Had we known prior to June what we’d be doing by the end of August, our plans would’ve looked different.

However, the summer of '23 was well planned prior to our long-percolating, prayerful consideration of making a move to a whiplash-producing purchase of a home decision in a matter of five days back in early June…and so we forged ahead with a summer full of play and joy-filled celebrations. Though opposite my temperament, play preceded work this summer and it was good. (If you missed the “why and how” of our decision to move please refer to the previous post.)

July 14, after hanging our with our grandkids in NoVA for several days, we were off to Hawaii to continue Lisa’s PhD completion celebrations. Instead of her joining us at a speaking event, we joined her as this newly minted doctor gave two presentations at an Athletic Training Conference held in Kona. It was a delight to be told by many of her colleagues and students of their admiration and love for this very capable and exceptional clinician and professor. We were privileged to be on her turf for a change.

After her conference ended, we spent a week frolicking on the island. Staying with our twice-a-year Airbnb hosts, Bob and Debi Cary, was a special joy as Debi had recovered from a very close brush with death in May. We are so thankful the Lord had other plans for her!!

The following photos tell the story of our adventures:

*Ohana hospitality everywhere we walked . . .*

*Celebration lunch at Merriman’s Restaurant in Waimea . . .*

*Sharing a meal with Bob and Debi Cary, our wonderful hosts . . .*

*Attending Living Stones Church with several of Lisa’s students and colleagues . . .*

*Hiking to Captain Cook’s memorial with the same church-attending group . . .*

*Hiking to Kona Village and being treated to a canoe sail by the best in the islands, Mike Field*

After a most delightful week on Kona, Lisa, Paul, and I flew to Kauai to join the rest of the family for our reunion. Especially since our Christmas reunion was sabotaged by covid, we were all very thankful when all twelve of us healthfully made it to this beautiful island, the destination of our 2021 reunion. Blessed to be able to use the same property, a more ideal situation could not be found.

By July 25, all of us were reunited in Kalaheo (about 15 minutes southwest of Poipu) and the party was off and running.

For 8 days, we played, swam, hiked, ate, laughed, talked, shared God’s Word and memorized a verse together, had a raucous family game night, and were treated to absolutely beautiful reflections of God’s creation through nature. Birds, turtles, monk seals, tide pools; placid seas and wild ones; breathtaking sunrises and sunsets; rainbows and rock formations. And best of all, the pinnacle of creation: humans. The ones with whom we share DNA as well as a number of precious friends we’ve been blessed with through our years on Kauai.

It was a “20” on a scale of “1-10.”

So. Blessed.

Instead of more words, I’ll let the photos do the talking.

*Breakfast and dinner around the table where lively conversations were had.*

*Nathan turned 10 while there and we celebrated with deluxe shaved ice.*

*Since all the boys are into basketball, Papa found a community center with an open gym, and some pretty intense mixed gender games were played.*

*We’re all still friends after the Girls beat the Boys at family game night (for the second reunion in a row, I might add.)*

*One of our favorite hikes, starting at Shipwreck Beach and hiking the Lithified Cliffs. Gorgeous!*

*One special evening of food and fun was spent with the Booye clan, whom we’ve grown to deeply love through the years.*

*If we had never left the home loaned to us, the children would’ve been perfectly content to swim day in and day out.*

. . . and night out . . . under a full moon, with glow sticks. A very fun evening was had.

*We introduced “A Family After God’s Own Heart” devotional book to our kids/grandkids for evening devotions and they voted it in.*

*Lots of snorkeling, boogie boarding, paddle boarding, and swimming was done at Poipu Beach as well as Kalapaki.*

*And my one request was fulfilled: a family portrait shoot, done again by Phil Booye. Our plan to shoot it at the beach was foiled by high winds, so the golf course filled in nicely.*

*Auntie Lili and her adoring nieces and nephews*

*Papa and Gigi with the precious grandkids.*

We left Kauai August 3, with hearts full of gratitude and memories. We don’t take for granted one moment the kindness and generosity of the Lord to our family, expressed through a number of very generous and loving friends who helped make this possible. #blessed

The day we returned to Bedford was merely a pit stop on our way to Jamestown with Lisa for a final week of play before the boom dropped. This was the third out of the past four summers that we (Paul, Lisa, and I) have enjoyed yet another gift from dear friends: the use of their summer home right across the bay from Newport, RI. It was the final exclamation point on the end of making a “proper fuss” over Lisa’s PhD graduation and it was a big one. Again, we made the most of the time doing the things we love most: being outside in creation, swimming, hiking, walking, taking in sky scapes which left our mouths ajar in wonder, relaxing, reading, and being renewed. Anything is fun with Lisa. We’re very simpatico in terms of how we like to enjoy life and we did to the max. Besides walking the Cliff Walk on a gorgeous day, we floated down a river from the Sprague Bridge in Narragansett, and hiked around Beaver’s Tail numerous times. Each day was “as good as it gets."

*The sunset was reflecting off clouds in the east . . . so beautiful.*

*Walking the Cliff Walk never gets old.*

*Ready, set, go . . . down the river into the ocean at Narragansett.*

Our last hoorah was going to Fenway to watch The Boys of Summer for possibly the last time in a long time. We cheered them on to victory on a great night for baseball.

*One last game at Fenway did not disappoint. The Sox won!!*

We got Lisa off for home on August 12 and it was the official end to our summer of play.

But before we faced the overwhelming job of packing up our 29 years of accumulated “things,” we attended our church for the last time for awhile and were so pleased to have lunch afterwards with Pastor Todd and Alisa Cravens. We so appreciate their godly leadership at Hope Christian Church and will truly miss being a part of their congregation.

*Pastor Todd and Alisa Cravens treated us to lunch after church on Sunday, Aug. 13.*

THEN the “party” began.
We had 4.5 days until the moving van arrived to take our “culled” load to Fairfax.

We had severely underestimated how much we had to move, either to VA or to charity, and how long it would take. We knew pretty quickly that the job was way over our heads and it would take some kind of miracle for us to be ready for the van.

And so the Lord sent some angels.

Don and Betsy came four days in a row, bearing boxes, tape, and packing materials . . . and the “know how” to wrap artwork (since Don is an artist and regularly sends his paintings out). They worked tirelessly for days, and even came to the house to vacuum and tie up loose ends AFTER we left.

Straight from heaven. Answers to prayers.

They weren’t the only ones who came to our rescue, but they put in the most time. Another friend brought dinner one night which served us for several nights. Another drove in from NY to help for 24 hours and took away a load to consign. Two others came for a couple of days and worked like beavers. Another friend arrived Thursday bearing fresh fruit and salads and spent the many hours working alongside us. The friends who did the yard sale came bearing money (they kept none for themselves) and left with a truckload to re-sell.

We were more overwhelmed by the loving help we received than we were by the job itself.

And it all got done.

*Don and Betsy were absolute rock stars as they came 4 days in a row to help us pack.*

*The moving company did a phenomenal job of getting our furniture and household goods to Fairfax unscathed.*

Our last night in Bedford, our dear friend Richard took us out for dinner and gave us several going away gifts. We were so touched—and we were definitely ready for a lovely sit down dinner by then. Richard has served with us in HIM since the beginning, and in addition to managing the office in Bedford, he has been our faithful “Uber driver” the past three years for our many trips to and from Logan. We will miss him greatly.

*Richard treated us to dinner out on our last night in Bedford.*

The van was packed on Friday, and early Saturday morning I drove one of our cars, fully loaded, to Fairfax, while Paul loaded a second 26’ rental truck with the rest of our “stuff” and then drove it down Sunday. I think it cured his not-so-hidden desire to be a truck driver in his next life. :)

*Off I drove to Fairfax, leaving our beloved home and people behind.*

*We were all greatly relieved when Paul arrived safely in the 26’ rental truck.*

And this is the “why.” I’ll write again soon about our first 3 weeks post-move, during which time we’ve only slept in our new home 3 nights, but for now, we both agree that swimming with our grands in the pool and hearing their delighted shrieks of laughter has made it all worth it.

It looks like there will be more “first we play” days in our life to come.