Friday, May 6, 2011

California Adventures Part II

Disney!!!!

Sunday evening we headed to Disneyland.  We stayed at a Disneyland resort hotel and hit California Adventures on Monday. 



and of course swimming in the evening.....


Tuesday we checked out of our hotel and walked over to Disneyland.






and then Samuel's favorite part:  the Jedi Knight training!  He got chosen to train as a Jedi Knight, and fought Darth Maul!






And then, at the end of our Disney adventure, while the kids and I were in a shoppe, Greg made some pics of the retiring of the colors....  this being the day after our brave Navy Seals found and killed
 Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.  A ten year mission completed.





 Portland, OR. is often distinguished as having a European feel to it.  

Interestingly, for me, coming to California is coming back to America.  With all it's diversity of people and places, distinct Mexican influence, balance between work and play, beauty and grit, it embodies so much of what is so grand about the U.S.

Check back later as our trip continues and culminates at our stay by the sea....


LYMYWY,
Kara

4 comments:

  1. Your words speak one thousand pictures, Kara, and your pictures speak one thousand words! I especially absorbed the myriad information transmitted via photographs to me of those I love most on this earth. I know change comes with every moment of passing time. However, it is NOT possible that SG is no longer the little girl I once held. What are you feeding her?! She is a young lady! Part of me loves seeing her growth and development - I thank my God for that - and another part of me wants to cuddle the little one who invented the Peach Shake and who lets me sing the song I created especially for her about loving her and not being able to get enough of her. Too much time passes between our visits and I grieve that (that's my flesh), but I also rejoice that I know each of those moments is God-ordained as time for growth and development as The Family that you are, where you are, and that you share all those special moments together. You are SO blessed!

    Thank you for sharing!!!

    Love you so much,

    Kayla

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kayla,
    You're not kidding.... I AM blessed!, and don't I know it!!
    I am especially aware during times like these, when we slow down to savor just being together and playing together, what an incredible gift it is to be the mom and wife in my family. I count each moment with these that God has given me as treasure from heaven.

    The fact that they are growing up is not lost on me either, and sometimes it's hard not to want time to just freeze and let me hold them just as they are now. I've wished that so many times, and yet each day that brings a new milestone of growth is somehow just as splendid as the one's that passed.

    Thanks for looking at the pics, dear sister. It delights me to know how much you delight in our experiences... even though we are miles apart it is how we can share life. I am grateful for that!

    Love you,
    Kara

    ReplyDelete
  3. so glad you are having this time together...how blessed...xo abby:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. oh His blessings abound... i am so thankful for your photos :} your counting is beautiful, as always :)

    as for thoughts on our maturing, growing children - Ann is echoing:

    I had always thought there’d be more time.

    I had thought when they swaddled you in that cotton blanket in the heat of mid-May, that it’d take a whole lifetime to unwrap you a man and I couldn’t imagine, me but a child.

    Who knew a lifetime was a blink and you’d be so tall when I next turned around, son, your cow-lick still turning there?....

    It makes no sense and makes sense of everything, this love for you, child our together love chose, and to be a mother, this is the rarest gift in the world. Forbid, that we just have children and that is all — when everyday offers the unwrapping of wondrous, holy grace. You catch me at the breakfast table , now and then, these days, days before the calendar and another of your birthdays, me wiping it away with the back of my hand.

    “There’s still time, Mom. We’ve still got time.” You tell me this, your hand just a moment on my back, a steadying. You help me believe. Help me believe and unwrap the miracle of here and now.

    My love and prayers for you all. Oh, I love you. My heart overflows with thanksgiving and joy at the sights of you & yours so beautiful!
    -t-

    ReplyDelete