CTL 2017........

Year number 6 is in the books!

Every year we become more committed to the mission of Carry the Load.

What an amazing organization.

The groups that are served by the funds raised  are those that need it most....the Wounded Warrior Foundation, Heroes on the Water and so many more

 It is what our family does on Memorial Day weekend.  Brooklynn and Finley even signed up as participants and walked 7 plus miles...the whole entire first lap.

Matthew went via stroller, someones shoulders, and made some distance running along.

 Kim, Matt, and girls joined us as they usually do, carrying a pictures of their "Uncle" Matt in their pocket.  I love that we have remained connected.  Kim will always be my "daughter-in-law, the one that I lost because of an unfortunate incident that we could not have anticipated.

 And the family also did their first camp out.

Guess who slept....and it was not Mandy or Tim!

 I love that so many friends came out to walk with us!

 Thanks for all of your support over the 20 hour mission.

One last stop before the end of our walk....a visit with Matt.

Sometimes it is so hard to process that this is our reality.

I can still hear his voice so clearly.

He will remain forever 27 and my first born that I miss every single day

Matt's little namesake.

Someday he will know his Uncle, maybe not in person but he will hear stories of the man who's name he carries.

And thats all folks!

Till 2018...we have called it a day.

Little Lovey......

I love this blue eyed little girl!

She won't sit still for two seconds so I can take a picture so I have to catch her on the run...or during a moment when she is finding her favorite music on my phone.

Oh Adeline!

Pantry Food.....

I would say we have a problem here.

Beach Bums.......

We have arrived!

After 11 grueling hours on the road, this not so good traveler saw the sign...

Gulf Shores here we are!

I love the beach. 

 It is my go to vacation pick no matter what our vacation allowance is.

There is just something about a lawn chair, sand, and the sound of wave crashing against the shore that will cure about anything.

So what happened upon arrival....storms.

Welcome to the beach!

Not to worry....it gave us time to unpack, explore, and shop.

Nothing bad about that!

We took an evening to go out and look for dolphins on the Alabama Rose.

I will tell you that the captain guarantees dolphin sightings....

and he was beginning to worry!

An hour and a half down the Florida coast they appeared and it was worth the wait. 

What a fun evening!

And this sand?
It just amazed me.
I do not know what created all these lines but it was one of my favorite beach sightings.

Sara loved it!
She is just like me.
She can sit for hours and play in the sand and enjoy the waves.

Mothers Day morning some very ambitious young man got up early and wrote Happy Mothers Day and drew a huge pot of flowers in the sand.

Well thank you and Happy Mothers Day to me!

And just because I am always amazed at what cell phones have done to our society....

This family spent their Mothers Day morning at a beautiful restaurant, on a beautiful morning,

staring into four individual cell phone screens.  Not a word of conversation, just eyes glued to the screen.  I think the world needs a wake up call. 

Ring, ring....put your phone away and talk to your mother.

Batter Up......

A few weeks ago Finley told me.....in one of our more serious discussions, that this was going to be the best summer of her life.  I was sure it was because they were going to spend a week this summer at the beach.  I was so wrong!  "No Gramma, it is because I am going to play tee ball!"

Well, of course.  that outranks the beach anyway, right?

 Dressed for the occasion with pony tails swaying, these girls are formulating some serious strategy.

 And....she has the stance down perfectly.

 Don't think that this young guy couldn't out throw any girl out there!

If the only toys he had were balls he would be nothing but happy!

 I am not sure how far the ball went, but her swing was perfection.

 Between inning instruction!

 The dads have their own strategy!

 Charlie and Finley...nothing but cute!

 Post game huddle....

And game number one is in the books!

Hey Gramma...we won!

Does that really matter when you are five?

He Shattered Darkness Forever!.....

It is Easter Sunday...the day after the family gathering.  We get together on Saturday because it is easier for all, and I am glad we do.  There is not rush on Saturday and on Sunday we can all go to church and relax and reflect and that is exactly what I am doing today.  

I love it when our extended family gets together.

We have had some rough patches but I think we are mending.  It makes me smile because at the end of the day what you have is your family.  Ours is special.  We get it.  We laugh and cry together but we are what we have and so a holiday get together leaves me thinking about things.

 I love the cousins...they are close.  Eight of them from 7 to 1 year.  

They are excited to see each other and that makes me happy!!

 If this post is just pictures that is okay.  I don't have shelves of photo albums anymore.  I only have my blog and the books that are the result of whatever I choose to post in a year.  Last year was a fail.  I gave up and I am sorry I did.  It does not matter what I record periodically.  It matters that there are memories on pages.  My goal this year is to do that.  

 We had a family moment when we spread out the food.  Some of it was the traditional and some of it was new...from the younger generation.

NEVER missing from a meal is the pineapple marshmallow salad.  

In discussing why we have it time after time when only half of us eat it, I was actually the ONLY one that knew the origin of the infamous salad.

It came from a restaurant owned by Jimmy's Uncle Johnny back in the day....like way back in the day!!  And why am I the only one in the family that knows this???

Because Jimmy's mom told me and I have an incredible mind for the absolutely most useless things ever.  I actually think this is important though.  Someday when I am no longer here someone might wonder why they keep fixing this salad...and now someone besides me knows!

You have to leave a little history for the next generation!!

 An egg hunt...of course!!

 And a swim in a pool that is 75 degrees but who cares??

Happy Easter and thank you Jesus for the promise of ever lasting life!

Addictions.....

It is raining out...like crazy raining!  

I have made my Sunday trip to Sprouts and dropped a bag of groceries on the pavement.  My can of corn rolled under the car and when you try to retrieve a can of corn from under your car an umbrella is useless, so I am wet...really wet, and I don't want to change clothes...it just creates more laundry.

So I am doing two of my favorite things,

 I am eating Red Hots and watching an overdue giraffe stroll around her pen.  I have been doing this for about 6 weeks...both eating and watching.

 I actually happened upon the Red Hots at Walmart and it took me down memory lane to the days early in my grade school years when I used to love Red Hots and popcorn.  I loaded up my grocery cart and so became my new addiction.  However, now I don't even bother with the popcorn.

As for April the giraffe, she has been live on video cam for about 2 months while the world waits for her to deliver her baby giraffe right there in her cage for all the world to see. Thousand are addicted...like  me.

What is taking so long?  I would have to share to much information on the mating habits of the giraffe but suffice it to say...it should be soon!

I have million things to do and what a perfect day to do them.

Instead I am parked with Red Hots and a cell phone waiting and waiting for this random giraffe to give birth.

Some days you should just stay in bed.