Teeny-tiny seed.

the girls

grew

huge SUNFLOWERs!

Road Trip 3.

Home from Co. and this was the day--- laundry. Piles as big as the Colorado mountains sitting in the kitchen. Of course, the piles didn't look as enormous after a nice sleepy night in our own bed. (Nothing like your own comfy bed after travel. Amen?) So then the next day ended up being a good day/bad day kind of day.

bad- went to dentist and Lauren had cavity and the bill was $308 

good- we have dental insurance now!

bad- found out the owner of all of the land in all of Southhaven passed away

good- we are showing our house today to a couple from Dallas that loves it

bad- the home that we liked on Bellavista has a contract on it (i knew it wouldn't last!)

good- going to virginia; such sweet friends taking the girls for a few days

bad- i have soooo much to do today!!!!!!

good- josh got his relocation $ check and it was larger than expected

bad- it is so dang HOT here!!

(I actually emailed this to my Mom... to vent a bit, I suppose. Love ya, Mom.) 

My Mom's birthday when we were away was filled with sadness and happiness as well. I can say I am getting pretty good at carrying around an assortment of emotions lately. The bag sometimes gets heavy, indeed. My almost 90-year old Grandma (my Dad's mom) had a band of heavenly angels come take her Home that morning. When we got home I booked a ticket for her memorial service in Virginia. There wasn't any question that I wanted to be there to celebrate her beautiful life.

Grandma was so loved and we all were unconditionally loved by her. She was one of the loveliest ladies I knew and had a pure sweetness that oozed from every bit of her. With strength and a firm faith- she raised SIX children. All those that had the honor and privilege to be a part of her life, were blessed. She loved a good time; whether with a fishing pole, a game of a golf, a good meal with a few of her many friends, and used to always use to ask me if I was "keeping my brushes wet"... like she always did with immense joy. She was this tremendously gifted artist that will forever inspire me. And she was certainly a woman of grace and style, whether wearing her beautiful Bahamian jewelry or in a pair of her favorite comfy Tretorn sneakers. My heart will always carry her sweet love and my memories of her are tenderly held close. 


The memorial was full of her artwork, pictures and of memories and hope. We laughed. We cried. We smiled and held together like good families do in the good and the tough. The years and miles between us didn't matter. My bro and I were "roomies" like we haven't been (w/o spouses or kids) in....have we ever been? We all delighted in many stories and the togetherness. The sweet hand of God is in every detail of our lives, you know. It boggles my heart and my mind at times, lately. I know G.G.'s (what the girls called her) legacy will continue and we will forever be blessed.

Life is loss, love and legacy.
It's heartache and mystery.
It's holding on when nothing makes sense.

It's a treasure.
Minute to minute.

Roadtrip 2.

Packed up the car for a 10-day Colorado trip a bit back. (I've been M.I.A as far as blog-world goes lately.) We had a great furry traveler with us and I can say wholeheartedly that Polly and the girls are far more patient travelers than the Mommy of the house! With rainbows behind us and big blue sky and mountain air (aaaah.) before us... we celebrated, searched, and treasured the days.

It was Josh's birth-day. (We actually celebrated him twice- oh, but he is so worth that!)

A work day for Josh. (uh.)
A realtor day. (Not much luck, kinda frustrating. If you're wondering.)
A swim day. (And we had chills at times. Niiiice break from the TX sweat.)
A camp out day or two. (Awesome camper, yummo food, hammock relaxin', smokin' fire...)

Awww. (They were actually waiting for the two chipmunks to eat goldfish snacks.)

Here's J and Hannah. (Even Mom went 4-wheeling. woo hoo!)

Our little camper. (Of whom got filthy in 2 minutes flat.)

Will you check this "wish berry" out found in the foothills? HUGE.

A ton of great family meals.
A shopping day.

Mom's birth-day. (Doesn't she look happy?)

A squeeze-the-baby-of-the-family-to-pieces day(s).

Love you?! Noooo problem!

And finally, a drive-straight-home-exhausted day.

That's it. Overall, what a fabulous stay in Co.

With our hearts open, we're walkin' and knowin' there is always HOPE and a Divine Plan in place. (Within timing that will be perfect.)

Roadtrip.

Getaway. Escape. Take a breather.

That is what we decided to do last weekend. It was a bit of a surprise for Josh for Daddy's Day (but secretly, we all wanted to get outta here!). He had 3 options to choose from. 1. Go to Houston area with just me and get really fabulous seats to see Sting with the Philharmonic Orchestra 2. Go with the whole family, get lawn tickets/have picnic to see Sting and go to Six Flags Splashtown 3. Go to Galveston Island for the weekend and do NASA museum, Schlitterban waterpark, the beach.

He picked #3 ('cuz he is such an incredible family man and knew it would be a blast- yeah!)

So, we were off.

NASA was neat. Not sure if the girls were too thrilled, but we had fun. The girls looooved, loved, loved the beach. They were a bit nervous about the waves (especially after Hannah got bitten by a crab), we pigged out at awesome restaurants, baked in the sun for 7 hours with a zillion other people on water rides at Schlitterban, explored the historic downtown Galveston (old ice cream shop/boutiques/gift shops/cafe's). We were then heading home and discovered a cute boardwalk town on the water near Houston called Kemah. It was surrounded by huge yachts, games and rides. We rode the ferris wheel! Remember those?