Trusting Dad

Aaaah.....Sundays.
The one day that I know Russ will lay down the sandpaper, let the foam dust settle and I get him for the whole day.
We attend a church forty minutes from our new home and on the Sunday I play keyboards we leave the house at 7:15am....yawn.
It's worth it. Trust me. (Not listening to the keyboard part ... the church part:)

This morning, my car battery died twice before we even hit the freeway. The second time outside starbucks. We should have questioned stopping the car for coffee but coffee is my second savior.
When days start like that, life's lessons have told us to be expectant for something significantly good to come along.
And good things did....

After the service as we are tearing all the sound equipment down, our kids like to race across the stage and, with pure faith, launch their little bodies as far as they can off the front of the stage, throwing their arms back to achieve maximum velocity and distance, eventually landing in dad's arms. Zero hesitation of dad's strength and desire to catch them.
It's a sweet, thrilling moment of trust and I love to see our kids display that kind of blind faith.
It's my goal to become more like my kids. Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who become like children.
Apart from the obvious benefits, like someone making sure my bowl of cheerios was waiting on the table every morning, it's the
pure trust, receptivity, teachability, humility, uninhibited joy and purity of children that I get excited to be more like.
Bring it on!

Merrick flying at the speed only her strong little muscular legs can carry her. The speed of an extreme sportswoman in the making.

Justice, a six year old blur. And interpretive dancer extraordinaire.

For those of you with strong stomachs, I'll be attempting this feat next week.

Not.

"It's not that I don't trust your desire to catch me, honey, it's just that the last muffin I ate sent me into a different weight division."

Excellent Relationship

I spent a while today contemplating about Russ and his work. About his time spent behind the scenes, nameless and faceless, working for the best and the respected.
One of the things I love about him is his ability to do that, silently, without credit....because he loves and respects the people he worked for and because his standards are those of excellence.

He has spent years ghost-shaping for the best and has done so, willingly and without the need to be recognized.

Well, now that we have ventured into our own business and companies have been bought and sold..... I think it's time to type out his resume without hesitation.

Russ is an excellent! shaper and highly skilled craftsmen. I can say, without any doubt or bias that he values doing his craft with perfection and with integrity.....he is not one to cut corners to save time or cost, but will build a surfboard until he is satisfied with the final product.

He spent fifteen years working for and under the best! With gratefulness and with pride.
And silently.
Fine - shaping boards for the best surfers in the world and loving the opportunity to do so.

He has known the standards set out before him and has does his best to fulfill them.

Now...... the opportunity to create and perfect his own designs is set out before him.

He also values relationship! Rare these days. He really does appreciate and value every surfer who comes across his path, willing to spend the extra little bit of time, talking and evaluating.....dreaming and building.

I often ask Russ about his day.....and today two things stood out.....Chris and Eric 'the Bird', two local surfers, popped round to the shaping room and were excited about surfboards and the epoxy work Russ is doing. Russ was excited too. Stoked.
Russ also texted photos of board's he's working on to a client in Hawaii......just because he wanted to include the customer in the progress......and the reply: " OMG! Beautiful...thanks for the best picture message of 2010. Stoked, Aloha."

That's what I love about him. Excellence for his craft and genuine love for his fellow man.

Resin - X : goes well with green

Russ and I offered to help fix sun and water damage on some outdoor tables at a little establishment we like called Bernadettes On Main.

Actually, it's Bernadette we love.

She's british and she makes me feel like I'm with my African/English family. Same humor, same down-to-earthness and same love for beer.

We thought it would be fun to laminate a fun logo or picture on each table and the first one is going to be a chess/checkers board.

Russ is using an amazing product called Resin-X to laminate surfboards and we are going to use it on the tables too.

Firstly, it's considered to be a 'green' product - 80%.

Secondly, it withstands weather - being that it's a urethane/epoxy blend

(Russ's words, not mine - He's the one who knows what he's talking about - I just nod and say : "Sounds interesting, honey").

Thirdly, it has UV protection. Like a good sunblock. And won't yellow - like a good sunblock too.

Here I am, applying the tape and creating the checker design and then Russ spray-painted the black checkers on - with Merrick advising him on how to do it.

Good girl Merrick, you make your mama proud!

Next, she'll be shaping boards.

Angry Birds: If it causes you to sin....

Steve Jordan, a wonderful friend, generously gave me an IPhone about 4 weeks ago. Funny that getting a phone can be so exciting but it just was....and so I entered the AT&T land of smart phones.

.....and....all the applications that come with it.

Some great. Handy. Applicable to life and interests etc. Take, for example, the paypal app. The Spanish app. (looks good but never been used:) The hipstamatic. Love it.

Some not so. Angry Birds . All you Smart phoners know what I'm talking about. A game, that made me laugh out loud every time I played it. This is good I thought. Laughing is good. Catapulting revengful birds through the air in order to annihilate a group of thieving pigs seems like a good way to unwind and besides, we gave up cable TV to spend more time as a family.

Fast forward two weeks.

Cable TV would have been better.

I'm playing it at red lights! Our youngest and I are racing to play instead of watching Justice play soccer. While Russ is correcting our 6 year old for begging for the phone while he plays, I whisper : "hand me the phone while you discipline our daughter over a game you can't put down, so that I can play...."

Woah!

If Angry Birds causes you to sin. Cut if off.

Bummer.

Russ and I waved good-bye, deleted our feathery friends and snorting enemies and went back to a peaceful evening.

Angry Birds....there are times I miss you. But I was turning into a time-thieving chunk of ham, so you had to go!

Where there is no vision, people perish

A friend challenged us the other day on 'vision'. As in: Where do see yourselves.....what do you want to be a part of and why.....dreams, hopes, desires etc etc.....What is your vision!?

Well, what is our vision?? I've had to think about this and I'm not sure if I have a solid answer yet, but I can tell you what's important to me.....

My marriage. My children. My family.

My friendships. My community. My church.

Our community. Our locals.

Our business.

I love to surf. Love it! It makes me smile. Fills me with delight. It also makes me mad. It challenges me. Challenges my attitudes, my selfishness, my insecurities.

But mostly, it makes me smile. Big. Inside myself.

I love my children. They are unique, expectant, full of character and full of dreams. They make me proud and I'm so in love with them, that my heart, in Justice's words, wants to "crack right open".

Russell and I love each other. No man on this earth loves me the same way and puts up with me the same way. And vice-versa.

And he is an excellent craftsman. Not only at surfboards, but in whatever he builds. He believes in excellence. Even in the unseen details. They matter to him. I love that about him. He makes me proud. He is not easily inconvenienced.

So.....back to vision.

I long to see our business grow. But not only for business-sake. For relational sake. For our children's sake. To build friendships. To build community.

The details....I'll have to get back to you on that.

Mahalo.

New Beginnings

We have a week left of pulling down sheds, a shaping room and packing tools, boards etc. Then we'll get started on the building of a better shaping room with storage and room to airbrush, glass etc
Busy times but it feels good and right. I'm learning my way around a hammer, crowbar, drill and prybar. Feeling strong! Our webdesigner e-mailed yesterday and after a bit more work on our side, it'll be up and running.
Will continue to let you know what's up.
Jeannine

Two Years

We have hit the two year mark this month. Moving into the next phase of Hoyte Designs. Moving out of the garage and will be working full-time at the factory in Ventura. Any takers to help move? Free $35 ding repair. LOL.
Web site still in the works. Coming soon.
Russ