Summer Blog

www.true-hee-yo.blogspot.com

That's where you can find our families summer adventures and more. We are heading to Central America in a few hours. Hmm....better start packing...

...you think I'm kidding

Wish I was!! ;-) Ha ha!!

Life has just been so chaotic, packing didn't fit in the equation quite yet. About to go enjoy another cup of coffee and get moving...QUICKLY (our ride will be here before we know it)!! I'm sure I'll forget a lot. But when Jesus sent the disciples two by two he told them in Luke: "Do not take a purse or bag or sandals..."

So we're reminding ourselves of that...that we really don't need to be worrying about the stuff we are taking but the reason why we are going.

Trying to keep the focus on the goals and not on 'what are we forgetting'

we can live with very little....if we only allow ourselves to!!

I'll be back on this blog in August!!

okay so the pic is dated...a 'bit' and we are missing Aaron, G'daddy and David. But I'm in a hurry and grabbed the first G'burg file I came to on the computer and clicked and selected...it's family tradition to take a group picture before we all head home from our annual trip to G'burg. Seriously we need to rethink that and get one when we aren't ready for travel.

picking up where we left off....

The highlights of the past few days are:

*Call comes in morning we are to leave for TN to be with my family that my G'father was currently in an ambulance on the way to the hospital (this was the day of the visitation for my uncle)


*A/C goes out in our car 5 min out of town...we roll the windows on and keep going (I need to my family!!)

*2 hours into the trip and MaryKyle gets overwhelmed by the 97 degree temps in the car and lack of sleep and gets to feeling HORRID!

*almost to our destination and the phone rings and my Aunt is currently in an ambulance on her way to the hospital from the visitation at the funeral home. (she was released that night FYI and able to be at her husband's funeral although she was and still is not feeling well)

*My Uncle's funeral was standing room only, plus people in the lobby, a side room a balcony filled, etc. It was an amazing show of love and kindness that truly helped my family!!

*A/C is repaired - for a small fortune (you'd think those compressors were gold plated or something) and we drive home

*My precious cousin, Ally, is in a wreck while on her way with a cake to the Alzheimer's home where my Uncle had lived the last bit of his life. She was taking it as a thank you for how wonderful they were to our sweet Bobby (seriously, I told you she was precious!! I'm blessed with AMAZING cousins. I don't know what I would do without a single one)!! Cake nor van made it by Allyson, Brown and Ellie will be fine!! Praise God!!


*the latest is my Grandfather is being placed in hospice care. He was undergoing evaluations to see what facility. If it was at the hospital it meant that they felt it was reasonably imminent. if they transferred him to a skilled nursing facility under hospice care they felt like he had a bit longer.

......He's staying at the hospital.

While in N'ville I said my good-byes to my sweet wonderful amazing, special GrandDaddy!! I told him I would see him in heaven...when I did, he patted my hand and weakly smiled and said "that's what it's all about honey"

when I told him how special he made each and every one of us 7 grandkids feel He looked at me and said "You ARE special!!" when I thanked him for being such a fabulous GrandDaddy to me he whispered "you all brought so much joy into our house" and he felt that way about Laura Beth, Staci, Ally, Holly, Elizabeth Jane, & John David too & then about MaryKyle, John Mark, Adam, Cate, Holland, Brown, Scout, Lizy, Ellie & Greeley too!! He beamed when a grandkid or great grandkid was around and he was sure to point it out (and rub it in) when any one of us would proclaim we were "GrandDaddy's Girl" or "GrandDaddy's Boy" ha ha...we love him just as much as he loves us and are just as proud of him as he was of us!!!!! It made me feel special & oh so important to proclaim I was "John Holland's GrandDaughter!!" (I was pretty certain that brought some element of fame!)

He thought we were the coolest thing ever...each one of us ...and we felt the same of him!! We picked beans in his garden with him and listened to Geronimo stories and enjoyed his amazing talent for Uncle Remus Tales!! We'd curl up in his lap and lay down on his 'pillow' (AKA tummy) And listen to him sing about things like "The Animal Fair -although I'm not sure I heard anything but the first verse...then he just made stuff up which made it even more fun...ha ha!! oh oh how I wish I'd recorded him singing...WHY didn't I record him?? He would have found me crazy perhaps as even Saturday he joked about his bad singing, but I loved it...it must be how God feels about listening to us when we sing with joy to him. Because when my GrandDaddy sang to us I didn't hear his embarrassingly bad singing voice (well perhaps occasionally but it was endearing)...I heard a happy man who made me smile and laugh and just made me feel warm and safe snuggled up against him!!

There is SO much I could say about my sweet GrandDaddy. Seriously this blog post may never end. I've deleted and re-written a ton....but here's what I can tell you in just a few words about my GrandDaddy:

Jesus Loves me this I know...for my GrandDaddy told me so!!

Jesus Loves me this I know...for my GrandDaddy SHOWED me so!!

I'm going to miss him...but I WILL see him again....and as he told me just Saturday

"That's what it's all about honey!!"

Remembering

My sweet precious Uncle passed from this world in the night last night.

2am phone calls are never filled with good news are they?

But maybe they are more than we realize....
Bobby was diagnosed some years ago with early onset Alzheimer's. This cruel disease took away a man that was loved by everyone around him. Dimentia or Alzheimers has attacked my family with a vengeance in the last few years. I have 3 grandparents and my Uncle affected. I pray for all those that love and care for their precious loved ones who are affected by such conditions.

Bobby was the meekest most gentle person I've ever met and we all loved him dearly!! Today I'm mourning the loss of a precious member of my family who we all needed so much, I'm so very thankful he was part of my family! But today I'm trying to remind myself that God has made him perfect again. Bobby was a wonderful Christian man who adored my Aunt. He loved my cousins and their children so so very much!! And we all loved and adored him! Today I am sad.....
But I'm trying to be happy for Bobby!!!! I know he is now rejoicing and smiling and I pray remembering all the happiest things that life brought his way and how is precious wife adored him and cared for him and loved him!!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!!

THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE...I WILL rejoice and be glad in it!! Psalms 118:24

Well it's Saturday and we have friends for the weekend and thus the kids are having a BALL and we aren't hearing "what can I do?" or anything like that as we try to get stuff ready and together for our trip. they found some critters....

hmm....notice the black and white dog?

remember the crying daughter?
yep that's the stray....or that WAS the stray

Her name is "Cookie"

we often call her "the cat" because she acts more like a cat than a dog

Yep, we're mush!!

the kids found a few early blueberries and divided them up for a mid-morning snack!

YUMMY!!!

too bad these will be ready to pick, as hubby says "right about the time we are loading the plane"

In that regard: Emilee tell Kelsey they can enjoy blueberry muffins, pancakes, coffee cake, ice cream.....whatever their heart desires....and we MIGHT just have some blackberries this year back there too...we'll see, it's their first crop so not sure how many we'll get this year)

yep it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!!! I pray your day is as full of happy noises and faces as mine!!

LOVE MY LIFE!!

It's about time!!

So Friday I cleaned and worked ALL day on MaryKyle's room. After all that work and loads of trash and stuff hauled out, I stepped back to ooh and ahh over my labors but....it still looked HORRID!!

When hubby started our company and needed a home office we moved the girls (had two then) from their cute pink room (it's taupe now) to what had been the 'guest room' it was the one room in the house that had never been painted....and it's stayed that way.

I happened to mention to my sweet wonderful FABULOUS hubby after I was done that it would be so nice to get it painted while MK was away for the weekend with my family in Gatlinburg, TN. I expected him to laugh...but instead the words of my wonderful, amazing, kind, handsome, FABULOUS husbad were "I might could be persuaded" WOW....really??!!! hmm....but in all honesty I still wasn't expecting it.

You see after a few 'incidents' I've been banned from weilding a paintbrush in the house...sigh...so I'm totally dependent on him for painting

NOTE: I wish I had pictures of my 'incidents' but I will say...it's a fair ban!! I'm pretty sure our first house in Dayton, TN will never be the same again!!

ANYWAY...so then he finished his work for the day and looked at me (about 7pm) and said "so want to go get some paint" What...?? Huh...? What colors..??What's our plan..? I had no plan....I wanted it to finally be decorated and pulled together, but after purchasing multiple beddings for her several times, still...nothing looked right. I had one that I liked but it was loud and funky and I'm so not good at choosing colors and decorating. (I SO need my sister close by she got the gift of decorating!!) But he was willing and I wasn't dare going to let that pass...

So we made a decision, started painting, changed our minds, went back to Home Depot Saturday night mid painting and he did it..he finished. We got it all put together and had some fun. It's a loud, fun and funky room....But there was still MaryKyle to contend with.

did I mention our daughter HATES change! At one point when we mentioned something about painting she assured us she "LOVED" the builders grade flat paint that had 6 years of handprints, dirt, scuffs, etc all over it 'It's PERFECT" she said....ha ha!! So what would she think when she saw it??

Well she won't leave it and wrote us a thank you note and we've gotten more hugs today than most other days (which is saying A LOT!!)

Still need some window treatments, wall decor, etc...but it's still better then the builders flat paint for SURE!!

Whew.....

and boy do I love that FABULOUS hubby of mine

thanks so much to Laura for linking to the blog "We are that Family" and telling about her pantry. I've been working at reorganizing the house and getting rid of TONS of stuff this weekend with the kids gone. I reorganize my pantry constantly. I truly HATE a messy cluttered pantry. I like to be able to find stuff pretty easily, but inevitably things fall over (hate wire shelving!), are thrown in or not put back in the area I think they should go. I have so many Longaberger's collecting dust around the house, so decided to put some of them to use.

So this is what I've been working on a bit today. It's no where near as nice looking as the one on "we are family" but it's at least organized (well...til the kids get home from their trip to Tennessee) which is all I was going for. Okay back to work....John Mark's room is next...AAAHHHHH....trying to put it off as long as possible!!

no screen door...we did actually look at them on a home depot run, but not so sure the wire vented shelves would look as good. Did find a pricy glass door that I would like there quite a bit....we'll see....

Okay so we're in crunch mode til we leave...less than 3 weeks and life is beginning to get a bit overwhelming. Nothing unexpected, but can't seem to find the time to blog. So for now I'll just leave you with part of the journey I'm NOT looking forward to. This year the way our tickets worked out we are flying into a different part of Honduras and a different airport than we normally do. This one isn't exactly known for being the most fun...ha ha!! But why not start the summer off with a bit of adventure, right?!!! So here's a video of a plane approaching. There are tons from different perspectives on YouTube, I just got one quickly....

oh such fun, huh?!!!

We had a fabulous trip to North Carolina last week with my sister in law and brother in law. We enjoyed seeing God's wonders.......and the man made wonders as well! It was just a great getaway! The kiddos had a great trip to their grandparents while we enjoyed some time away!!

the Biltmore was, as always, amazing. But WOW God's creation all around makes it even more so...truly every where you look was just breathtaking. I love the mountains of North Carolina!!

Friends make the world a happy place!

So I think it's cool that my kids are friends with a few of my childhood friend's kids! Perhaps not as cool to everyone, but as an Army brat who moved every 3 years throughout my childhood (and LOVED it I might add...didn't mind it one bit), well its just cool! My friends Michael and Michael & I were chatting the other day about how nice it is that we are still friends after so many years and what a gift it is to worship together, and still just hang out!! It's fun having people around who have some of my 'history' intertwined with theirs....of course it might not be as fun if they were to drag out the blackmail pictures..........but then we wouldn't still be friends and I wouldn't be typing this..... :-)

Who knows what John Mark is doing with his mouth...it's hard to get a good picture of 3 kids especially these 3...they get super silly when they are together!

I also love that we are raising families together...watching each other's kids come into this world and grow is so much fun!!