Wow. As much as I hate that so much time has gone by, so many details of my memory that I cannot record because of the distance of time. As much as I carry guilt of not having 'kept up with this', what an incredible gift to have had more time to process these moments and milestones. I really, honestly, still am emotionally grieved to look at these images from James' graudation from elementary school, the images of my Aunt Kathy's funeral, David's kindergarten graduation, our family's last season with Coach Christ, and my last time as a Young Life leader. It all has been so full of the goodness of the Lord, but time is such a bittersweet prison, both so wonderful for the seasons to change and bring new life and growth, but still the loss of what has died.
Thank you Lord, before I even start looking back over these days. I'm thankful for the time, and for things that were so good they were hard to say goodbye to. Amen.
Ok, so to start, we have this picture of me, trying to decide if the hat looks good or just like an old lady. I had many days of 'lifeguarding' my pool while the boys swim after school. Not having soccer practice is what usually brings about this change of pace.
We bought this slide maybe 3 or even 4 times. It was alway a hit, but this time the boys were just a bit too big for it. It popped really quickly.
The school had a 'star student' wall with different notes of praise written by the boys' teachers. David posed in front of it, but I think Hayden received the most praise! Our safety patrol. Sadly, I don't have pictures of Hayden's or Calvin's notes, but here were David's and James'.
May brings Mother's Day, and the boys made me such sweet drawings and cards. I like taking pictures of these gifts so that I can remember them even if they don't survive the years in the memory box. David was the most proud!
David and his friend Modest - they were preschool buddies, but probably her momma and I are better friends! We enjoyed the picture even if they didn't.
This year on Mother's Day, I got to go celebrate it with my Mom. My Dad was out of town, and I just didn't want her to be alone. Despite not being with my boys on Mother's Day, it was really a lovely time we got to spend together. I treasured the opportunity to be present with her. And I brought her matching PJs to the ones I asked for as well!
She and I got to drive to Atlanta to see Madeline in 'Les Miserables' which was a WONDERFUL show. I was truly blown away! She was so grown up and taller than me. It has been much too long since we had been able to see her.
Mom drove to the show, and I drove us back to her house afterwards. We didn't go to church on Sunday morning, and I can't remember why. But we did go out to her favorite restaurant in town for lunch. It was lovely, and we took some pictures together. We don't often do that!
May is when my favorite flowers of the year are sometimes available - peonies. But I will settle for peony tulips and a rose for Mother's Day.
This was David's last day playing for Coach Christ. I was able to snap this picture of them on the field, and he decided to buy them big trophies! haha, it was his final season as well. We had known him from when Calvin was on his team as a 4 year old, and we have had an enjoyable friendship ever since. We miss him since he left the soccer club, but I will always be thankful for having he and his wife Susan.
Such a fun, sweet little team! Early soccer days dream team.
And just for laughs, a classic team photo.
This year, Mia said she would help the boys prepare for a 'recital' at the end of their semester of piano lessons. It was such fun! We invited her parents over as well, and we had the boys dress up. The videos are awesome. If she hadn't graduated and gone to college, we would have kept on with the lessons! I am thankful they had the opportunity to learn beginner piano; that's where it starts!
This was my Young Life Campaigners dinner to celebrate the end of the year. I decided to make an Italian theme, hoping they would like it more than some of my past ones. haha! I'm sure I'm the only one who even remembers what we ate.
I made 'senior memory books' for this group, because they had been with me for so many years of high school. It was a really sweet, hilarious, and sad gift. All those memories really do flood the emotions! Riley and Lauren got my favorite book: 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' by CS Lewis. It was one of the first times I really FELT what the Lord was like. Knowing the Lord is hard, learning about Him can be hard, but you cannot manufacture feeling Him. He speaks in so many unique ways, to each of us. "If today you hear his voice, do not harden your heart." Hebrews 3:15
So much love for these precious girls!!
We had the sad news that my Aunt Kathy passed away that May. I was able to go and be with my parents at her funeral, and it was such a blessing to be present. We saw our dear Chenoa! She went with us to the visitation and the funeral I believe. My Dad spoke at her funeral, and it was a heartbreaking, glorious, brave euology. He did a great job, and I wish I could remember more details of it, or listen to it again. My Aunt Kathy said she was thankful to the Lord for her cancer because it gave her deliverance from her alcoholism and gave her back her family. She said she would have rather has those two years sick with cancer, than 20 more years without her family in the life she had before. What a testimony of her faith and the goodness of the Lord to her in her suffering. Praise the Lord.
Some of our old family pictures taken in my grandparents' house.
I'm the one in the yellow skirt on the left.
The family went to the graveside for the close of Aunt Kathy's service. It didn't feel like a good time for a photo, but I am so glad I asked people to take them. This was my Dad's last photo with his sister Linda; she died sadly just a few months laster. This picture was a gift, and being able to see her was a gift. The picture below is my cousins who were in attendance. Kathy's daughters, Jen and Becky are on my left, and further left is my Uncle John's daughter Laura and my Aunt Linda's daughter Sarah.
The day James had been waiting for! The 6th grade versus faculty kickball game. They didn't ever really have a chance to win - it was shocking how good Mrs. Rainer was! But everyone had a lot of fun, and it was a great memory.
Calvin and his buddies watching the game.
I thought these pictures were pretty funny - goofy boys in the back of the group photo.
James was proud to be as tall as Coach Rob!
This class was special, because four of them has siblings in kindergarten that year. Love these sweet little friends!!
I was one of the helpers to design the stage for the kidergarten performance, don't ask me how that happened! ha! But they asked for a rainbow theme, and we made it happen. We even did rainbow colored programs, made by me. :-) But the show stopper was the rainbow back drop! The tablecloths did really great, and they looked awesome from the audience.
I couldn't believe it, but my friend Jamison, who I knew all four years or high school from our Young Life group, graduated. I am even more amazed that this happened two years ago.
So much love for my friends Jamison and Isabelle!!
This was David at a birthday party for his friend Caden from his kindergarten class.
I still have some fondness for the monarch butterflies ever since my covid obsession!
I don't remember why these boys decided to dress up in 5th grade, but boy was Hayden handsome in his blazer. And he knew it too.
I was not prepared for this transformation. James going to his 6th grade dance. He looked so grown up and handsome; I just couldn't handle it. I hadn't planned on taking any pictures, but as some wise people have said, it's better to be in the picture than not to be in it. So here I am, in no glory, but present!
For a dance that he said he didn't even think would be fun, this kid had a lot of fun.
And then it was time for the kindergarten show! They did such a sweet job, and Mrs. Younger was so sweet. David did very well in kindergarten.
The 6th grade news team got on for one last goodbye to everyone at the school. I loved watching James on the news! I'm so glad he did it.
After I had a big meeting and conference about how the school didn't keep good track of how they were doing the principal awards, in which I was told it's totally fine to give this award over and over again to the same kids and ignore others who are also deserving, my boys finally got the award. Shock. James took almost 6.5 years to earn it, but the others boys all got it quickly after that. Here they are with their hand prints. How ironic.
Hayden getting all A honor roll and doing his job raising the flag for the safety patrol team. He is such a wonderful safety partol!
Matt found this go kart somewhere around here, and we had to have it. It has become a farm go kart and lives in Georgia now. The boys and Matt had a good time taking it for a test drive in our neighborhood, and I'm sure our neighbors were glad when it went away.
The kindergarten teachers were so sweet; they wanted to save the rainbow to use in the classroom. So we moved it to Mrs. Younger's class, and had extra fun with it on a day where the classes all rotated to play games.
James' 6th grade graduation! A picture with Mom, and one with Dad, and one with Grandpa & Mimi. We were all so excited and proud. I wasn't as sad as I expected to be!
James got his certificate and a medal for his participation in track. He really did a great job in 6th grade. Made very good grades and high scores on all his state tests. We were proud of all his hard work, especially in accelerated math.
David was sitting and clapping for everyone, especially Lyla who was his buddy Grady's big sister. And James with his favorite teacher, Mr. Harris. The beginning and end of the year pic is great; you can see how much James grew.
A family picture with our graduate. And one goofy one too! So nice to have Mimi and Grandpa come with us to celebrate the moment.
Wow, this is the last day pictures! I have a beginning and end of the year pictures for each of the boys. It really never gets old to do these every year. They keep growing and changing so much!
(this is a men's small shirt and a men's medium shirt. It was a favorite, so I got him another one when he outgrew. But had to clarify that it's not the same shirt!)
School's out for summer! So we packed our bags, and we drove up to Grammy&Papa's to give the go kart a better test drive. We planned a hike up in north carolina for the weekend, but we stopped on our way up and back in GA for a go kart break.
Papa had prepped his front field with a race track. Since he split the cost of the go kart with us, he was super excited to have it at the farm too!
Our first hike of the weekend! A nice view of a waterfall from a little bit away.
The beginning of our next hike. We thought we may be able to swim on this hike, when you see the waterfall picture, you will see why we didn't. We wanted to go to the sliding rock, but it was closed.
Such a beautiful hike, and James found a slug friend.
The water was too high and running too quickly to swim, so we hiked back down and found a quiet spot of the river to go play in.
Much better!
Despite it being really cold, the boys had a great time.
That was a wrap for our memorial day hiking trip! Hermione was worn out.
What a difficult and wonderful month of our lives. Thank you Lord for all the joy, and all the sorrow. Our lives are filled with both, and we can find comfort knowing you have us all in the palm of your hand. Amen.