This may be a completely disjointed, random post but here’s what’s on my mind. Our former neighbor, Matt, who lives in a nice house in WA with a wonderful wife and a great (mostly) job is heading off to boot camp for the Army on Tuesday. He decided to join the Reserves. We talked to him today for a while and he signed off with an admonition for us to continue enjoying our “good times and noodle salad” here in Hawai’i (that’s a movie reference from As Good as it Gets). Another former neighbor, Johnny, is starting a security contracting company. He’s a retired SEAL and leads a skydiving team for FORCE ministries, a volunteer group that does outreach to at-risk high school kids and supports military families. A little girl named Isla whom we’ve been praying for every night (a distant relation of mine) is doing great after her final heart surgery. Her family is so thankful for her quick recovery, and Sam and I are relieved that God heard our prayers every night over the past 2 years.

Our little boy is about to turn 2 years old and I can’t believe it’s already been that long since I was up all night with him. He is such a great little hiking buddy and has already learned so much. I keep hoping I’m not doing a disservice by not putting him in daycare or preschool. I try to make sure he learns all that he should. It seems I’m doing ok – he knows all his letters by sight and name, and can count to ten using both hands (albeit without saying the numbers yet). Dave is enjoying his work, is home every night to see Sam and me (and hope for a decent dinner), and our biggest quality of life sacrifice so far is working through weekends (he won’t have a day off for the next 3 weeks). That’s nothing compared to experiences in the past. I guess my point is we have much to be grateful for and sometimes it makes sense to list it in black and white. And yes, I can even be thankful for the consistently warm weather 🙂 I just ordered new hiking boots for Sam and me. I have been researching the trails and we have a bunch to tackle in the next couple weeks. I’m looking forward to it. Hiking with a toddler is a new experience, and one I’m relishing. He’s a good trail buddy. I’m finding ways to ensure I get a good workout and he stays comfortable. When he gets stronger, I guess I’ll have to load up my pack with 50lbs of weight to feel “normal”! (Hiking without weight throws my balance off.)