little glimpses of grace throughout the day....

tara hope — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:02:23 +0000

Testing

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Reunion!!!

tara hope — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:51:15 +0000

So excited that in one hour I get to see this little brown face!!! She’s been at my parents since Christmas and oh, how I’ve missed her so!!!

Mom says she’s become the boss off all the other dogs at the house(a 100lb lab, an 80lb shepherd and a Jack Russell) and let’s them know she’s the queen bee… Even though it’s their house!

Our house, however has been very quiet without her, and im ready for her to come home!

- Posted from my iPhone

tara hope — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:32:47 +0000

just wanted to let everyone know the last blog post from st. john is up on www.tarahope.com thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy the pics!

Buh-bye!

tara hope — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:56:00 +0000

i have decided to switch blog names, so please head on over to www.tarahope.com and find me there! i wanted a name that was more me…i think this was a good choice, don’t you? and now you dont have to remember that silly .wordpress.com part

i will be leaving this up as an archive, and will start fresh on the new blog, so it might be bare for a few days until i have something more to post. right now all thats there are a few pictures left over from what WAS my photo blog…which apparently needs a new home now, too.

i hope to see you all over at www.tarahope.com soon!

ringing in the new year!

tara hope — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 02:25:06 +0000

we celebrated the new year in the best way possible, soaking up the sun and enjoying God’s beautiful creation! we chartered a boat to take us snorkeling in the us and british virgin islands…

we went to these awesome caves that you could swim into…

the insides were all different colors like they had been painted! beautiful!

we took the boat to a little restaurant on the water…

gotta say, the food was good but you couldnt beat the view!

we absolutely loved spending the day out on the water! what a great way to kick off 2010!

best new years eve ever!

tara hope — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:00:35 +0000

new years eve involved one of the coolest adventures we have ever had…and definitely the best lobster ever!

my parents chartered a couple of helicopters to take us to a tiny, tiny little island for a lobster lunch on the beach

the helicopter ride was pretty awesome since you could see every island from way up there!

we landed right on the beach and walked about 100 yards to the restaurant

it was literally right on the water!

we did a little looking around/goofing around while waiting for lunch to be ready…

this little guys name was zuma…and he was the cutest beach dog i have ever seen! he looked like a sea bear!

speaking of sea-bears…ha, just kidding stephen

we walked on the beach…

and danced on the beach…(hes doing the “single ladies” dance in case you couldn’t tell…)

and jumped on the beach…

we had seriously one of THE best meals i have ever had…fresh lobster grilled right out of the ocean

these things were huge! over 2 lbs each…

haha matt was not letting one morsel go to waste…we all ran under the shelter to get out of a little rain shower and he stayed at the table munching happily on his lobster

after that incredible lunch we got back on the choppers and they took us home to st. john…

an incredible day with the family that will always be a favorite memory

st. john day 4

tara hope — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:18:19 +0000

tuesday night was emily’s 20th birthday so after our tex-mex dinner we got her an oreo cake, and one itty-bitty candle to blow out…

and then we sang to her twice and made her blow out her candle again for the video camera

today(wednesday) we basically had a monsoon all day long…

but we didnt let it dampen our adventurous spirit! we decided to head all the way over to the other side of the island for lunch and some exploring.

the coral bay area is known for the wild donkeys that hang out there…and look! we found some! this little cutie even let me pet his nose …

see…i told you it was pouring…

but bad weather on the islands is still better than bad weather at home. and i still managed to find some photo opps…

we ate at this great little burger dive in coral bay, called “skinny legs”(great name, right!? except dad kept calling it “skanky legs”)

ha, emily’s legs looked just like the ones on the sign…

the rest of us…not so much…

i liked how they had a little library you could borrow books from in the bar…

good burgers, and a pirate, what more could you ask for!?

st. thomas

tara hope — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 13:51:54 +0000

yesterday we took a little jaunt over to the island of st. thomas to pick up emily(rickys girlfriend) at the airport and do a little shopping!

we took the ferry over, and it was SUCH beautiful weather!

doesnt he look just like jim carrey with that hair?

i love the color you find all over the islands!

once we got there, we went straight to my parents favorite jewelry store, and started playing some serious dress-up!

my sweet, sweet, sweet husby bought me a couple of shiny baubles he doesnt look TOO happy about it, but i told him this takes care of birthdays and anniversaries for a bit

after all that shopping we cooled off with some awesome smoothies before jumping back on the ferry

matt stole stephens new shades…not quite sure if he can pull off the hipster look

we had a couple friends join us on the ferry…these birds stayed with us almost the entire ride, it was really cool, and also terrifying being right under them, if you catch my drift

after we got back to st. john we ate at a little tex-mex place for dinner…

the boys had fun(if you can call it that?) putting all different types of hot sauces on their nachos. the caribbean hot sauces do NOT play around. i love texas pete and tabasco as much as the next person, but these sauces are TINGLY!

loving the local flava!

st. john day 2

tara hope — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:13:52 +0000

yesterday we spent a little time out by the pool, trying to get some sun on our white legs

last night we took a sunset cruise on a catamaran…it was absolutely gorgeous!

they put the boys to work right away, raising the sails…

and husby even got to steer the ship!

after all that hard work learning how to be sailors, we sat back, relaxed and enjoyed our front row seats for the sunset

when it got dark we headed back to the harbor, and went to grab some dinner…

dinner at rhumb lines… SO GOOD!

our colorful and tasty “pupu platter”…

and some of the best desserts ive ever had! death by chocolate cake = a very happy tara

st. john day 1

tara hope — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:08:23 +0000

yesterday we just explored a little bit, trying to get our bearings on this new island

we ate lunch at a little mexican place in town, and i think my favorite part were these little chickens walking around, acting like they owned the place…

then we all piled in the cars for a little tour of the beaches. all the roads here get REALLY steep, and its pretty crazy sometimes. lets just say we are very thankful for brakes!…

there are only one or two roads on the whole island, and they have these nice little overlooks where you can stop and look down on the shoreline…

we kept driving until we reached the end of the road, and saw this cute little lemonade stand right before we got to the beach…and look who took advantage of a business opportunity!

st. john is made up of mostly national park, so there are some neat hiking trails. this one was like some sort of magical bamboo forest

at the end of the trail were some old ruins…

it was a great first day, and now we are ready for many more adventures this week!