Joey-Natalie-Slade-Naomi

3 comments:

Hillary Vaughan said...: How fun Natalie! I am jealous sitting here in Utah! All of your pictures looked amazing! The water was so pretty! Love and miss ya; May 16, 2009 at 9:35 PM
The Allens said...: Nat!! I still can't believe you got to go to Bermuda, it looked like a blast!! Good photos too I hope you love your camera. I haven't talked to you for WAY too long, I'll be calling soon! Love you!; May 18, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Takoma was so cute watching this slide show. She would say Joey, Natalie, Joey.. fins..
Now that i am commenting she is getting mad at me saying, joey! joey! joey! I thought you might like hearing that, she hasn't forgotten you guys :); May 19, 2009 at 8:29 AM

"Beautiful Like the Darkness Between Fireflies"

Every evening on Richmond's boulevard, our front yard, between the hours of 7:oopm & 8:30pm, the sidewalks are filled with the magical glow of fireflies. There are so many that it is almost as if walking in a fairy-tale. Joey and I try to go on a walk every night at this time and we just watch and enjoy the glow. It is fascinating. I feel like a child again. Last night we were sitting on the couch and Joey caught my eyes following a flying bug. Joey assured me it was just a moth, when suddenly it lit up and glowed! It was a firefly in our house! It must be good luck.

WHALES!

I love whales. Why? Christmas 2006 we woke up to sunshine and glassy water on the west side of Maui. I don't even remember opening presents that morning. We were out on the boat as a family and ready for a Christmas packed with tropical adventure. I was wakeboarding when I noticed that everyone on the boat had become disinterested in me and were anxiously looking to my left. They signaled that they were going to drop me. I thought I was left for the sharks and was less than calm until finally they turned to pick me up. It was a family of whales they had spotted. We watched as they sun bathed on the surface, a mother, a calf, and an escort. I think it was my dad who jumped in the water first. Then several of my siblings followed with their snorkles and soon the adrenaline was pumping as we were swimming with the whales! We were screaming and scared and so excited. I have never experienced anything more thrilling. The calf kept trying to swim closer to us, and he was easily bigger than a car! At one point the escort was about 30 feet under us and we starred him in the eye. You could see every detail. Breathless is the only word to describe it.