disneyland, newport beach, and sarah markley

lots of pictures and fun in this post.

last week our family traveled to so. cal. (that is southern california for you non-californians).
our christmas gift to the kids this year was disneyland.
at disneyland tinkerbelle can fly! it is after all "where all your dreams come true."

even the dream of a white christmas comes true in disneyland.
we were privileged to get to spend the weekend at a family friend's beach house on newport beach. it was wonderful to wake up each morning to the sight of their "big back yard," the pacific ocean. apparently in newport beach santa does not travel by reindeer and sleigh, but by surf board and roller blades.and since we were in so. cal. i could not miss the opportunity to finally meet blog friend sarah markley! this was my first (in person) blog friend meeting.
isn't sarah BEAUTIFUL! not only did i get to meet sarah, but her wonderful family. husband-chad, daughters- hope and naomi, and her parents- al and hannah. (btw- sarah, i agree with chad, you should post an abc's of chad, or at least post all the titles for the abc's of chad).

sarah and i hugged immediately, and then both looked at each other as if to make sure the other was real. before meeting sarah i thought she was beautiful, because of what comes from her heart and spills into every word she writes on her blog. seeing sarah in person only made her more beautiful.
it was good to just be with each other- to share our lives, to watch kids play, to share words, laughter, wonder, and to share time for a little while.

but it wasn't enough.

as we said good bye, it occurred to me that i will miss sarah. tangible sarah.

i thought about how blogging is interesting, crazy, and wonderful! and i thought about how i miss each of you. i would love to sit and visit with each of you- to see your faces, hear your voices, to hear all your stories.

for me blogging isn't enough. it is the appetizer of this friendship meal. i look forward to the day we will finish our appetizers, share the main course, and finally have our chocolate chip ice cream.