Weddings :)

Recently we had a wedding in the family.  Well actually it wasnt exactly in our family.  But it was, in a way.  Our good friends Tance and Lessley got married.  We love them and consider them a part of our family.  Josh was a groomsman.  The groomsmen and the groom himself all got dressed and ready at our house. 


Josh getting his suit on. 

This is Adam.  I wont mention what he looked like the first time I walked into the room  THE DOOR WAS OPEN PEOPLE...

This is Matt working on his tie.

Charlie ended up tyeing the ties for the guys.  He is good like that.  Makes them just perfect!

This is Seth.  He is the grooms brother and best man.  He is crazy like that.  You should have seen him at the reception.  He is wild like his mom.  hehehe

 Whats a five year old girl gonna do while all the groomsmen get dress in the house?

He loves his Uncle Mic

Josh cleans up nicely!  :)   Thats me in the mirror

Now they were just waiting on the groom.

And yes, this is the only picture I got of the groom.  ?????????????  What in the world.  Oh well.  I am so glad I saw his boots sitting on the living room floor.  He needed those.  Good thing I ironed that wrinkled shirt too.  What would he do without me???  :)

This is our sassy sweetheart all dolled up for the event!

I love weddings.  I did shed a tiny tear.  I usually do that at weddings.  I know that Todd and I did the right thing 30 years ago when we were 18 and 20 years old.  I know that Tance and Lessley did the right thing too.  I have always said if you both put God first in your marriage and seek Him first... Well that is the only road to success for a wonderful marriage.  We have done that and I believe they are too.  It was a beautiful wedding and the whole day was fun.  We are thankful to have so many people to love in our lives. 

Congratulations to Tance and Lessley and May God Bless your marriage and your life as you follow Him. 

What Matters

You can be proud of your children in so many ways from when they are small to full grown adults.  My kids have certainly given me reason over the years to be proud of them tons of times. 

Josh learning to ride his bike at age 3!  That'll make a mama proud.

Piano recitals

All "A"s, Honors Banquets

All Stars

 Basketball Hoops

First Hula Hoops

Learning to play the drums

Miss Congeniality, Relay for Life Fundraising efforts, Top of the class

Scholarships
I wont forget when Mark won the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Award/Scholarship.

Salutatorian

Valedictorian

 Masters Degree

I have never been more proud of Casey as when she gave birth to tiny Avery and I saw what a wonderful mommy she was, working soooo hard to keep that preemie healthy.  So proud

 I have so many many reasons to be thankful for and proud of my kids.

However, this is not a post written for the purpose of bragging.  It is one where I contemplate if I have done enough.  I certainly know life is not all about achievements or honors.  I believe it is about our Heavenly Father and His plans. 

What is it that is really important when they are toddling, all the way up until they have toddlers themselves?  It's Him.  Our relationship with God- How we enter that relationship, how we use it, how we share it.  It's Him

When the kids are toddling around, the most important thing really isn't whether or not they take those first steps by age 12 months or somewhere thereabout.  Its really, even at that small age that they know that Jesus loves them.  That's why we sing "Jesus Loves Me".  It's why we say night time prayers with them and teach them to say grace over their food before we eat. 

I have an old family video of Josh when he was learning to point out to you where his ears were, where his eyes were... In this particular video I was getting him to do those things and then I said, "Okay Josh, say the blesssing, say your prayers".  He bowed his head, puts his hands together and did what he usually did at that time - saying rather softly "Pray the Bible, pray the Bible, pray the Bible, babble babble, Amen".  --So small and not having understanding but knowing this, praying and the Bible went hand in hand. 

We teach them from when they are small - It's about God, this life we live. 

"Hear O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up".  Deuteronomy 6:4-7

Our children grow and learn and achieve.  We watch over them and are blessed.  They become teens, then adults themselves with jobs and children of their own.  All along, all the time being taught... What matters, is God.  I pray I have taught my children well enough so that as life carries on, they too will know and teach others as well as their own children this real truth.

Proverbs 22:6  says "Train up a child in the way he should go:  and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

I am so thankful for that promise from Gods word.

Awwww

Wow  Look what I found today.

How sweet!

BEACH

 THANKFULLY this was my view for the past several days.  ALL.DAY.LONG

 I am so glad we decided to go on and take a trip to Pensacola Beach.

 I just love it so much.  I am a little envious that Todd got to live there a while as a kid.

Being at the beach always makes me think so much of Gods Majesty and Awesomeness.  Is that a word? Well of how awesome He is and the things He created.  Goodness Gracious!

We love going down this pier when we are there.  One year we saw a real live LARGE shark about middle ways down the pier.  Which was much too close to those people swimming in the water if you ask me.  But no one asked me, especially the 7 footer we saw.  So cool.  Of course it wouldnt have been as cool if we had seen him while we were swimming there.  Oooh  that gives me chills...

 I read this book last year.









If you havent read it yet, you should.  Seriously
I started my list of gifts that is waiting for you at the back of the book.  Some of these things certainly made that list.

• The beauty of the beach

•  The sounds of the beach

•  The smells of the beach

• Dolphins at the beach

That is one of my favorite things.  The dolphins.  I saw them each day.  The first morning was the largest showing.  So cool.  I didnt have my camera with me for that.  But you will just have to take my word for it.  They were there and plenty of them, curving up out of the water over and over.  So beautiful.

 I especially love the early mornings. 

 I LOVE my feet being in the sand!

This was the view from our room, so the little bit of time I had to come in and dress for a meal, I still got to get on the balcony every little bit while I was getting ready.  :)

 You would think I would just skip meals to be able to enjoy the beauty even longer.  But hey, this girl LOVES some good food too.  A good meal on the beach is very enjoyable in and of itself.  A few examples:
Snow Crab- My first experience - WONDERFUL
Conch Chowder - Had that last time.  NEEDED it again.  Equally wonderful I might add.
Lobster Bisque -  Just a cup - dont judge.  Mmmmmm
I told you, I love to eat.

 We met some interesting people while we were there too.  First of all there was this man who was from England.  I thought that was cool.  Loved his accent.  I am sure he thought I had one too.  Anyway, he is an Inspector for the police there.  He and his wife travel to the states a couple of times each year. (He married rich, so he said)  They have been to all but 4 states.  He asked me about that white stuff the hotel served for breakfast.  He wasnt brave enough to try.  I explained to him it was Sausage Gravy.  He was confused that we would put it over biscuits.  He thought they were sweet like scones.  Apparantly in England a Biscuit is what we call a cookie.  Sausage Gravy over cookies didnt sound that appealing.  So I explained our biscuits to him too.  :)

One evening after we were coming in from the beach and decided to take a dip in the pool, there were some kids swimming who of course "took to Todd".  They were playing near us and talking to us.  Their grandma came over to tell them not to bother us.  We told her they were fine.  We enjoyed talking to her.  She is raising the two boys who are her 9 and 10 year old grandsons.  They are both autistic.  Very sweet little boys.  One who is a chatterbox, and the other who is full of facts he reads about. Like the longest tunnel somewhere which I have forgotten already.  But believe me, he gave me the facts. I will remember to pray for this sweet lady who mentioned she was "tired".  God bless her and those boys.

We had such a refreshing relaxing time.  I dont think there is any better way to relax for me than to sit by the water there, lean back and take it all in.  What a God we serve that created this and so much more beauty that I will never see.  So thankful that I got to see this for a few days.

Thank You God.

Over 30 Years

 June 4th
Our 30th Anniversary

 30 years ago I was 18 years old
A mere child really
Of course I didnt think so, no sir!
We were starting our life together as a married couple.

 Living in that tiny Mobile Home where everything was brown.  The outside of the trailer, the porch, couch, walls, carpet, curtains, TV stand, wallboard, (Even Todds hair!)  Oh that brown! 

 But it was ours, and I was happy to be there.

We enjoyed it being just the two of us.  Well we must not have enjoyed it very much because we decided pretty quickly we wanted to add to the family and by the time we were married 16 months, little Casey Danielle made us a family of three.

 Everyone knows Todd loves children.  He was (is) such a good daddy.  He loved that little girl.

 Still does

 We loved our time as a family of three.  Then we sorta outgrew the little mobile home when Mark was coming along.  So we bought our (well I would say first house, but it was our only house, as it turns out.)  We moved in, in October of 1987 just before Mark Christopher was born in December.

Our family of three grew to a family of four!  We had everything but the white picket fence.

 Lots of love, fun, sleepless nights, singing, worshipping, rocking, reading.  Life was cruising by.  We just didnt really notice.  I will always remember that night when Mark was about 2, not quite.  I had just put him to bed for the night and I was walking  back down the hall to the living room.  Mark called out "Hey I love you people!"  I love that.

Another year went by and I ended up going to the doctor because, well something just wasnt right.  (Or at least thats what I thought) SURPRISE! I came home with a positive pregnancy result!  Joshua Tyler was born January of 1992.
Family of four became a family of five
Nine years and we were five

Our previous quiet little evening dinners for two were now filled with T-Ball, School programs, homework, piano lessons, and best of all - Kid Theatre.  The kids loved to put on shows for us.  Sometimes they were superheros and sometimes they were cowboys and indians.  Sometimes those things even got video taped.  One video tape in particular I remember was one for Mothers Day.  The absolute best Mothers Day gift I was ever given.  Casey played the piano, Josh, age 3 sang "Alleluia",  Mark read or recited something wonderful.  Man what I would give to be able to watch that again.  Unfortunately one of my Day Care Kids

 (Darren or Nathan - not pictured-) sat on the remote and accidentally hit record with the tape in the VCR.  Now I have a recording of Judge Joe Brown.  :(    Big alligator tears!  For real!
However the memories of the last 30 years have NOT been erased!

We moved on from those early days toChicken Pox,

 Christmas plays,

 School activities,

 Church Camp,

   Honors Banquets (Thankfully many of those),

 G-Crew (Ha),

All Stars,

Football,

 Baseball,

 School Dances (Thankfully not many of those),

 Boyfriends, Girlfriends, Graduations,

A Son In Law,

and a Grand daughter.

 30 years of it.

Now it seems that we (Todd and I)

 are "Just the Two of Us" a whole lot more often thse days.
We enjoy it still as much as we did way back then.  Funny though, how we enjoy equally as much when everyone is home and the little house is packed.  Everyone bunking in with somebody for lack of bedrooms and beds, like Christmas Eve these days.

Happiness and Heartache, we have seen in the last 30 years.  Gosh that sounds like a really long time.  But it isn't.  Not at all.  It certainly has been a wonderful 30 years.  A million thanks to my sweetheart for making it so.
Happy 30th Anniversary to you.  I love you so much.