The Woman: Sharon Lee

Mom,

 

You are lovely inside and out.

You are a gift I can't imagine living without.

You are caring, loving, sharing, growing

You are deep, wise, forgiveness flowing

You are my friend and supporter throughout

You are the best mother for me, no doubt

 

I am blessed because you pursue me

I am humbled by your gifts to me

I am loved, cared for, cherished, prayed for

I am safe with nothing to be afraid for

I am a daughter of the woman God chose for me.

I am thankful, grateful, joyful, I am me

...Because of you!

 

Here's a tour of our relationship!

 

1983 in Ventura California

Four Generations

 

April 1990 in Quito Ecuador

Easter Sunday

 

 

June 1996 in Cuenca Ecuador

At the Panama Hat Making Factory

 

 

May 2002 in Quito Ecuador

Good Times with Nico at Neil's High School Grad

 

 

 

March 2003 in Los Angeles California

In your Conference Hotel visiting me at Biola

 

 

May 2004 in Folsom California

My Bridal Shower at Aunt Joan's House

 

 

December 2005 in Lake Tahoe California

Family Ski Day for Christmas

 

 

June 2007 in Laguna Beach California

Great Day for a Hike

 

 

December 2009 in Fountain Valley California

Taylor Lee meets her 'Buela

 

 

January 2012 in Fullerton California

Robbie John meets his Buela

 

 

May 2012 in Billings Montana

My Bday present was bringing you here

 

 

February 2013 in Lake Geneva Wisconsin

Grandkid Invasion

 

 

December 2013 in Billings Montana

Christmas

 

 

January 2014 in San Diego California

Visiting while Caleb was deployed

 

 

August 2014 in Guatemala

Tuk-tuk ride into the tourist market

 

 

August 2014 in Guatemala

Special times with Jacob Sterling

 

 

January 2015 in Folsom California

Happy New Year!

 

 

Amazing to think of all the miles traveled

to be sure we get face-to-face time together!

(Not to mention all the hours logged on Skype!)

 

I love you Mom!

Happy Birthday!

 

A Shutterfly Book of our California Trip

Click here to view this photo book larger

One Of My Favorite Things

One of my favorite things

has got to be BEING IN an airport!!!

Big airport or small airport,

 if I'm going or I'm coming,

or even if I'm picking someone up there,

no matter what

it promises excitement and adventure!

And I've "somehow" passed on this enthusiasm to my kiddos,

and they're ALREADY asking when they get to go on an airplane again =)

This past trip we went to the Billings Airport

to the Denver Airport

to the Sacramento Airport

to the Long Beach Airport

to the Santa Ana Airport

This is the "art exhibit" in the Sacramento Airport Baggage Claim.

I thought it was very fun.

A JetBlue Cockpit

Mr. Shy wouldn't go all the way in to see the Pilot's chair

And this is a United Cockpit,

and somehow the pilots were exciting enough for Robbie that
he even got all the way in and sat in the chair =)

The kids did great on each flight!

We had a few tricks up our sleeves to help them out,

and didn't even need most of what I brought.

Robbie did a LOT of sleeping on the plane.

Look how big and grown up he looks

(despite the pacifier, lol)

During our layovers in Denver the kids did GREAT as well!

We walked the moving sidewalks,
ate lunch and snacked on extra special things we packed with us,
played with toys in their backpacks...

Adventure Promised, Adventures Encountered!

Photo Tour #8: San Diego Wild Animal Park

Our last day in California

was spent admiring God's Creativity at the Safari Park in San Diego!

First thing we did was get Grandpa some new hearing aids!

Then we went on a safari through "African Plains".

This is Tay and I with "Africa" behind us!

So many fun things to see!

Jacob was able to spot many of the animals

because it was a cool morning

so they were nice and active!

Can you spot the Cheetah?

Robbie's favorite was the Rhino.

This is a Black Rhino,

one of the most endangered large mammals on the planet!

Taylor (and Auntie Tricia!!) were most excited about the Giraffes!

And then we walked a bit near some bird swamps.

These are little babies!

(They have orange heads-- can you see them?)

That last one is called a Secretary Bird!

I think it looks like it belongs in a cartoon!!!

And to watch it walk, I couldn't help but crack up!

And this lil' guy who always looks to me

like he's a cross between a zebra, deer and giraffe,

was eating leaves off a high branch.

His tongue came SO FAR out of his mouth!

It was a beautifully clouded day,

so it wasn't too hot!

Jacob was stoked to get to "touch" a giraffe!

We stayed to watch the elephants for several minutes!

They were SUPER active.

I guess there were two new adolescents

(seen rough housing in this first picture)

so they were rousing the whole herd!

The big papa elephant was sprayin' himself down with water!

Very fun to watch!

And we went to the gorilla area for quite a while too.

Here's the "big daddy"!

Robbie kept asking why he was "so mad"!?!

And this was the newest member of the family,

this mama is holding a few month-old infant in her arms!

Hard to see in my shot, but so fun to watch!

Robbie's favorite thing about the gorilla area?

The bridge he could run up and down!

We were all fascinated by the Bats in the bat room,

but couldn't really take good pictures in there...

So Gramma and Taylor showed us what our pics would have looked like!

Auntie Tricia and Taylor kept a fine African rhythm.

And, on our way out,

Taylor and Robbie "became" little ducklings!

Our lil' fam of five,

enjoying our last afternoon in California!!

The day we were there

was the opening day of the new Tiger Trail exhibit.

Robbie spotted one right away!

And Taylor wanted to be sure to get a pic

with the big Elephant Statue

While Robbie insisted on getting a pic with the big Rhino!

Such a blast!

And... that concludes our Photo Tour

of our California Trip in May 2014!

Thanks for hanging in there with me while I took a while to post!