forest hike

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This summer while Sky traveled cross country on a retreat with Amma, Gary and I spent some quality time with our youngest two kids...

Of course we took to the forest.

And yes, Annabel and I frolicked in the meadow.

corner view~monochrome

my favorite color ever

A memory.  The deep blue Pacific ocean.  A spontaneous boat ride with a small group of friends. Many whale sightings.  And then, far from those majestic creatures, a moment when one young woman decided she wanted to jump into the ocean, in her clothes.  And so I joined her.

family reunion, amma and a surprise

We spent a week in Los Angeles seeing Amma.  This included doing service, getting hugged, practicing meditation, and eating great food.  And sitting with Amma.  At the end of our time things fell into place for Sky to travel with Amma on some more of her US tour, so we put her on a bus, and the rest of us spent a day in LA having fun, and then went home to get ready for our big adventure.

san ramon summer trip with sky and lots of selfies

After she graduated, while Shawn and Annabel remained in school for two weeks, I took Sky on a trip to northern California to see friends and Amma.  We went to our old hometown, we saw the doctor, we brought some friends to Amma for the first time.   We visited my friend's new cafe the she opened up.  It was her dream for a long time, and it was buzzing with people.

Our time with Amma was very special.  We sat near her for several hours every day, just watching her in action.  Amma is tireless and her ability for constant compassion is incredible.

last days home and celebrations

Our last days home consisted of a surprise visit from Teeta, packing, cleaning, final exams, visits to Jimmy, and Sky's high school graduation.

It was a whirlwind.

the cutest grad

She made it through high school!!!!!!!!!!!
Straight A's.  4.22 average.
Super challenging college math class this past semester.

Four years of high school included - Transition from home school to regular school. New friendships. Overcoming shyness.  Growing pains.  Facing fears.  Learning a new educational system of 21st century skills.  Mastering computers, cameras, video cameras, and all things technological.  Dealing with dyslexia.  Lots of reading. Taking tests.  Public presentations at school.  Projects.  Working in groups.  College classes at the high school.

College visits.  College applications.  Scholarship applications.  Essays.  Waiting.  

Tennis classes.  Surfing.  Bad haircuts.  Skateboarding.  Band camp.  Playing concerts.  Feeding the local homeless.  Meditation retreats.  Friends visiting from California.  Travel to many places. Learning to meditate.  World travel to Italy, France.

Diver's ed.  Driver's license.  Proms and other dances.  First boyfriend.

Recording songs.  Singing harmonies.  Playing piano, guitar, drums.  Recording an entire album in your bedroom.

Movie auditions.  TV auditions.  Connecting with people in Hollywood.  Watching lots of films, and honing your acting skills.

A curve ball senior year.  Huli stomach.  Disappointment.  Loneliness.  Growth.  New beginnings.

Our little songstress, comic, actress, braniac, tech savvy, dancing, compassionate, sweet, loving, beautiful magical healer girl.

Sky, you are loved by many.  Your friends adore you.  You have touched the lives of every student and teacher at your small school.  Just read what they wrote to you in your yearbook.  Your siblings look up to you. Daddy and I couldn't have asked for a better oldest child to be the leader of our children.  We are so proud of you and we love you soooooooo much.

Can't wait to see what's next for you Sky!

meditation today and some laughs

I have been teaching all our kids a meditation technique for the last few months. Today I meditated with all three of them together for the first time.

Somehow, this morning, both girls were begging me to meditate with them, saying we missed the last two days.
Shawn decided to peek his head in and see what we were up to.
Then he decided to join us.
And... Shawn left half way through the meditation.

It's all good.

He'll be back.

We had a great time together.  At first we were all laughing together and that felt great.  I told them a story of a woman who used to come to my yoga classes and make a scene with her behavior, her fidgeting, her demands of attention on the teacher, and her weird sounds, until eventually she was so disruptive that the teacher asked her to leave.  I told them not to be like her in my class.  They thought that was hilarious.

corner view~somewhere else

Pretty soon we are going to a new place to live for awhile.  In about seventy days, (not that I am counting), we leave the home we have known for fifteen years, and we are trying something new.  Somewhere else.

We are going to a place we have spent a little time visiting.  We don't know much about this place. We know some of the roads, some of the stores, a couple restaurants, a few of the people.

Yet I feel surprisingly relaxed about it all.  There is plenty of fresh air and green there, and it feels right.

Change is good sometimes.  I think this will be good for us all.

conveyor

Annabel's first EP is available on iTunes and many other music promo sites all over the world, including Russia, Japan, France, and soon India.

Here it is in case you want to check it out https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rain-time/id983742879?i=983742903&ign-mpt=uo%3D4.

Four songs, all are wonderful.  My favorite is called Rain Time.

prom portraits

To be eighteen years old with your life just beginning to take off.   What a blessing, what a time.  Sky and I had fun finding the perfect ensemble for her final high school dance, just in the nick of time.

It was a low key night for her, but it was just fine that way.  That's how she does things these days.

She is a true beauty, my Sky, beautiful inside and out.  

I adore my girl.