week ending 10/7/12

Shalom friends

Abba here. We had a wonderful end to a nice weekend today. (mostly) The weather was beautiful today and we made the most of it at the beach. As you will see below. Gertie was the star of the photos today.

We acquired an "ook" (ukulele) early in the week and I have been blessed by the music in the home. We bought two song books on Friday. One has 25 popular worship songs and the other a Taylor Swift songbook. Can you guess which songs I hear all day? By the way, We are never, ever, ever getting back together. No....... not ever, ever. Etc.. Etc... Etc... I do mean like ever Etc...

On Shabbot, Emma went to service with Sarah. Emma thought it was a wonderful service, Sarah was bored out of her mind. She was the only kid there and the service is definitely not geared to children of any age. After Mom returned home, Dad took kids #1 and #2 (can you believe I don't even know their names by now) to the Torah study. Dad enjoyed asking questions part as and kid #1 enjoyed the format. Kid #2 was pretty bored. Interesting thing that Abba noticed: when Jacob blesses his children before his death, not all the blessings were so good, particularly to Simeon and Levi. When Moses blesses the tribes, in this portion, the blessings are pretty good unless you happen to be from the tribe of Simeon. He is left out altogether. Interesting. The rabbi had a decent answer but somewhat conjecture in Abba's mind.

This morning, I (Abba) took all the girls to New Hope Oahu, a "christian" church. did you know that a Scion Xb can seat six comfortably even with a car seat. (if you happen to be one of the two people in the front that is) The older girls enjoyed the youth meeting and I appreciated the simplicity of the message; just basic yet foundational truth. Having Gertie next to me in the big people service proved a patience tester. Why didn't I remember that from the week before which was exactly the same thing. Her older sister, Charlotte, did very well.

Upon returning back "home" we headed to the beach. Good times. Here are a few pix of the day.

Sadly, after a great time at the beach, it was later discovered that Sarah took out her retainer at the beach (big No No) and put it in the beach bag. No retainer was in the bag later in the evening. Chaos ensued. Thankfully, I, being the involved father, was busy relaxing on the bed reading a book like any good dad would when the chaos began. Emma put the kaibosh (one of my favorite words) on the situation.
Here is when I was personally blessed. Emma and Sarah walked down to the beach to look for the retainer. I am thinking "good luck". Imagine my surprise when they came back 8 minutes later with the retainer in hand. apparently, it dropped right in the middle of the path when perhaps Emma was looking for keys. Awesome. Thank you God!

Tomorrow, Dad, #1 and #2, whatever their names are, (I admit, i didn't read the darned book) are going to attempt to do Koko Crater. it's only One Thousand steps of railroad ties straight up the side of the crater. I hear that those who survive really enjoy the view. We will keep you posted with awesome pictures, or not!