Happy Mother's Day!

With my mom...Happy Mother's Day to the greatest mom and grandmother

in the whole wide world!

Having all my family back together for Mother's Day

was the greatest feeling I could imagine! It had been

eight months since we'd been together!

My firstborn child - we like being goofy!

Grandmother with Carson - her youngest

great-grandchild and how he loves his Grandmother!

Joey, me, and Jody - she'd made the absolute best

homemade 8-layer chocolate cake to bring to Mom's!

Jody is just like her mom (Aunt Elma) in so many ways

and is such a pillar of strength. I love you so much, Jody,

and I need to take lessons from you.

Addison with Ginger - my beautiful niece

whom I love just like she was my own child!

She's so amazing and is such an awesome

Mommy to her three precious boys!

Joey and me with Uncle Mac - Uncle Mac is both

my uncle and Joey's uncle. He is the brother of my grandma

on my mama's side of the family and he married Joey's great

aunt, Aunt Fannie. Uncle Mac and my MaMa (Lula) could have

really passed as twins, they look so much alike. Addi and I

attended Joey's church today because Joey was playing a song

on his guitar and singing "The Hand that Rocks the Cradle"

for Mother's Day. It was GREAT! He is so talented and I

believe his mom was very proud.

Joey performed his song again at Mom's

My beautiful sister, Tiawanna - also my "other" mother. She has always been such an inspiration to me and even though we've "fussed" about her "mothering" me over the years I know I wouldn't take anything for her always being there to help me and guide me. She's such a beautiful person both inside and out and I am so thankful that she is not only my sister but also my dear friend. I love you, sis! Happy Mother's Day!

Last but not least, Chloe wishes me a Happy Mother's Day - she's our sweet baby. Tonight it was tough seeing Erika and Jack leave to head back to Wilmington because it was so wonderful having them here today for Mother's Day, but it sure is a great feeling to know they're not too far away. Ethan also gave me a set of beautiful magnolia prints that I'm going to put on either side of my Scarlett O'Hara picture and I was so excited. It has been such a beautiful and heartwarming day. I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day.

Happy 20th Birthday, Ethan - Reunion with Erika and Jack!

What an eventful day -- Ethan's 20th birthday (wow how time flies!) and reunited with Erika and Jack after 8 months (this time did not fly!) and we had so much fun! We arrived in Wilmington at around 1:45 AM - stayed up laughing and catching up until after 3:30. Jack and Erika's apartment is gorgeous and there is so much to do and so much fun shopping within walking distance! (Probably a good thing we were only there a day! Ha!) After sleeping a while we enjoyed a big breakfast together before Jack left for work and then Erika, Ethan, and I enjoyed some shopping, sight-seeing around Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, Birthday Dinner at Hiro's Japanese Steakhouse, and just had a blast just being together again...

Ethan drove us home (which was such a luxury for me) and upon arriving home around 11:15 Addison (who wasn't able to miss school and go with us) had gotten Ethan a red velvet birthday cake and card and had it on the dresser next to her. We sang and Ethan blew out the candles making a very sweet end of his birthday.

It is such an awesome feeling having all my children so close for the summer! It's going to be a fun one!

Great Mother's Day already...I'm so thankful...

I am so thankful and excited - Erika has arrived in Wilmington safe and sound and is there with Jack. It was tough not to get into the Jeep and drive there this afternoon and be there when she rolled in but I know she was exhausted and it would've been tough to visit a couple hours and drive 3 hours back home. I'm off Wednesday so we'll either head there Tuesday night and spend the day Wednesday (which also happens to be Ethan's 20th birthday! Yippee!) or she'll come here and spend a few days. Regardless, she's close and reunited with her dear husband and just being within a few hours driving distance is just a great feeling! I love you, Erika, and I'm so grateful and give such thanks for your safe arrival through the snow and ice and storms through Wyoming and Nebraska - I love you and I hope the next two days pass quickly so we can be together! I've missed you so much! What an awesome way to begin the week of Mother's Day!

Ethan had a dirty day removing the alternator from his Jeep and doing some automotive repairs. It was a messy job but he learned so much and I'm so proud of him. In the process of taking it to the parts place Ethan and Grandaddy (my daddy) came by the hospital and had lunch with me Friday and it was so nice. I enjoyed "showing them off!" This photo was taken at the end of the job - yuck, Ethan, you can't come to supper until you clean up some! Ha! He did a great job repairing his Jeep.

Addison enjoyed a somewhat quiet weekend but did some great things. Friday night she had a date with Wesley and some friends to Sandhills. She was a wonderful help with some household chores Friday and Saturday and then Saturday evening she thoroughly enjoyed volunteering at the Special Olympics. This is something close to Addi's heart, especially after caring for her precious step-sister who was handicapped and passed away 2 years ago. Addison has such a giant heart, especially with those with special needs. Thanks, Addi, for making a difference.

My weekend started off and ended well. After picking up Joey from work Friday night he and I went "car looking" and then to Arby's for dinner. I tease Joey about having a hard time getting into his truck and this time he made me close my eyes for a surprise when we were done with dinner. I opened them to find his ladder from the back of the truck for me to step up on - it was hilarious! (Check out my flip-flops with scrubs - I'd shed my Dansko's already not knowing we'd be getting out anywhere! ha!) He's so full of surprises! Saturday I cleaned both the house and washed all the vehicles (including Joey's truck to surprise him) then he and I had a date when he got off work. We went to a new place this time - Schiano's for a greek salad and pizza and to do a little brousing at Sandhills. Church was good today (Testimony Meeting is always wonderful!) and then Ethan, Addi, and I had a nice slow Sunday afternoon even getting a nap in. We didn't go to Mom's today (doesn't seem like Sunday without going there - but we had a nice slow day at home) then tonight we had dinner when Joey was done with work and he entertained Addison, Wesley, and me with some guitar playing and singing after dinner. He is so very, very talented and his playing and singing melts my heart. It's been a very nice Sunday.

This week will be a busy but very fun-filled one with much to look forward to. We'll see Erika and Jack, tomorrow evening we plan to get our garden planted for Family Home Evening, Ethan has a big birthday on Wednesday and also has jury duty beginning tomorrow. I have ball practice Tuesday (if I'm not in Wilmington with Erika) and a game Thursday. Addison has a temple trip Thursday with the youth and Mother's Day is this weekend. I have a busy week planned at work with all the festivities which have been organinzed for Nurses' Week and a celebration I hope all will enjoy.

I hope everyone has a wonderfully safe and happy week!

April's ending on a good note...

Can't believe April is almost over but at least it's going out happily for us. I have so much to be thankful for and it's been a good two days.

Yesterday was pleasant enough at work partly because I had something to really look forward to after work. Several of us surprised our previous Women's Center manager with a night out to show appreciation for all she's done. She is such an awesome person with such a wonderful heart. It was a fun night with Mexican food (you can never to wrong with Mexican!) and fun socializing. We love you bunches, Kathy!

I missed Karen's and Whitney's Pampered Chef party (story of my life - 2 things or nothing - always - sorry, Karen and Whitney, but I do want to order something!) Addison had dinner with Wesley (Karen's son) and went to their house but watched "Greek" with Wesley instead of learning to cook some good stuff with Pampered Chef - priorities, Addi, priorities! Ha! Just kidding!

Today was a fun day. Addison is feeling much better - thank goodness. Joey picked Addi up from school and brought her to the hospital for her internship and we so enjoyed a picnic lunch together outside in the beautiful sunshine. Wasn't it a gorgeous day?!!! The weather was just cool enough and just warm enough in the sunshine. Thanks, ya'll for a perfect lunch picnic date! Two of my most favorite people in the whole wide world!

This evening Addison worked 4 - 10 PM and we had ball practice at Jessica's house. It was tough (yep, I'm much more out of shape than I'm willing to admit!) but I'll get better. Determination...determination...determination! Also, their horse gave birth to a colt today and it was cool watching the baby "dancing" around on her own next to her mother. Following practice Chloe and I went to visit Joey and Alex until time to pick Addison up from work. Oh, what a beautiful day! I hope the last two can be just as perfect as these two have been.

One last happy thought - Ethan finished up final exams and will be moving home tomorrow for the summer! Yippee!!! And, last but definitely NOT LEAST, Erika will be home in a week...a WEEK...wow, a WEEK!!!!!! We can hardly wait!

Sister Oakley's farewell party, Janet for the weekend, and Sunday at Mom's

It's been fun rest of the week but my how time flies on the weekend when you're having a good time! My week at work ended okay, had a few bumps in the road but nothing that doesn't work out in the end. Sometimes when things go wrong and you know you've done all you can do you just have to turn loose and hope for the best and that's how I've chosen to approach several things right now.

Now on to more positive things - Janet arrived safely on Friday - I picked her up from the Columbia airport about 10:30 PM Friday night and we had so much catching up. After dropping all her bags off at the house we had our "traditional Walmart" trip - at 2 AM! Saturday she and Sister Oakley met with the realtor and looked at houses in the area and today found one she thinks might be "the one." (I'm keeping my fingers crossed!) Mom and Dad and some friends from Ridgeway Ward hosted a farewell get-together for Sister Oakley and it was really nice. There was singing, great food, socializing, and friends doing special tributes to Sister Oakley in appreciation for her hard work, dedication, and service during her 18 - month mission here. What a beautiful lady and a wonderful example she has been to so many. We'll miss her but thrilled that she and Janet will be moving back here mid-July after her visit to England to spend time with her son and family.

Today we had a nice visit and Sunday dinner at Mom and Dad's after Addison started feeling a little better. She has had a time this past month with strep throat and after 2 rounds of antibiotics she began running a high temperature again yesterday. She worked anyway for a few hours last night and came home going straight to bed. This morning at about 6:30 her temp was still around 100.7 so I let her sleep as long as she could. Ethan was home for the weekend and went to church for us today at Ridgeway. (Bless his heart!) Once she felt better we headed to Mom's and enjoyed a great lunch with family and friends and my sweetheart when he woke up. (Joey's on night shift this weekend - poor guy!) It wouldn't be complete without the after lunch ride on the golf cart to see the goats and chickens and I had so much fun with Spencer, Andrew, and Carson on this venture! They are growing up so fast and I love spending time with them!

I hope everyone has a great week and I'm going to try and not get so excited I can't do anything else because "ERIKA WILL BE IN NORTH CAROLINA IN JUST OVER A WEEK!!!!!"

I cAn HaRdLy StAnD iT i'M sO eXcItEd!!!

What a joyous Mother's Day it will be! Also, best of luck to Ethan on his last couple final exams tomorrow and Tuesday - then he will have completed his Sophmore year at FMU - way to go, Ethan! I'm so proud of you, son.

Happy "last few days of April" and I hope May comes in on Thursday bringing tons of smiles and sunshine to everyone around the world. That's what the world needs more of these days - more smiling faces! (P.S. My friend Janet commented on our South Carolina plates - 'Beautiful places - smiling faces' - so let's not let her down when she moves clear across the country to adopt our friendly state as her new home...)

WINNING NIGHT!

Hooray - we won our first game of the year! The score was 7 - 5 and it was so fun! Everyone played well and we've improved so much since we began! Way to go Kelsey for backing me up, Monica for a super hit, Jessica for some awesome pitching and a great hit, Crystal for so much fun in the outfield and a super hit, Ashley for some great outs at first, Jenny for some awesome stops and great hit, and way high fives to Stacy, Jody, Marie, Amanda, Tina, Louise, and both Lindas who were great moral support tonight. It was such a fun night! We had such a fantastic spectator turnout tonight, too, that made it really neat including Joey, Mom and Dad, Ginger, Darla and kids, Doug, Lucille, and a bunch more. Thanks, ya'll, it was a great night! (And I still haven't struck out - that's really saying something! Ha! Ha!) Afterwards we made a stop by Sonic to pick up Addi from work and enjoyed an ice cream cone. Great night!

Happy Birthday, Anne!

Happy Birthday, Anne! I hope you have a great time in Vegas and a safe trip to Hawaii next week. Love you bunches and miss you so much. See you soon!

This is my best friend, Anne. Although we live on opposite ends of the nation and many miles separate us we are truly soul mate best friends. Last year she surprised me showing up at Erika and Jack's reception in Idaho after 16 years of not seeing each other. It was an amazing reunion -- probably the biggest surprise I've ever received! As we talked (after the shock of seeing her after so long) it was like no time had passed and then we'd laugh and say, "Can you believe we're in our 40's now?!" It was hilarious. I stayed with her and her oldest daughter, Stephanie, the last night before we flew out of Salt Lake City and we talked and laughed until 4 AM just catching up on all the years. The three years we spent together in Hawaii in the late 80's were the best of my life. She was Erika and Ethan's other mother and taught me so much about young motherhood. We served in the Young Women's presidency together, were visiting teaching companions, beach bums together (with all our kids), shopping buddies (yes, with all the kids with us, too!), and just the very best friends imaginable. We were inseparable as were all our kids. One of my favorite memories was one day we decided to go to the big Ala Moana Mall in Waikiki and get our hair done - and we had 5 small kids between us (ages 3 months to 5 years old). We took turns getting our hair done while the other had a baby in the front carrier, two in the double stroller, and the other two on either side of the stroller. Anne's daughter, Jennifer, had no fear as a toddler and made a dash for the escalator and I can only imagine how I looked dashing after her with all the before mentioned kids hanging on! Our hair looked good when we got finished, though, and we laughed all the way home on the other side of the island. So many days we'd just load up Anne's van with all our kids and half the neighborhood kids and spend all day into the evening on the beach - those were the days...She taught me so much about life and family and friendship and most of all fun. You are amazing, Anne, and I miss you so much. I look so forward to seeing you over the summer! Happy Birthday! I love you bunches!