Mt. Mitchell

Early last week, after all the cousins went back to school, we headed up to cousin David's house in Mt. Mitchell for a little mountain retreat. It was so fun to relax, enjoy the crisp spring mountain air, and marvel at a whole different kind of beauty than we are used to in Hawaii.

the boys loved being outside and playing in the sandbox most of the time!

Crazy Dada even got in on the playground action

One morning, we took a little hike up to Roaring Fork Falls.  

Scott taught the boys how to skip rocks in the river

 

On our hike back, we found some suspicion tracks on the trail. Uncle Rob confirmed later they were bear tracks! Keaton was very excited about this!

More adventures...

Feeding fish from the bridge

fun with Grammie!

Crazy Dad. Not sure what he was doing here?

Cautiously helping Papa with the fire.

Smores!

Yum!!

Such a fun mini-vacation!

Happy Mother's Day

Late Friday night, we left the islands. 

Over 4,000 miles

3 separate flights (2 were over 4 hours)

4 different time zones

We were one exhausted, jet-lagged family by the time we arrived at 6:30pm on Saturday in Charlotte! 

Thankfully, our excitement for seeing our family gave us our second wind. We had a yummy dinner with Matt, Jenny, and the kids on Saturday night, and then drove to Greenville to celebrate Mother's Day with Grammie, Nanny and the whole gang. 

We brought a picnic to Reedy River Falls in downtown Greenville, and enjoyed an afternoon of beautiful weather and COUSINS!

Mary Elizabeth, 2

Caroline (9), Keaton (5) , Laura (14), and Matthew (5 1/2)

Jenny and her babes!

Grammie with all her cards

Lisa and her babes - not so little any more!

love these boys!

Cubbies Awards Ceremony

Such a terrible picture, but its the only one I got!

Last night, we had our end of year Awana awards ceremony. 

It was so much fun to get to lead the Cubbies program this year. What a treat to watch these children grow and learn more about Jesus over the course of the year. Each of these children are so special to me, and they taught me so much more than I could ever teach them!

Also, I'm so proud of Keaton for completing 2 full years in the Cubbies program, which means he memorized over 60 verses.

Also, it was such a pleasure to serve with my fellow Cubbies leaders: Karla, Laura, Amber, Erin, and Jayme. I could not have done it without you guys! 

Long Family Farewell!

We've been so blessed to get to know the Long family this year.

Karla and I served in Cubbies leadership together, and our kids hit it off too!

But, as is life in Hawaii, we have to say goodbye to them this week. Edmond is a Marine, and they are moving on to their next tour of duty in NC.

We are excited for them, but so sad to see them go!

Karla asked if I could take some beach pictures of them before they left, and of course, I was delighted bless them in this way.

Here are some of my favorites:

Sweet Riley. He is such a crack up. I will miss this boy so much!

Isn't Aubrey the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Karla and her boy!

My personal favorite!

I love sandy toes!

How many grown women would kill to have hair like this two year old?

Edmond and Karla

Riley's face is priceless. Classic big brother!

And one silly shot just for giggles!

My daredevil!

3 days after he began swimming with no floaties, he's attempting front flips into the pool! 

 

Happy Birthday Keaton!

I can't believe my baby is 5 years old today!

On Sunday afternoon, we invited some friends over for a Star Wars pool party! 

The inflatable light sabers were a huge hit!

Such great friends!

Lucas hung around a little longer to help open the gifts

Best buddies

Mark and Edward finished up the snacks...

They were so cute reading books and laughing together.

Keaton woke up on his birthday morning with a mound of presents to open from family!

All opened before 6am! Standard Anderson style.

 

 

I bought him some Lucky Charms to eat for breakfast - a rare treat!

We had a picnic at the zoo - just me and my boys!

Well hello Mr. Komodo Dragon!

Then our new birthday tradition - we headed to Chuck e Cheese for dinner! 

Pizza!

Can you tell Mark's a little uncomfortable being so close to Chuck-e?

 Such a fun day! Happy Birthday, Keaton Ray!