an incredible trip, and we're so thankful to have spent this time with our big family + all of the little families within it. there is something so special about a get-away. all those little moments that happen in the cracks that would never happen in regular life. we cried, we laughed hard, we're still getting the sand out of our diaper bag! we saw our babies on the beach for the first time + that alone was a glimpse of Heaven. our time in hawaii felt like a much needed deep breath, a perfect start to a new year, a new chapter. 

11 years.

todays marks 11 years of dating the man of my dreams. here's to the next 60. i love you chris!