Remembering the beach :)

The sky was blue here in Shanghai yesterday. And yes, that's a rare site. I don't look forward to the day Hadassah is learning colors and I ask her what color the sky is and she answers "gray." Maybe it won't happen... we all hope the pollution will clear up soon! But yesterday, the sky was blue. And it made me want to dig out these pictures of our time in Jacksonville in May.

                         

Just 5 days before we flew to China we drove to Jacksonville, Florida to see Ryan's Granddad. He's 90 years old and still going strong! We only had one full day and two half days to spend with him, but knew we wanted to see him before we came here.

As an added bonus, we got to see Ryan's aunt, uncle & cousin, and spend a morning at the beach!

 Hadassah loved extra attention :)

We were blessed by great conversations with Granddad, learning about the past and getting his thoughts on the present

 Part of Ryan's family's tradition is to go to the beach before it's fully light, so we arrived around 5:45 AM on a Friday morning.

Such beauty...

 We had to get a family picture, or course ;) It was unseasonably cool and we hadn't dressed for it (we thought it'd be warm!) so we made sure we stayed wrapped in towels.

 There were a few other people out, and quite a few birds :)

 The wind from the water made it even more cold, so Hadassah and I kept each other warm as best we could 

 We were cold and the sun was taking forever to rise so we thought about leaving. But then we saw a glimmer on the horizon...

 It was worth the wait. God's beauty is amazing.

 Our last glimpse of the beach...

Whether it's a beach or a lake or the trees or the mountains, or just the rare blue sky with buildings against it, take time to enjoy the world God has made. He is an awesome Creator.