Summertime is here

 The dogs (holding paws!!!) are ready to start summer off with a relaxing nap.

We were so excited when our friends and neighbors Josh and Anna Plotner were able to bring their twin boys, Eldridge and Allen, home from the hospital! They had been born early and were living at the hospital for a couple months. We were happy to welcome them with a few balloons.

We had some fun going to a paint your own pottery place called Just Kiln Time over the Square. Ryan made a cell phone holder, Mia painted a mug for UT, Lily painted a bowl to hold her lip balms, and I painted a pretty red, white, and blue American bowl. This was a fun and creative way to spend some a few hours one afternoon.

Believe it or not, the girls finally got to use on of their Christmas gifts (only 6 months later!). We took a daytrip over to Greenville, SC to see The Notebook at the Peace Center. This was a fun adventure.

I really enjoyed this show. I loved the book and the movie when they came out years ago, so I was really excited to see this as a musical production. One really cool thing is there were two actors on the far righthand side who signed the whole show. Mia really enjoyed getting to watch this.

We enjoyed walking around the city a bit. It was a beautiful day, and because there was a jazz festival going on, there were lots of people walking around which was fun.

The girls and I took Mom to the Swan House to celebrate her 80th birthday. I always love eating here and then shopping!

Of course, Dad's 80th birthday was the week after Mom's. Wayne and I talked for awhile about how we could celebrate. We realized that what we think they would like best is to have the whole family come together and just spend time together. We found that the weekend of Dad's birthday worked great for all of us. Wayne rented a big, beautiful house on Lake Oconee. Our family was able to spend two nights there with everyone. One evening we went to Italian Chophouse for dinner which was delicious; the next night Ryan and Wayne grilled steaks at the house for us. We had big breakfasts and lunches too. Our family is never lacking for yummy food!

We had a gorgeous day to be out on Wayne's pontoon boat for awhile which was a lot of fun. It wasn't too crowded on the lake, so that was really nice. We listened to music and trolled around for awhile. We were out at sunset which was really lovely until it started to thunder and lightening. We hightailed it on back then!

We had a great time playing games together in the evenings! I'm so thankful we had all this time together; I truly love my family.

What a wonderful way to kick off summer!

Honoring David

On Sunday night, April 26, Ryan received a very unexpected phone call from Jan letting him know that David had passed away. This was a huge shock to us all. Ryan and David were very close to one another; they had a great relationship and talked almost daily. He is going to be missed big time. 

I don't even know how to put into words all the emotions we've been feeling since then. Instead, I'm going to put some of my favorite pictures with David throughout the years.

With Ryan on their trip to Europe with Grandmama in 1995.

Holding Lily in the hospital and holding Mia in the hospital.

Visiting with us in Feb, 2009.

Visiting with us in Aug, 2009.

With Ryan and Grandpa Hooks at Grandpa Hooks' 80th birthday, Jan 2011.

In Chicago, June of 2015.

On our Alaskan cruise in June 2017.

Teaching the girls to fish in 2019.

With Mia in 2023.

Ryan and David visited Nashville together in 2024 to see the Milk Carton Kids in concert. They got to meet Kenneth Pattengale beforehand and get an autographed guitar from him!

They went back in 2025 to see Ringo Starr and friends!

We enjoyed visiting over Christmas 2025. We're always happy to go out on the boat. I think this is David's happy place.

Lily and friends went down for Spring Break in March 2026. Needless to say, Grandpops was more than happy to be their captain on the boat.

We are so thankful for many years of wonderful memories!

The memorial service for David was held in Clearwater on Friday, May 29. It was a lovely service which did a great job of painting a full picture of this amazing man. Ryan did a fantastic job with his eulogy; David would have been so proud of him. There was a wonderful reception afterwards at the Belleair Country Club. It was great to talk with so many people and hear their stories of great times with David. There were quite a bit of laughs too with these memories. We really appreciated that my parents, Brian Henderson, and Jeff Smith came down too in support of our family. On Saturday morning, the family gathered at the beach house to place his ashes in the water.

We're working on finding our new normal without David. It's not easy, but we're relying on the Lord to provide the strength we need.

Spring 2026

Life continues on in March, April, and May. I was absolutely swamped at work this year as GA made a mid-season change to tax law which threw a loop in things. Nevertheless, life is good!

Sully really loves to cuddle.

Decker prefers cuddling with his new lambie stuffie.

David and Jan always send me the most beautiful floral arrangement from Carithers as well as some delicious chocolates for my birthday. It definitely helps brighten and perk up things at the office!

Lily and her friends Mary Lois and Kendall went to down Clearwater for part of Spring Break this year. Grandpops has been talking for a few years about how much he hoped the girls will bring friends down to enjoy the beach house. These three were happy to oblige! They enjoyed time relaxing on the beach, riding bikes that Grandma Jan bought for them, and of course, a fantastic ride on Grandpops' boat. I think he loved getting the nickname The Captain from them. This was a great getaway for them!

Lily got tickets for her and me to go see Josiah Queen at the Fox the weekend after her Spring Break. It was such a great concert! We had so much fun together!

Ryan and Mia got to have quick NYC-adventure over their Spring Break. 

They weren't there long, but they packed a ton in. They went to see two shows: Maybe Happy Ending and The Great Gatsby. Both excellent choices. They had a chance to walk briefly though part of NYU which was cool to see. They also went to the Friends Experience since it's one of our favorite shows and Mia had just recently finished the series. They had a lot of fun here. I'm so glad they had this trip together!

Happy Easter!

Ryan and I took our friends, Anna Michelle and Jackson Hanks, to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child when it came to the Fox. Our family had recently seen in NYC, so the girls were happy to give up their seats for our friends. This is a really impressive show.

I was so excited that AOII had a Mother's Day celebration in mid-April! It was the weekend before the deadline, so I couldn't go over until late Friday night. On Saturday though, they had a light brunch at the house where we enjoyed chatting with others and putting together a beautiful flower bouquet.

We had lots of fun shopping all afternoon, and then of course we had to get Olive Garden for dinner. Their breadsticks are the best!

We headed back to the house for Bingo Night. We were so close to winning multiple times (and really far off from winning other times!). After the events were over, we headed back to my hotel room to watch People We Meet on Vacation together which was such a cute movie.

We enjoyed a beautiful service at Redeemer together. I'm so glad that Lily has landed in such a solid Bible-believing church. I always enjoy getting to visit here.

We had lunch with Lily's future roommate, Ella Claire, and her mom after this which was so yummy. Then, we headed over and spent some time at the gorgeous botanical gardens. This was such a wonderful day to be out walking around and enjoying the day.

As we left here, we made a quick stop by Birmingham Nutrition for a little treat, and then I headed on back home. This was a perfect weekend; I'm so thankful for my time with Lily!

I was so thankful that David and Jan offered for me to come enjoy a post tax season trip at their beach house. I love going down here! I drove down on a Sunday and enjoyed dinner with them that evening. David grilled for us, and we had a great time catching up with one another. I then enjoyed a few days by myself at the house. I make things very simple for myself on these trips. I had lox bagels in the morning sitting on their porch, a sandwich with chips and fruit for lunch sitting on their little beach area, and then a sandwich with chips and fruit for dinner sitting on the dock. I read my Bible as well as a great historical fiction book during the day, and I watched movies at night. It was so incredibly peaceful and restful.

I love this house, and I'm so thankful David and Jan generously shared it with me!

I saw an ad for a company called Mixtiles, and they make these AI generated pictures of pets. They cracked me up! The top three are Sully and the bottom three are Decker. We hung all three of Sully and the one of Decker reading the paper in the girls' bathroom. They aren't big fans but I am!

We received a belated Christmas card from the Cambridges. I didn't mind.

Ryan and I took Mia to Knoxville for a UT Preview Day. We drove up on Friday afternoon, and enjoyed walking all around downtown and dinner at Tupelo Honey. On Saturday, we went to a breakfast Mia was invited to for those interested in the honor's program. Then we went to a welcome session in the basketball arena which was really fun. From there, there were various 1 hour sessions to attend; we picked several really helpful ones like one in the audiology department, one for out-of-state students, and another honor's program one. It was really fun to walk around campus. This seems like such a great school!

In May, Mia was in Brylliant's production of Little Shop of Horrors. She was originally cast as one of the street urchins which help narrate the story and move it along. However, she wasn't comfortable with how they wanted that role to be played. I was so proud of her for speaking up and asking to take a smaller role instead of giving in to this. She moved into the ensemble which is pretty small in this particular show. We still enjoyed watching the show as it was our friends, Gabby Fogas and Liam Hobson, in their final performance with Brylliant. 

They also asked Mia to be the puppet master of the Audrey II plant when she grew to full size. That was really cool to see! This was a fun new role for her to take on too.

More cute pup pictures!

Our family had a great time watching Six at The Fox!

We also had a lot of fun watching Avery on The 1% Club tv show. It was so fun to see her on here!

I was home by myself one evening and had the chance to watch Suffragettes on PBS' Great Performances. I had wanted to see this when it came to the Peace Center, but the timing didn't work. I don't think it's touring anymore. It was really great! I'm so glad I finally got to see it!

And now these three - Mia, Hudson, and Eliana, together from the beginning - are seniors!

It's been a wonderful spring!