30 Year High School Reunion

Finally home from a fast paced week in Oregon. It was so great to see old friends at my reunion and catch up with many names I remembered but didn't know well. The benefit of outgrowing awkward social skills of high school is taking the opportunity to get to know those you didn't know well before. There is beauty in the discovery. I really enjoyed the evening and our girls night out slumber party in the hotel.  The highlight however of this trip was spending time with family members I don't get to see often and the time we spent with our adopted grandparents. These precious moments hold so much meaning in my heart.  Life is too short.  Learning to be present and truly engaged in each relationship and conversation is a gift that is received on both sides. Time should be listed on the endangered species list.  It's a valuable commodity that can either drain you or fill you up. Use your time wisely. You could be the blessing someone is waiting for.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8

Teachable Moments

Teach your children the difference between right and wrong or someone else will teach them wrong is right.  It seems when our kids were young teachable moments were a constant daily necessity to achieve routine and harmony raising twins. Consequences were immediate and our umbrella as parents gave me a great sense of control for training up well behaved, respectful children who would one day be launched out into the world to conquer their dreams. Fast forward to today...our twins have been teenagers for 13 days and it seems we've jumped into that old familiar feeling of needing our umbrella again. Why you ask??? One word...Instagram! Many of their friends were allowed an Instagram account at a young age. We however chose the magical age of 13 to allow that privilege. After locking down their accounts on privacy settings and explaining this is the beginning of their social media footprint and comments they make and photos they post all send a message about who they are and what they stand for, they were off and running. Within 8 hours they had 60 friends and lots of likes on photos.  After searching through their activity and friends lists it became clear this was going to get out of control really fast! The years of building their self esteem through character and integrity seemed to be going right down the drain because of how many likes someone gets on a photo. This launched our dissertation about how if you allow your self worth to depend on how many likes you get that road to your future will take you down a very different path. 

We surfed through their friends pages and couldn't believe what we were seeing. Many are not on private settings and some have 500 plus followers and 2 had over 3000! Why on earth does a young teenager need that kind of false security of friendship.  After this discovery we all decided what our family boundaries will be with Instagram, friending, posting and comments. Our girls came to the decision that they will not be that girl that chases their acceptance through numbers.  Social media and technology are growing at such a fast pace and will continue to provide many opportunities for us as parents to help navigate our kids through the pros and cons. 

The Big Surprise!!

The Big Surprise!

After several months of planning this birthday surprise it finally came time for the big reveal.  After the twins were baptized in the ocean we hung around the beach playing in the waves then checked into the Kealani Hotel for a night of sleepover fun! I planned a scavenger hunt of sorts that any teen would love to do because it involved their phones! Lol

It couldn't have been any easier.

Simply took a paper plate and cut in between the letters A-Z that I placed around the rim in black sharpie. I then wrote the instructions in the middle of the plate. 

Basically they divided into two teams and had one hour to find something on hotel property that began with each letter. They had to take a photo of it to prove their findings. Since we were celebrating the twins 13th birthday Bonus points were given if they found 13 of one item.

They had a blast!

The next afternoon the girls came home to their surprise party at the house. They had no idea! The letters were a huge hit!! Although we had these letters and photos of their life made into a book for each daughter,   I also took each letter and collaged them on the wall for the party.

It was truly a spectacular 13th birthday celebration! 

The Letters

Here is the letter we sent out to our loved ones to participate in this special birthday surprise for our twin daughters 13th birthday.

Dear Family and Friends,

Our twins are turning 13 this summer and entering their teenage years. Soon they will be in high school facing significant changes in their lives. 

We are reaching out to all of you as significant role models/adults in their lives to provide words of wisdom that we will use to create a lasting keepsake for their 13th birthday.

This birthday traditionally is represented as a spiritual time when a young girl transitions into a young woman and your words of wisdom and guidance will be a wonderful blessing into their journey through their teenage years.

We will be in Hawaii for their birthday and this will feel like you are all there with us! 

We've selected a topic for each of you.  Please write what's on your heart about that topic in a letter addressed to the girls.

Letter Topics:

1.  Family

2. Promise maker promise keeper

3. Faith 

4.  Goals & Dreams

5.  Choices 

6.  Friendships and peer pressure

7.  Discernment and Decisions 

8.  Overcoming obstacles

9.  First impressions

10. Trusting God

11.  Learning from your mistakes

12. Standing up for the right thing

13. Truth and honesty

Thank you so much! We look forward to your words of blessing, wisdom and guidance. 

All our love,

Soon to be parents of teenagers

(Again)!

Our twins turn 13!!

This has been a special week at our house.  Our twin daughters turned 13 on Saturday. That’s the age we decided marks the first real transition from girl to young lady in our family. My husband’s family all celebrated Bar Mitzvah’s or Bat Mitzvah’s, a beautiful Jewish tradition at age 13.  Since we are Christians and believe in the Old Testament, New Testament and the Grace of Christ, we decided our daughters would celebrate becoming “daughters of Grace,” “Bat Chanan,” with the similar expectation that each begins to put away childish things, prepares herself for the responsibilities of being a young woman and pursues her relationship with God.  Last Saturday our twins celebrated their 13th birthday.  They both had asked to be baptized.  This took place in the ocean here on Maui by their youth pastor.  Down on the beach they had a blessing in Hawaiian and my husband blessed them in Hebrew in addition to a Father’s Blessing in English followed by their water baptism.  We are so grateful to have the influence of our family and friends to surround our daughters with love, laughter, insight, faith and character building throughout their lives.  We asked 13 loved ones to contribute to this milestone birthday by writing a letter to our daughters on specific topics that would speak blessing, wisdom and guidance into their lives.  These 13 letters were a huge surprise!  We’ve made the letters into a keepsake book for each daughter.  We are so thankful to all who’ve contributed to making this 13th birthday have deep meaning and help

 to create a beautiful memory for our daughters to cherish forever.  Our hearts are full. Mathew 28:19

Happy 4th of July

Family, food and fun on this Fourth of July! Wishing you all a blessed day~ 

Bday#27: 27 Dresses Love Notes Blessings

Brittany's 27th bday

It's hard to believe my daughter is 27 years old today. It seems not so long ago I was waiting around in L&D for her to make her arrival. She was after all 3 weeks late and we were eager to meet her. She's always been on her own time schedule a gift given to her from God himself. She has brought so much love, laughter and worry into my life and sculpted my path of motherhood with feelings that can't be placed into words. There's a feeling that can only be felt inside your spirit of that deep rooted kind of love for your child that God placed inside mothers. It's a blessing that never expires. I know this feeling because of her, my beautiful, smart, wonderful girl.  Happy Birthday Brittany! Today we celebrate you!!

A birthday surprise for my daughter who turned 27 today~

27 love notes and blessings given to her around the city. Each stop representing purpose and meaning for her future.  Stop#1 The Legion of Honor for "thinking, wisdom and knowledge is power." Stop#2 Golden Gate Bridge for remembering the importance of creating bridges in relationships. Stop#3 Kuletto's Restaurant for realizing that what you put into your life is what comes out. Making healthy choices gives you nourishment for life. Stop#4 The Palace of Fine Arts because the "finer" things in life are things you can not buy. It's the things you feel in your spirit that matter the most! God planned it that way~

The Legion of Honor~

Golden Gate Bridge~

Kuletto's~

The Palace of Fine Arts~

My first born daughter! What a blessing she has been in my life. I love you sweet girl~