A Few April Pictures

Well, we're here at the end of April.  I can finally breathe a sigh of relief.  This was by far the most difficult tax season I've worked through.  We are all grateful it's complete.  The majority of these pictures were taken by Ryan and sent to me; they would brighten my day!

Ryan and the girls had a lot of fun in Birmingham for Easter weekend and the start of the girls' spring break at school.  They went to church at Shades Mountain, colored eggs and simply enjoyed hanging out with family.  It was a beautiful, wonderful weekend!

 I thought this was such a cute picture of Mom and Dad!

 I love when Mia reads to me, and doesn't she look beautiful in her new glasses?!

 Not even sure why Lily had all these Peeps on a stick, but it was a cute picture.

 Mia and Ryan have lots of fun playing the Wii together.

 Ryan and Mia had a fun morning at Chuck E Cheese one day during the break.  Mia was quite proud of her ticket count.

 Ryan took the girls to a Braves' game during the break too.  Everyone always enjoys a trip to The Battery.

Lily is such a creative artist!  She colored this beautiful picture on the left, and then she made a self-portrait emoji on a strawberry cake she made from scratch one day.

 Mia spent several hours one day working on a new script for the next Descendents movie.  I love when her creative juices start flowing!

 I couldn't resist snapping these two pictures of Lily sleeping.  For a few weeks, she made a little bed on the floor and enjoyed sleeping there with her Christmas lights going.  We had the Casey family over a few weeks ago to watch Secret Church with us, and they spent the night at our house.  We pulled the girls' trundle beds out and both girls have enjoyed sleeping on those too.  Apparently, Decker really likes sleeping on Lily's trundle as well!

  Always glad to have the Smith family over (even though I missed this fun and beautiful evening because I was working).

I came home the night before the deadline to see this on my kitchen counter.  The note was telling me not to peak.  After school on deadline day, Lily brought these treats up to the office to pull us through the last few hours.  She had experimented with blondies with a homemade caramel sauce, and they were quite tasty!

 

 Mia's class dissected owl pellets to see what the owls had eaten.  I love the look on Mia's face right here as she realized her friend Gabe had picked up his pellet with his bare hand!

 This girl is in the kitchen as much as possible which we all love!

That's about all going on around here!

Other March Happenings

Not many pictures from this month as I'm working way too much right now, but here's a few.

Lily wanted to try working with fondant one Sunday afternoon, so we stopped by Michael's and picked some up.  She made lemon cupcakes, iced them fun colors, and then decorated with fondant.  They were delicious and adorable!

 Decker looking all cute with his St. Patrick's Day bow tie.

 The girls were filing at the office one evening, and Mia left two pennies and this note on my desk: "A tip for my favorite mom! - Mia You deserve it.  I know it's not much.  So sorry."  This made me smile.

 My birthday was this month also.  We had a great time at the Harlem Globetrotters game!  I remember going to see them with my dad when I was younger, and it sounded like a fun thing to do.  Grandpops was in town, so he joined us.  We all had a great time.  They're a really entertaining group to watch.  This was lots of fun!  After the game, we hung around CNN and Centennial Park for a little bit, and then we headed over to Rathbun's for dinner.  Always a win.  On my actual birthday a few days later, this gorgeous bouquet of flowers arrived from Grandpops, Grandma Jan, and Taz.  They brightened up my office for well over a week!

 The girls held a lemonade stand in our front yard to help raise money for their Boosterthon Fun Run.  They raised $24 which they were very excited about.  Pink lemonade and candy are always a hit!

 They had a beautiful day for the fun run!  Both girls ran the maximum of 35 laps.  Decker joined in the fun too!

 Mia had fun running with Layne for part of the time.

 Lily helped lead the 5th grade team of "Dragon Slayers."

 Lily and Eliza had a good time at a Maggiano's cooking class.  They learned how to make gnocchi which I hope she will try out for us at home soon.

 Mia enjoyed her playdate at Eliana's house.  They have a great climbing tree that Mia loves!

 Lots of friends celebrated Emory's 11th birthday at The Battery one beautiful evening.  They had fun hanging out, eating Antico pizza and gelato, and dancing with the Heavy Hitters pep band.  Sweet girls!

 The girls were surprised with their Easter baskets a week early because they will be out of town for Spring Break over Easter next week.  Both received some flip flops, t-shirts, car bingo game, and a couple books.  Lily also received a few cooking items and a Squishable key lime pie she's been wanting for a bit.  Mia was very excited to get several rainbow loom bands and accessories pieces along with a Big Eye dragon that reminds us of Mal from Descendants.  They've been enjoying these items already.  I like doing little fun treats like this, and it's safe to say they enjoy receiving them!

Saying Goodbye to Meme

On Friday morning, March 9th, I received a phone call from my dad that I knew was coming.  My wonderful grandmother and last grandparent had passed away.  There was a flood of emotions.  Sadness because I will miss her so terribly much.  Relief because these last few weeks have been painful and the years have been long; she's been longing for Jesus to answer her prayer to bring her home.  I'm thankful she is no longer in pain.  There's also immense joy in knowing that she was now standing before her God in Heaven.  At 96 years old, she had lived a long life, so it was time for her time on Earth to draw to an end and let her eternal time begin.  On my way home that evening I heard the Mercy Me song "I Can Only Imagine."  It's always been a favorite of mine as it talks about how we can only imagine what it will be like to enter Heaven and stand before Jesus for the very first time.  I was overwhelmed thinking that Meme now knows exactly what you do at that time.

On Sunday afternoon and evening, we held her visitation at Carmichael Funeral Home.  There were lots of beautiful flowers; she always loved a pretty flower.  Any time you would show her one, she would say "that's the prettiest flower I've ever seen."  And she seemed to mean it.  She took such joy in seeing God's creation, and she was content to marvel at each beautiful piece.  Really, everything you showed her was the prettiest she'd seen, whether it was a sunset, ocean view, flower or animal.  There was also a video with 123 pictures that family had contributed.  It was so great to watch this.  The last few years, Meme has been living at Presbyterian Village nursing home, and she's been pretty much confined to a wheelchair.  We all loved seeing these older pictures of her up and about with her husband who we called Pop, her three boys (my dad and his two brothers), all the grandkids and great-grandkids, and of course, her in the kitchen.  That was her favorite place to be.  She showed her love to people by cooking.  Whether it was bringing ham biscuits to the hospital to celebrate a new baby, fried chicken and all sorts of delicious veggies for a family gathering, vegetable soup and cornbread to help someone who was sick or overwhelmed at work, or chicken salad for wedding and baby showers, she was always making something tasty.  We reminisced about the Thursday evening dinners she and Pop hosted almost every week while we were growing up.  We also had several photo albums out and one of her many Bibles.  She was always studying the Bible and cross-referencing different versions and study guides.  I remember at the house she and Pop lived in, her ottoman would always have no less than six different Bibles on it.  The love of Christ simply overflowed from her.  None of us could remember ever hearing an unkind word uttered from her.  This was a wonderful time with family and friends.  One friend commented that they've never seen so many smiling faces at a visitation before.  How can you not smile when you know that Meme has received her eternal reward that she has waited for?

Her funeral was Monday afternoon, and it was beautiful.  Jodi and Wayne spoke on behalf of her grandchildren.  They both did an excellent job describing just how loved Meme was.  Bob Shaw led everyone in singing "Because He Lives" which was quite appropriate.  Before we sang though, he asked everyone who had been taught by Meme in the nearly 60 years she taught Sunday School at FBC Chattahoochee to stand up.  I was proud to be one of the many who stood.  McKayla and Madi sang two duets together on behalf of her great-grandchildren, and they did a beautiful job.  Lee then delivered a wonderful eulogy for her.  One of the comments he made was "Meme lived her whole life for Friday morning," and I thought that was the most perfect thing to say.  He then pulled in Colossians 3:16a: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another all wisdom."  This is a very fitting of Meme.  Many people spoke of her commitment to and love for praying.  You knew she would pray for you and often.  She loved talking with God.  Just a week or so before her passing, our family friend, Rick Huckeba, went to visit her.  As he was getting ready to leave, he said "I'll pray for you Louise," and she responded "I'll pray for you too.  Do you want to start or should I?"  He let her begin.  Even in her last moments, she was thinking of others and praying for them.

After the funeral, we stayed in the church for a bit to speak to a few more friends, and then the family drove to the cemetery.  It was so incredibly cold and windy, so we had one prayer and just a few quick words here.  From there we all headed over to Wayne's house where we spent a couple hours enjoying this family that Meme has been the head of for so long.  Mom's church women's group had provided quite a feast for us which was appreciated.

There's no way I can fully describe how much Meme meant to me or relive all the amazing memories I have with her.  She was an incredible grandmother.  She game to as many ball games and events of ours as she could growing up and was always a source of support.  She was the first to pray for any need you had.  She would seek to find ways to serve others in unassuming and humble ways.  She was kind, gentle, joyful, and beautiful - inside and out.  Her life wasn't always easy with her father passing away at age 5 and growing up through the depression; she had breast cancer twice and survived a horrible car accident in the 1970's.  She didn't let that steal her joy or gratitude though.  I am so incredibly grateful that Lily and Mia will remember her.  In the week since this has happened, I have caught myself thinking several time "I wish I was more like Meme" in some respect such as my levels of joy or contentment.  It very quickly hits me though she wouldn't want that.  No, she doesn't want me to imitate her; she wants me to imitate Christ.  That's who she strove to be like and point others to.  She knows there is nothing more important than the decision to follow Christ.  She dedicated her life to serving Christ and His church.  I believe she has now received the reward for this incredible trust and faith by hearing the words "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Here are a few of my very favorite pictures of Meme.

 Cooking with her boys at New Smyrna in 2009.

 At her 90th birthday celebration in 2011.

 The first time Lily ever smiled was here, sitting in Meme's lap.  It tickled Meme so much.

 Sitting on the beach with Mia.

 A more recent picture from September of last year.  Meme's great-grandchildren brought her so much joy.  She would light up when they came to visit, and she always enjoyed hearing what was going on in their lives.  My girls will always know that Meme loved them greatly.

We love you Meme, and we'll miss you.  Thank you for all you've taught us.

Middle of February Update

So much has been going on since the end of January, and I feel like I can barely keep up.  I was called to jury duty for the very first time on January 29.  I was actually excited about this.  I think our justice system is an amazing process, and I believe it's a privilege to serve in this way.  I did not mind at all that I was actually call to sit on a trial jury.  It was interesting to watch the whole process unfold, and I felt the weight of my decision along with my fellow jurors.  We decided late Thursday night that the gentleman who stood accused was not guilty.  Unfortunately, by Thursday afternoon I was feeling absolutely terrible.  I thought I was coming down with strep throat because my throat was hurting so badly.  We finished jury duty at 9:45 that evening, so all the urgent cares were closed (plus I had to go to the office to get a little bit of work completed that was due on Friday).  On Friday morning I headed to urgent care where I was diagnosed with Flu A instead of strep.  I was miserable.  I was put in quarantine for four days and started some prescription cough syrup; I opted not to take Tamiflu.  Needless to say, this isn't how I envisioned the start of tax season!

While I was serving on this jury on that Thursday, Lily was getting her braces off!  Here she is going in to the orthodontist's office and coming out.  Look at that beautiful smile!

 Ryan treated her Chick-fil-a breakfast afterward and an Air Head for dessert.  It's been awhile since she's had sticky candy like this!  She's made up for lost time in the weeks since!  

 Both our girls absolutely love Decker.  We've snapped these recent pictures of Mia with him though; she loves to cuddle up with him.

 The girls had fun making pancake art one morning which included this tic tac toe board!

 While Lily was on a playdate with friends, Ryan and Mia had a double date with Jeff and Eliza Smith.  They went to see Paddington 2 together.

 I couldn't resist this picture.  Mia is still such a cuddler.  We'll take it as long as we can.

 Lily and I have been reading Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library together.  She has read this and loved it, so she wanted us to read it together.  I can't say no to that!  I love reading with her.  I really love when she reads to me though.

 We recently bought the game Speak Out which is where you wear a mouthpiece and have to get your teammate to say the odd phrase that you're trying to say.  We're having a ton of laughs with this one!

 We recently took the girls to their first concert which was to see Grace Vanderwaal at Terminal West.  It was a great show, but it was standing room only.  All of our feet were killing us by the end!

 Ryan and I absolutely adore our girls.  One of my favorite traditions is our Valentine's countdown where we put a heart on their mirror each day from Feb 1-14 to tell them something we love about each of them.

 Lily has thoroughly enjoyed her after school art class with Mrs. Rodriguez.  She wrapped up last week, and set up her art as an exhibit at our home for me to see.  This was her favorite piece, and I thought it was beautiful too.

 Mia had a fun season of playing basketball with Upward this year.  I was so incredibly proud of her.  She had never played before, and we really don't even watch basketball at home.  She jumped right in though.  She hustled at every practice and game, and she was so encouraging to her teammates.  Even though she didn't score during a game, she had some great defensive plays.  Most of all, she had fun which is what we were going for.  Her team ended the season 5 and 3.  Way to go Lady Broncos!

 I found a recipe online for Frozen Butterbeer, and I knew we had to try it.  It was spot on and it was so delicious!  This was a great treat!

Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into our lives!