Sweetie

I haven't had a happy post in a while. There are many things on my mind these days. There's been a lot of introspection these months following my mom's death. There's been a lot of soul searching about my current feelings toward my church home. There's been a lot of learning and change at my new school. BUT...

I wanted to blog about something that makes me very happy. This is Frankie Grace. She is the daughter of my best friend Erin. Erin and her husband Mike waited a long time for her arrival. And when she finally came, she arrived quickly and was the Christmas present that they will never forget.

I've only been able to see her in person once when she was about three months old I guess. But, I'm determined to find my way to Chicago this summer if I have to push my way to the front of the line. If you haven't guessed - everybody wants to get time with her!

She's the cutest thing in the world. Erin sends pictures often and they always make me laugh. Not only does she remind me of Victoria (if you know me very well, you know about the "third" child I had during the two years I stayed home), but she has brought this smile to Erin's face that I'm not sure I've ever seen before. And, I've known Erin since she was 4 - so I've seen a lot of different smiles.

So, that's what makes me happy. I love that, even though I don't get to see my dear childhood friend more than once a year, I can know that her heart is overflowing.

Keep those picture coming! Lovell you!!!

Good bye for now

Krista Erin Brewer went home to be with the Lord Wednesday night. The funeral was today and it was really beautiful. I have never seen so many pink flowers in all my life. Almost everyone attending the funeral wore pink in her honor as well.

Many, many lives were touched by this little girl. They spoke often of her being an angel. The pastor who spoke at the service told us that the word "angel" means "messenger". He asked us to think about what message Krista had delivered to us. I would have to say, for me, it was a message about enjoying the little things in life and taking the time to spend together. So often I am too busy or too tired to play a board game with my kids or just take them to the park or something. I will work harder to relax more often with them and enjoy our time together. One can never know when that time might end.

Thank you for giving me that message Krista. And, thank you for not making me wear another black dress. Our family has spent far too much time at that cemetery in the last year. I hope that this next year has less of a valley and more of a peak to it.

CHECK THIS OUT

This is the house, or what's left of the house, that belongs to my sister-in-law's parents. Lisa is married to Philip's brother Sam. They live next door to her parents in Tioga, Louisiana. That's close to Pineville which is close to Alexandria.

This is what Gustav did for them when it came through central Louisiana. Isn't that unbelievable? Thankfully, the Lord had them waiting out the storm in another room of the house, so no one was hurt.

They had just finished having the kitchen remodeled. That door you see is the kitchen door. Looks like they're going to be getting a lot more than new cabinets now.

Strings are $20 each!

So Grace is in fourth grade and at her school that means she gets to choose a stringed instrument to learn to play. She chose the viola. Actually, she chose the bass, but when we saw how much that was going to cost and how big it really is we talked her in to something smaller.

So, she's very excited and we went to a meeting with her teacher Thursday night to learn about how she needs to be practicing and all that good stuff.

Can I just say, "What was I thinking?". Do you know how many times as the teacher was showing the parents the different parts of the viola she used the phrase, "Now, this part can break VERY EASILY and is VERY EXPENSIVE to repair."? Too many times to count. Oh my.

Let me just say that Jackson has been ordered to not even touch the case.