Over Labor Day weekend, Bill, Haley and I enjoyed a lovely day of whale watching in the San Juan Islands. This trip was a gift from Bill for my birthday. We were originally booked with another tour group, but they cancelled twice due to problems with their boat. We had a great day, and enjoyed "Blueberry Buckle," as we made our way to the Orcas.

If you look closely (picture 2) - you can see a mom with her baby.

One of the whales (with large dorsal fin in picture 4) is aptly named "Ruffles," as his fin is "ruffly." We were told that he was nearing the end of his life span. His mom is one of the older whales in the pods--she's almost 100!

There are three resident pods who live year round in the San Juan Islands--they are named J, K, and L.

The Joy (and importance) of Laughter

This past Thursday and Friday, I attended a conference on Suicide. A very heavy topic to say the least. As we were wrapping up on Thursday, our speaker asked us all to spend at least 15 minutes that evening doing something "fun."

I shared this with Bill, and he asked what I wanted to do. Of course, I was exhausted physically and emotionally from the day, but chose going on a walk. Off we went, dogs in tow. What a wonderfully relaxing time, just chatting about nothing and enjoying the evening air and God's beauty surrounding us. One of the thoughts that came to my mind as we were walking, was that as a whole, our family tends to focus on fun and joy in life--enjoying one another's company, simple times, sharing memories, and much laughter.

The next day as we were sitting on the ferry, and I was preparing for day two, I overheard some conversation nearby which eventually erupted into laughter. One of the group said, "I'm going to have a good day now, I've started it off with a good laugh." What a concept--starting our day off with joy in our hearts-- a pleasant thought, memory, or interaction that has us looking forward to our future.

Can you make that a 3 1/4 by 4 1/2 please!

Oh the days when I wish I had my camera! Yesterday after church, Bill and I set out on a bike ride. We had plans to head to a local favorite---Bainbridge Gardens.

The gardens were originally started many years ago, before WWII by a local Japanese man. Then, when the Japanese were taken off the island (the very first ones by the way to go to internment camps), the gardens were not cared for. Many years later, his son decided to bring them back to life. One of the trees we saw yesterday was a D'Anjou Pear tree from 1913. Isn't that amazing!

For the most part the gardens now function as a nursery. There are several areas around to sit and relax-they even have a cafe. I went up to order drinks for us, and lo and behold on the counter was the remaining half of a 9x13 pan of chocolate chip cookie bars. I thought I'd buy one for us to share. I watched expectantly as the young man behind the counter cut the bar in half, and then said "which side do you prefer?" I said, "you're joking," to which he replied, "we take our chocolate chip bars very seriously, we don't joke." He then chose one side for me and slipped it expertly into a bag. I barely made it back to my seat it was so heavy to carry, and the fact that I was laughing out of control was most definitely a contributor. OH THE SIMPLE JOYS OF LIFE!

Off we went to complete our bike tour. Lots of challenging hills and a total of 13 miles. Fun stuff. By the way, despite our best efforts, we didn't finish the bar.