We are home. We are a little bit tan.
We are anxiously waiting for two little boys to wake up to the gifts that "Santa" has left for them under our Christmas tree.
We are wishing you a very Merry Christmas.
And for more than anything, we are thankful for the Baby that was born in a stable. He is the reason for this season. He is the reason for our everything.
To all of you...Good Night!
Home...for Christmas
12/24/12
12/19/12
and with just minor "bumps" in the air. With the exception of two hours longer in the airport than we expected to wait due to a mechanical error our airplane had, a whole new flight, and a few tears while we descended (must teach him how to swallow before tomorrow), we really had a good trip. It's eighty-something degrees, relaxing, huuuuuuge, sunny, sandy, and so incredibly fun here. Lots more later...internet access here is limited to fifteen minutes per day, so I just wanted to stop in and say Hi, we're here, and we're having the most amazing stay at Atlantis!
12/15/12
Yes, we are. We'll be here for the next six days. We finished packing yesterday and stayed overnight close to the airport we'll be leaving out of. We got here in the late afternoon, and even though we haven't even made it to our destination, we've had a great time so far.
We found a Chuck E. Cheese just ten minutes away. We ate pizza, spent 265 winning tickets, and left with sore backs from playing waaaaay too many games of skee ball. After we left Chuck E. Cheese, we killed some more time in PetSmart and bought what we forgot in Target.
Last night Parker decided the crib the hotel loaned us wasn't happening, so for the first time since he was small enough to take a nap on my chest, I slept with the baby of our family. It actually went pretty well - maybe that's because I prayed before I went to sleep and took some time to thank the One who made him for the toes in my spine and the sippy cup I was sure would hit my face once or twice (After yesterday's news all I could be was thankful. What kind of world are we living in? My heart just breaks.).
We've now checked our baggage and made it through security, so we're just waiting for our flight to leave. Our cell phone plans do not include international calls nor does our data package, so I have no idea if and when I'll be able to update. They do have an Apple center, so I'm hopeful to at least say we made it. I just don't know if I'll be able to download or share pictures (what a bummer if I can't - fingers crossed).
Until then...
I hope y'all have a great week!
12/10/12
Christmas has definitely hit the fan here - earlier than usual for us. While Jake and Parker were at their grands the weekend before Thanksgiving, Jim and I got crackin'. We put up our trees (My thought process was that it would be much less tempting for Parker to grab and throw ornaments if he didn't watch the rest of us handling all of those shiny balls...because hey, that's what every ball - aka round object - is for.), we crossed the majority of gifts off of our "To Buy" list, and Oscar our elf arrived just in time to be waiting for Jake when we all got back home Thanksgiving Day.
When we took him to see Santa that Thursday before, he dropped a letter into his mailbox at the mall and asked him in person (backup, you know) if Oscar could come back again this year to bring us all a little Christmas magic.
As usual, he's up to no good. A few of his shenanigans to date...
So far, he's emptied all of Jake's bookshelves and helped himself to a stack of books to read.
He popped a bag of popcorn and broke into our movie cabinet. We found him sitting on the couch, remote in hand, with Toy Story in the DVD player.
He made a snow angel out of a bag of self-rising flour. Thank goodness I never bake or I might have needed it.
He's gotten stuck upside down in a box of Frosted Flakes.
And most recently, he hosted a "Christmas with the Troops" special event where he pretended to be Santa Claus himself.
I wonder what he'll do next, and Jake does too. It all makes this time of year my favorite - hands down.
12/7/12
Yesterday was sad and hard - but really not as hard as I thought it would be. My extended family has definitely experienced some healing over the last few months; so while there were a lot of tears, there were also a lot of hugs with a lot of genuine feelings behind them. There was real love there, and that made what felt sad also feel good.
My cousin Gwen told me the cutest story after the graveside service. She said before the service back at the funeral home, her youngest son, Dawson (who's exactly, to the day, three months younger than Jake) asked her and his dad if he could play his Nintendo DS. They went back and forth about what to do because they knew it would keep him quiet and entertained but at the same time he wanted to play his video games during his grandma's funeral. Then finally, she said he looked at his dad and said, "Maw wouldn't have cared." And that was so her. There were no rules. She lived out loud to the fullest and had the best time she could have doing it. I'm so thankful I experienced that kind of love from her. My life truly would not have been the same without her. Needless to say, Dawson played his DS, and that's exactly the way she would have wanted it.
On a totally different note, I promise my next post will be a more lighthearted one. I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay, I think my family will be too and to say thank you at least once more for your love, your sympathy, and your support. You're awesome!
12/6/12
...when I drank leftover-from-dinner grease from a mason jar that was sitting in her refrigerator because I thought it was tea.
...the year she bought me a raincoat for Christmas - ooooh that was a hard one to swallow when everyone around me had toys and games. My mom hooked me up on that one and told her something I needed instead of something I wanted, and I remember it like it was yesterday because I felt so ashamed for being disappointed. A gift is just that - a gift.
...the story she used to tell me about the time I was sitting on top of her bathroom counter putting on her makeup while she did too and when I finished I looked at me in the mirror and said, "Now I'm ready for a man!" (Geez, I started young, didn't I?). She told it who-can-count-how-many times so it must have been a favorite.
...the Summer my sister called her to help us rid our house of the snake that had gotten in and wrapped itself around mom's set of praying hands in the living room window while we were home alone. Couch straddling and ax swinging...who could ever forget that one.
My Aunt Linda's funeral is today, so I'll going home for that. My mom has had my youngest honey since Monday morning, and I can't wait to scoop him up and get some of his lovin' - especially on a day like today. Thanks for letting me be sad for a few days and for your love, sympathy, and messages. Both near and far, I have the best friends and family.
12/4/12
I hate to post on such a sad note after being away for over a week, but I have to pay tribute to one of my favorite ladies in the whole world who went to Heaven today - my mom's sister, Aunt Linda. She was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year - around August - and today she got called Home.
She was the one and only person I would spent the night away from home with and the one who gave me coffee to drink the only way to drink it (with tons of cream and sugar). She made me her beauty shop date and her personal grocery store shopper every Friday. She let me paint in her ceramic shop and sit at her craft table while she made umpteen bows to go on wreaths. She made the best camp stew and Christmas candy every Winter (I can still see her and my mom in the kitchen.) and crocheted the baby blanket I still have as a keepsake. She included my sister and I on family vacations and shopping trips to the mall. Her house was the cool one with a pool table, a trampoline, and a pool we could swim in just minutes away, and she didn't miss a birthday party, even my sixteenth. Jake and Parker adored her - they grinned from ear to ear at her from the time they were infants. They knew she was special too. When I think about all the memories over the years, she's in sooooo many of mine and in so many people's hearts. My uncle, cousins Gwen and Rob, and her grandkids, Alyssa, Brannon, Dawson, and Lindsey will miss her most of all, and I'm praying especially for them today.
I posted this verse on Facebook earlier today...Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants. -Psalm 116:15, and I believe with all my heart she was precious both in life and in death.
Miss you tons already, Lay!
12/24/12
12/19/12
and with just minor "bumps" in the air. With the exception of two hours longer in the airport than we expected to wait due to a mechanical error our airplane had, a whole new flight, and a few tears while we descended (must teach him how to swallow before tomorrow), we really had a good trip. It's eighty-something degrees, relaxing, huuuuuuge, sunny, sandy, and so incredibly fun here. Lots more later...internet access here is limited to fifteen minutes per day, so I just wanted to stop in and say Hi, we're here, and we're having the most amazing stay at Atlantis!
12/15/12
Yes, we are. We'll be here for the next six days. We finished packing yesterday and stayed overnight close to the airport we'll be leaving out of. We got here in the late afternoon, and even though we haven't even made it to our destination, we've had a great time so far.
We found a Chuck E. Cheese just ten minutes away. We ate pizza, spent 265 winning tickets, and left with sore backs from playing waaaaay too many games of skee ball. After we left Chuck E. Cheese, we killed some more time in PetSmart and bought what we forgot in Target.
Last night Parker decided the crib the hotel loaned us wasn't happening, so for the first time since he was small enough to take a nap on my chest, I slept with the baby of our family. It actually went pretty well - maybe that's because I prayed before I went to sleep and took some time to thank the One who made him for the toes in my spine and the sippy cup I was sure would hit my face once or twice (After yesterday's news all I could be was thankful. What kind of world are we living in? My heart just breaks.).
We've now checked our baggage and made it through security, so we're just waiting for our flight to leave. Our cell phone plans do not include international calls nor does our data package, so I have no idea if and when I'll be able to update. They do have an Apple center, so I'm hopeful to at least say we made it. I just don't know if I'll be able to download or share pictures (what a bummer if I can't - fingers crossed).
Until then...
I hope y'all have a great week!
We found a Chuck E. Cheese just ten minutes away. We ate pizza, spent 265 winning tickets, and left with sore backs from playing waaaaay too many games of skee ball. After we left Chuck E. Cheese, we killed some more time in PetSmart and bought what we forgot in Target.
Last night Parker decided the crib the hotel loaned us wasn't happening, so for the first time since he was small enough to take a nap on my chest, I slept with the baby of our family. It actually went pretty well - maybe that's because I prayed before I went to sleep and took some time to thank the One who made him for the toes in my spine and the sippy cup I was sure would hit my face once or twice (After yesterday's news all I could be was thankful. What kind of world are we living in? My heart just breaks.).
We've now checked our baggage and made it through security, so we're just waiting for our flight to leave. Our cell phone plans do not include international calls nor does our data package, so I have no idea if and when I'll be able to update. They do have an Apple center, so I'm hopeful to at least say we made it. I just don't know if I'll be able to download or share pictures (what a bummer if I can't - fingers crossed).
Until then...
I hope y'all have a great week!
12/10/12
When we took him to see Santa that Thursday before, he dropped a letter into his mailbox at the mall and asked him in person (backup, you know) if Oscar could come back again this year to bring us all a little Christmas magic.
As usual, he's up to no good. A few of his shenanigans to date...
So far, he's emptied all of Jake's bookshelves and helped himself to a stack of books to read.
He popped a bag of popcorn and broke into our movie cabinet. We found him sitting on the couch, remote in hand, with Toy Story in the DVD player.
He made a snow angel out of a bag of self-rising flour. Thank goodness I never bake or I might have needed it.
He's gotten stuck upside down in a box of Frosted Flakes.
And most recently, he hosted a "Christmas with the Troops" special event where he pretended to be Santa Claus himself.
I wonder what he'll do next, and Jake does too. It all makes this time of year my favorite - hands down.
12/7/12
Yesterday was sad and hard - but really not as hard as I thought it would be. My extended family has definitely experienced some healing over the last few months; so while there were a lot of tears, there were also a lot of hugs with a lot of genuine feelings behind them. There was real love there, and that made what felt sad also feel good.
My cousin Gwen told me the cutest story after the graveside service. She said before the service back at the funeral home, her youngest son, Dawson (who's exactly, to the day, three months younger than Jake) asked her and his dad if he could play his Nintendo DS. They went back and forth about what to do because they knew it would keep him quiet and entertained but at the same time he wanted to play his video games during his grandma's funeral. Then finally, she said he looked at his dad and said, "Maw wouldn't have cared." And that was so her. There were no rules. She lived out loud to the fullest and had the best time she could have doing it. I'm so thankful I experienced that kind of love from her. My life truly would not have been the same without her. Needless to say, Dawson played his DS, and that's exactly the way she would have wanted it.
On a totally different note, I promise my next post will be a more lighthearted one. I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay, I think my family will be too and to say thank you at least once more for your love, your sympathy, and your support. You're awesome!
My cousin Gwen told me the cutest story after the graveside service. She said before the service back at the funeral home, her youngest son, Dawson (who's exactly, to the day, three months younger than Jake) asked her and his dad if he could play his Nintendo DS. They went back and forth about what to do because they knew it would keep him quiet and entertained but at the same time he wanted to play his video games during his grandma's funeral. Then finally, she said he looked at his dad and said, "Maw wouldn't have cared." And that was so her. There were no rules. She lived out loud to the fullest and had the best time she could have doing it. I'm so thankful I experienced that kind of love from her. My life truly would not have been the same without her. Needless to say, Dawson played his DS, and that's exactly the way she would have wanted it.
On a totally different note, I promise my next post will be a more lighthearted one. I just wanted to let you know that I'm okay, I think my family will be too and to say thank you at least once more for your love, your sympathy, and your support. You're awesome!
12/6/12
...when I drank leftover-from-dinner grease from a mason jar that was sitting in her refrigerator because I thought it was tea.
...the year she bought me a raincoat for Christmas - ooooh that was a hard one to swallow when everyone around me had toys and games. My mom hooked me up on that one and told her something I needed instead of something I wanted, and I remember it like it was yesterday because I felt so ashamed for being disappointed. A gift is just that - a gift.
...the story she used to tell me about the time I was sitting on top of her bathroom counter putting on her makeup while she did too and when I finished I looked at me in the mirror and said, "Now I'm ready for a man!" (Geez, I started young, didn't I?). She told it who-can-count-how-many times so it must have been a favorite.
...the Summer my sister called her to help us rid our house of the snake that had gotten in and wrapped itself around mom's set of praying hands in the living room window while we were home alone. Couch straddling and ax swinging...who could ever forget that one.
My Aunt Linda's funeral is today, so I'll going home for that. My mom has had my youngest honey since Monday morning, and I can't wait to scoop him up and get some of his lovin' - especially on a day like today. Thanks for letting me be sad for a few days and for your love, sympathy, and messages. Both near and far, I have the best friends and family.
...the year she bought me a raincoat for Christmas - ooooh that was a hard one to swallow when everyone around me had toys and games. My mom hooked me up on that one and told her something I needed instead of something I wanted, and I remember it like it was yesterday because I felt so ashamed for being disappointed. A gift is just that - a gift.
...the story she used to tell me about the time I was sitting on top of her bathroom counter putting on her makeup while she did too and when I finished I looked at me in the mirror and said, "Now I'm ready for a man!" (Geez, I started young, didn't I?). She told it who-can-count-how-many times so it must have been a favorite.
...the Summer my sister called her to help us rid our house of the snake that had gotten in and wrapped itself around mom's set of praying hands in the living room window while we were home alone. Couch straddling and ax swinging...who could ever forget that one.
My Aunt Linda's funeral is today, so I'll going home for that. My mom has had my youngest honey since Monday morning, and I can't wait to scoop him up and get some of his lovin' - especially on a day like today. Thanks for letting me be sad for a few days and for your love, sympathy, and messages. Both near and far, I have the best friends and family.
12/4/12
I hate to post on such a sad note after being away for over a week, but I have to pay tribute to one of my favorite ladies in the whole world who went to Heaven today - my mom's sister, Aunt Linda. She was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year - around August - and today she got called Home.
She was the one and only person I would spent the night away from home with and the one who gave me coffee to drink the only way to drink it (with tons of cream and sugar). She made me her beauty shop date and her personal grocery store shopper every Friday. She let me paint in her ceramic shop and sit at her craft table while she made umpteen bows to go on wreaths. She made the best camp stew and Christmas candy every Winter (I can still see her and my mom in the kitchen.) and crocheted the baby blanket I still have as a keepsake. She included my sister and I on family vacations and shopping trips to the mall. Her house was the cool one with a pool table, a trampoline, and a pool we could swim in just minutes away, and she didn't miss a birthday party, even my sixteenth. Jake and Parker adored her - they grinned from ear to ear at her from the time they were infants. They knew she was special too. When I think about all the memories over the years, she's in sooooo many of mine and in so many people's hearts. My uncle, cousins Gwen and Rob, and her grandkids, Alyssa, Brannon, Dawson, and Lindsey will miss her most of all, and I'm praying especially for them today.
I posted this verse on Facebook earlier today...Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants. -Psalm 116:15, and I believe with all my heart she was precious both in life and in death.
Miss you tons already, Lay!
She was the one and only person I would spent the night away from home with and the one who gave me coffee to drink the only way to drink it (with tons of cream and sugar). She made me her beauty shop date and her personal grocery store shopper every Friday. She let me paint in her ceramic shop and sit at her craft table while she made umpteen bows to go on wreaths. She made the best camp stew and Christmas candy every Winter (I can still see her and my mom in the kitchen.) and crocheted the baby blanket I still have as a keepsake. She included my sister and I on family vacations and shopping trips to the mall. Her house was the cool one with a pool table, a trampoline, and a pool we could swim in just minutes away, and she didn't miss a birthday party, even my sixteenth. Jake and Parker adored her - they grinned from ear to ear at her from the time they were infants. They knew she was special too. When I think about all the memories over the years, she's in sooooo many of mine and in so many people's hearts. My uncle, cousins Gwen and Rob, and her grandkids, Alyssa, Brannon, Dawson, and Lindsey will miss her most of all, and I'm praying especially for them today.
I posted this verse on Facebook earlier today...Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants. -Psalm 116:15, and I believe with all my heart she was precious both in life and in death.
Miss you tons already, Lay!
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