Shelby's World

He must have been tired!

Check out Eli on our flight home.

 

Fun behind a boat

although it doesn't look like Samantha is having any fun:(

I think we can fix that with a little speed...

Much better:)

 

A month in the desert.

I've been the most negligent blogger ever.

Here's my excuse: we've been at camp for a month.

Now there's just so much to share that I don't even know where to begin!

How can I possibly explain pictures like this?...

Yes, that's Eli.  AKA: Karl the Minion.

and here's Sam... or is that Bieber?

I'll start at the beginning~

We were here.

I was there to hang out with 34 OSM college-aged volunteers.

Mostly I got to be with these lovely ladies.  If it was legal to adopt 20 year olds then I'd be a mother of 19 girls.

My kids got to hang with this crazy bunch...

And our whole family became a part of a much larger family...

I think working at a Young Life camp for a month would be like spending a month in heaven...

a whole lot of LOVE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Washington DC Perspective

These are some of the things you won't see in a brochure, but noteworthy nonetheless.

For instance~ George Washington's step-son had a mullet!  

 

Julia Child used Skippy Peanut Butter.  I know!!  What was she thinking?!

 

I totally survived the Depression.

 

The Honor Guards don't sweat.

 

but they will yell at you.  (And no, he's not yelling at me.)  See video~

We went to the coolest restaurant called The Founding Farmers.  It was FANTASTIC even though a Raspberry Lemon Drop cost me $14 bucks!  Totally worth it.

 

Great food, great museums and sites, but the best part of all was hanging with my "sissers"!

DC Chronicles Part 3: Coming Home

I didn't sleep on the red-eye to DC.

I made a friend.

He was nice.

And chatty.

I was too tired to chat back so I smiled and nodded a lot.

He needed someone to talk to.

Happy to oblige.

Goodbye Brett!  

Good luck with your farm, and your ex-wife, and your broken foot.

*** Return Trip Plan***

More Dramamine!  

I might have had a margarita and two dramamine.  

plus earplugs.

plus a neck pillow.

plus a window seat.

I was on a mission to sleep for 5 hours.

preparing for take off... there's a tap on my shoulder,

" I don't know you, but I'm just really scared of flying, and, um... I was just wondering... if you could hold my hand during the take off."

"Oh my stars!  Of course!"

I grab her hand, and her arm.

I'm now stroking her arm.

I assault her with questions to get her mind off the fear.

20 minutes later we stop holding hands.

2 hours later we stop talking.  

I have another friend.

So long Cassandra~

best of luck w/ your husband's return to school, your law practice and your daughter's first year at the Naval Academy!

Two hours of sleep was enough.

It's totally okay that I looked like this~

 

 

DC Chronicles Part 2

Shelby's Fun Facts~ 

1. Its true that the White House is smaller than expected and the Lincoln Memorial is bigger than expected. 

 2. No one tells you that the Korean War Memorial and the FDR Memorial are so powerful. 

3. There are a lot of memorials here. 

4. My driver-guide talked with her left hand and held the microphone in her right hand, while driving AND reciting the Gettysburg Address. I tipped her. 

5. My husband is a lot like George Washington; highly organized, master planner, problem solver, forward thinking, lover of nature, and straight lines. 

6. I spent 4 hours in the Holocaust Museum and was fine until I saw the shoes. The shoes. 

 7. I saw a firefly light up for the first time in my life. 

8. I paid $3.00 for a small diet coke at the Smithsonian. Worth every penny. 

9. My sister is an exquisite hostess and tour guide: she shares all her anti-aging lotions, buys me coffee, launders my underwear and lets me control the remote. 

10. Still no sign of POTUS, but Marine One flew over us and I nearly peed my pants. Beyond osm. 

Turn-n-Burn

That's an old bus driving term from my college days.

When I was driving tour buses in Alaska, we would be out on the road for several days at a time, then come back to Skagway for a couple of days off.

Sometimes we didn't get a day off and had to just drop off passengers, refuel, pick up new passengers and head right back on the road.  

Turn-n-Burn.

They were no fun.

I'm on a bit of a Turn-n-Burn right now.

A long weekend in Eastern Washington with our family, a few days to regroup, then off to the Oregon Coast with more family.  Turn-n-Burn.

We arrived home last night and tonight I'll be on a red eye to Washington DC.  Another Turn-n-Burn.

This didn't look so bad on the calendar when it was all mapped out months ago.

BUT...

it's all been worth it.

Here are some pics of the sweetest short people you've ever seen.  The cuteness factor in my family is off the charts.  Seriously.

I know!!  This is Josslyn.  She has osm curly hair, blue eyes and speaks in the third person.  LOVE her.

 

Mad love with Cousin Kylar.  He lives in Vegas; much too far away for us:(

 Gracie, aka: G-Force.

Sam and her sidekick Amanda.  Great things come in small packages, as you can see.

 

Laura the lover from down under.  Our Aussie cousins made the trek; so good to see them!

 

Baby Isaac.  You're not a baby anymore!  

PS. What's with all the blondes?!

Malibu

Here's a look at how we spent three weeks in June.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We got to be together in the most spectacular place on earth.  

God is good.

Malibu or Bust

I'm about to swagger on up to Canada so I won't be blogging very often.

I leave tomorrow for Malibu to work for 3 weeks; Eric and the kids will join me for the final two weeks of my assignment.

Until then, this is where we'll be...

 

Happy June!