Good Grief. I can't believe how long it has been. I think when Moses said "a thousand years is but a day in your sight, O Lord" he must have been thinking God was in Maui. Days fly fast and furious around here - not because of the fast pace, but because there is so much that we are doing. And, no, thee are not days of golf and beach and snorkeling - those have their days, too - but we are both working our businesses six out of seven days, and fitting in family visits and another trip to the mainland. Yikes!
So, as quickly as possible... it has been a remarkable spring/summer for Don and I. By far (by like a million zillion squadillion miles) was the whole family congregating in Maui for Don's 60th! This meant that Amber and Josh came, brought their parents, and had their uncles meet them here. It was simply perfection. Amber and Josh proved to be quite the little travelers on the plane, and had a great day the day they arrived...and totally derailed the next. Wait. Let me back track to the day before - the day the younger Dalton Family arrived....
If you have ever been to maui, you know that the westside is accessed by a two lane highway. If you have never been, well...it's still the same two lane highway. it will occasionally close because of a bad traffic accident or a fire close to the road. When that happens, all movement to and from the westside stops...sorta. Around the northern end of the island (also known as the head) is a tiny twisty road that will eventually take you into Central Maui and the airport. During long closures, they will close it to outbound (toward the westside) so it is exclusively inbound (toward Central Maui). This is meant to keep drivers from trying to share a six-inch-wide road that is barely carved into the cliffside. The morning that KKA&J arrived (John and Greg came in a couple of days later) was just such a morning. AAAAUUUGH!!! I had never driven around the head. In fact, I could have died a happy person having never driven it. wait...let me rephrase... At any rate, it became apparent that we needed to go around the squinchy, twisty, groove in the cliffside if we were going to greet our grandchildren and their parents. I won't bore you with the long, agonizing details, just to say that at some point during the trip, the state "highway" turned into something less than -which meant that now there was just some sort of loose material beneath the wheels that at one time might have been asphalt. My palms still sweat at the memory - and that was May 4! We left with a good two and a half hours until their plane landed, which left us plenty of time to get out of the car and kneel and kiss the ground, and sing praises to God once we reached safety....we thought. As we were getting into Kahului, Kyle called to say they had landed. There plane was almost 40 minutes early! That never happens! I guess traffic must have been light that morning. I'll give you a minute....
So, there we were - Grammy and Grampy looking for them at baggage. Seeing them, and our precious Amber running toward us with her little Winnie the Pooh carry-on rolling behind her is the stuff of dreams. And Hallmark commercials. The first perfect moment of two perfect weeks - except for the train wreck the next day, of course. But the kiddos settled in beautifully and sailing was quite smooth from then on. Amber crashed in our room on one of those blow-up beds. Grampy actually got booted to the couch as his snoring and Amber's midnight chatting would lead to mutual insomnia. So, Amber was my little roommate! Of course, that meant waking at 6 or so every morning, with a little face in mine - literally nose-to-nose - saying "Grammy! We watch 'Up!' ?" Of course. So, onto the bed came Elmo, Cookie Monster, Nighttime Water (her special sippy cup. That's ok. Greg had a security...jacket), and any other friends that happened to be around.
By the time Uncle John and Uncle Greg ("Guncle), we had things running spectacularly - Baby Beach, the pool, the coffee shop. Don's birthday was pretty much the highlight of this amazing two weeks. My man turned SIXTY!! A great breakfast in the morning, golf with all the boys in the afternoon, and a party with our closest friends here on the island. We also surprised Dad/Grampy with the dedication to the Lord of the two newest Daltons. Finally!! I can surprise this, the greatest underminer of surprises!! Guncle got to do the actual dedication, which made it even more memorable and blessed. Unfortunately, Amber wasn't feeling so very blessed. Josh was hangin' out, loving it as his Daddy was holding him while Guncle was praying. Amber, being held by said Guncle, was fighting every inch of the way, trying to squeeze out of the death grip-uh, I mean Holy Hold, that her uncle had on her. The pictures are hilarious!! Greg is praying, Josh is hanging, Amber is fighting, and the rest of us are all (not) laughing. But what a time... I have often thought that Heaven might be filled with the most perfect moments of blessings in our lives. This would be right at the top.
I'm going to shorten this by stopping!! There is much more to say and to share, but I'll save that for later!
Until then...
Aloha!
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