The best kind of princess.

When I was little, I adored Disney's princesses. Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine... I was infatuated. Beautiful dresses, high heeled shoes, tiaras and happily ever after... I didn't realize it till much later, but I've got it better than any Disney princess; after all, I'm the daughter of the High King. And when I was little, and used to to get all dressed up, and assemble all my dolls and any available siblings for balls and tea parties, I was only imitating my true calling as a daughter of The King of my life.

I accidently ran into this Youtube video on a hunt for something else Tchaikovsky, and thought you might all enjoy a little reminiscing of your favorite princess story. =) Maybe it's a little silly, but I've always loved The Sleeping Beauty Waltz, (it's even my cell ringer!) and the montage is kinda fun to watch. Especially for the you girlies out there who, like me, watch these movies a million and two times each growing up!

(Never mind the fact that if Princess Aurora were real, proportionately she'd be like, 7 feet tall, with a 14 inch waist and 4 1/2 foot arms, and that Prince Charming looks like he tried to swallow a pound of brie cheese, which instead adhered to his teeth. Just watch it through the eyes of a seven year old, and over look these little flaws.)

Enjoy. =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vd8zshhW8c&feature=related

I am a child of royal birth
My Father is king of Heaven and Earth.
My spirit was born in the courts on high
A child beloved, a princess am I.

~A. Johnson

Are you all ready to see oodles of our Oregon vacation Pictures!? =)

So sorry it's taken me so long to post these, I know I've been promising them to alot of you for a long time! So I'll just caption one by one, and you'll get the idea. =)

The first two pictures are taken with our ipod-touch, which actually takes awesome pictures.

I got pink eye the day after we left, (yuck) so our first stop was was to pick up vitamin C and black tea bags and Starbucks. Personally, I think the coffee's what cured me....

Sunset pictures are so pretty! I picked one of probably every 10 pictures, so we took LOTS. Ali took some and I took some, so photo credit to her!

We stayed in Lincoln City, Oregon., and on one of the beaches not far from us, we found some tide pools FULL of anemones.

And the ever present mussels. (think of them as the ants of the beach, they're every where.)So I had these plans for a huuuuge sand castle. Like the kind groups of us use to build in Mexico.

I got the kids all hyped, and one morning we headed out to build our castle on the beach!
Buuut.... less then half way through, Brad and Ali lost interest, dubbing it "too big" and deciding they'd rather splash around in the ocean instead. Humph! Well fine... I'll finish it myself! =P
First words out of Ali's mouth when we get back? "Hey Dad, look out the window and see our sand castle!" Our sand castle?? Oh well.

We stopped at another beach about an hour north of Lincoln City, and as we walked, I kept my eyes on the ground. It paid off! I found a WHOLE sand dollar! I've only ever found pieces of them before, and for a beach comber, this was a score.

We visited Cape Meares Lighthouse. The shortest lighthouse on the West Coast.

Unfortunately, we couldn't go up inside the light, because a couple years ago, two guys shot out almost all the glass windows, and destroyed the light bulb. It's still being repaired.

We stopped at the Blue Heron Wine and Cheese Farm. It wasn't much to look at, but we had fun visiting the "animals."

One of the most fun tours ever, was the Tillamook Cheese factory we visited in...you guessed it... Tillamook Oregon!

The assembly line.

The sunsets on the beach are so gorgeous. The breeze blows the salty mist onto your face and gently tosses your hair, while the sun turns the sea into a watery expanse of molten gold. (for my dramatic friend Hannah.)

"My soul is full of longing
For the secret of the sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
Sends a thrilling pulse through me."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Having way too much fun.....

this summer, and blogging isn't on my list of must-do's. Sorry my faithful readers, but hang in there, and stay tuned this fall, when I'll feel more like blogging, and less like doing something summery! (i.e. tennis, volleyball, badminton, gardening, church picnics, canning oodles of green beans and pickles, violin shopping, and scheduling lessons for my 13 violin students!)

I'm heading for vacation with my family next week to the Oregon Coast for 5 days on the sandy beach! For those of you blessed to leave near sandy beach, understand that for us this is a treat! We only have rocky beaches around here, no soft, poofy sand... Here's a picture of the Lincoln City shoreline. Isn't it dramatic??

We'll be staying in Lincoln City in a condo that is literally right on the beach. I'm ready for a vacation, and then I hope I'll be ready to start teaching and start school stuff again!

So my dear readers, what have been/will be some highlight(s) of your summer? Memorable, sad, sweet or hilarious, I'd love to know!

Au revoir!

Make 'em laugh ~Donald O'Conner

Donald O'Conner as Cosmo Brown from Singing in the Rain.

If you haven't already seen this movie, put it on your bucket list. It's one of my favorites.

Never be afraid to laugh at yourself. You could be missing out on the joke of the century...

So, why haven't I been posting? (less then usual that is.)

Simple question deserve simple answers... I've been busy!

The things that stand out are one, VOLLEYBALL! Lots n' lots of it! My siblings and I have eagerly awaited the phone call from Will each evening, to say when/where we're playing.

We play anywhere from 3-5 hours, (we've only played for 5 hours once, we were having waaay too much fun to stop) usually at Bender Fields.

We love playing, laughing, teasing, scoring, missing, falling, jumping, and everything else that goes with the game, and heck, it's easier than tennis...
The second thing: Practicing, rehearsing, practicing, rehearsing. Last night, (the 28th) Ali and I had our graduating recital, (or whatever you want to call it) We're moving from our current instructor, Mrs D. Who has taught me for 8 years, and Ali for 6, to move on to a new teacher, Mrs. P., who teaches in Bellingham. So Ali and I gave a concert to honor Mrs. Davis, and thank her for all the years she's taught us. It's hard, really hard, to give a recital with only two performers. It take tons of practicing, rehearsing, and planning. But, last night was the big night.

And you know what? The work paid off. The music went really well, the audience seemed to enjoy it, Mrs. Davis was happy, and hopefully, and most importantly, the Lord was glorified.

These gorgeous flowers are from our neighbor who attended with her two grandsons, are they just so sunshiny and summer-y? :)

I'm glad it's over, but it was really fun, and I'm glad we did it. It was great experience too.

Thanks to everyone who came, it was great to see our friend out there, and it kept me from being nervous.

I'm going to try and post more next week, I don't want ya'll to get tired of checking! ;)

Blessings,

Emily

How Beautiful

Someone has asked me to play this for her wedding, and it is so, so beautiful, I just had to share it.

http://youtu.be/QJfSp_rceFs

"How beautiful the radiant bride, who waits for her groom, with his light in her eyes. How beautiful, when humble hearts give the fruit of pure love, so that others may live. How beautiful."

~Words and music by Twila Paris

Tennis Anyone?

The pool is up, summer must be here!

But this summer, the thing I look forward to the most in my week, isn't swimming, it's tennis!

I've wanted to learn tennis for some time, and while dad has played just about everything else with us (soccer, basketball, baseball, hockey, volleyball, badminton, and even touch-football) when I asked if he could teach me tennis, he gave me "the look." You all have dads, and you know what I mean.

The look that says "go jump off a cliff." And he accompanied this with the words, "I HATE tennis. If you want to learn, get someone else to teach you."

Me to self: Hmm, maybe if I ask with the "big brown eyes tactic" in mind (which rarely fails) he'll know I'm really serious, and reconsider.

But upon application of said tactic, all he said was; "Sorry Princess, but I mean it. I HATE tennis. Get someone else to teach you."

Me to self: Phooey. Wow, he really, really doesn't like that game, if the no-fail tactic FAILED!

Well, I guess I'd better find someone else!

So I called around, and Homestead (our local fitness center) gave me the number of a gal named Holly. So I called, obviously, and she said that if I could find a friend to take lessons with me, it would cut the cost of lessons by $10!

Now to find a friend...

"So, Ali... ever thought of taking tennis lessons? By the way, did I mention how cute the shirt is on you?

Ali: Nope. Not interested.

Me: Don't you think it'd be fun? I mean, good exercise, fun and experience!

Ali: I don't care to spend the money, I get lots of exercise playing badminton with you as it is, and besides, if you learn to play, you can teach me for free, and then I'll get the experience.

Me to me: Darn this dutch heritage of ours! She got the "cheap gene."

Well, Sam already said she wasn't interested...who else could I call....

This led to the phoning of My good friend Janeal, who to my utter astonishment, immediately said "Yes! I've always wanted to take tennis lessons!"

Wow! So, needless to say, we're takin' tennis lessons! Every Friday for an hour +1/2, and hopefully we can practice Thursdays.

Our coach is awesome, and an excellent teacher. And Janeal? Well... umm... she beat me our mock game last week! She'll be great!

So, anyone know how to play tennis? I'm up for a game anytime! =)