Happy Birthday, Sally!

We have actually had quite the busy/fun week. Sally turned 27 on Wednesday, and we had a really great time climbing together that night after having a Salmon dinner at home. I wanted to take her out to The Melting Pot or Cheesecake Factory, but she convinced me that she would much rather put all the money we would save from not going out to eat towards a sailboat in the "near" future. It is quite wishful thinking, but she got me hooked with the idea. :) It's good to have some pie-in-the-sky to be hoping for in order to keep us honest on our budget. Hopefully we'll actually be crazy enough someday to follow through and buy one! They're surprisingly not that expensive if you buy used ones. We're thinking of a mini one first (see below).

This is called a Snipe sailboat. Just for a couple of people. You can find them for real cheap on Craig's list. Now that IS worth missing a few meals at the Melting Pot/Cheesecake factory for!

We actually climbed on Monday as well. The pictures below are not us. I wish they were. That's why I'm posting them. The thing I love about rock climbing, sailing, camping, backpacking, etc is that it gets you out to beautiful places.

Yeah, both these guys are nuts. I'd love to be in there shoes, though. I'm trying to figure out why the climber above doesn't just go around to the side we can see. It looks a lot easier. That's probably why, though. The climbers mantra: "If you can find a harder, more painful way to get up a rock, go for it."

Some other crazy dude on a really big cliff in South Africa

Living in a big city, we often forget that there are beautiful, peaceful places to go and find some solitude and truly relax. Our society would probably be a much calmer place if we would encourage more people to get out of the cities and enjoy the amazing places our country has to offer. Colorado this year was one example...and the waterfall is from South Carolina when we visited Sally's sister out there. They are one of the big reasons we are considering S.C. as a place to do residency. :) I had one of my young men from my youth group backpack 70 miles at Philmont scout ranch this summer, and being out in the mountains for 7 days really opened up a whole new world to him and gave him a new perspective on life and things. It was really pretty impressive to see how it influenced him. Can't wait to do that with my kids someday! :)

This was a valley a few miles up into the mountains. We ended up backpacking past that huge snow drift and around to the right into that bowl of mountains behind me. About 8-10 hours of hiking. The most tired and the most satisfied I've ever been. I did this with our youth group. I even got to carry 2 packs for 1/2 the day.:)

To end the post, I just wanted to say Happy Birthday! to my great wife. She has been an unfailing support to me, the love of my life and truly my best friend. I can't imagine life without her, and I can't wait to see her as a mom! She truly is the kindest person I have ever met, and I needed that so much. She has taught me so much about loving people when it's hard, being generous beyond what I sometimes think is prudent because God really does make up the difference, and slowing down to smell the roses/habiscus (literally, as seen below, and figuratively). I love you, Sally!

Sally in Hawaii next to 3 colors of her favorite flower, habiscus. She takes after her mom in that they can name the wierdest plants, particularly flowers. Going to botanical gardens together is quite enjoyable because of how excited the two of them get about the flowers there. :)