A Breath of Fresh Air

We had such a great time on our vacation to Red River. I've grown up going there, and it is one of my favorite places. Turning the corner, looking into the valley, makes me smile every time. We had so many pictures that I made a slideshow. If you would like to watch, it might take about 11 minutes and 24 seconds of your time. Sorry. :) At least it is recorded for our family now. Thank you God for cool days and family times.

Pray

I'm on vacation, but my heart is so heavy. I've posted before about some amazing EB kids. One of them is hurting, possibly nearing the end of his brave little life. Pray for Tripp and his phenomenal mom, Courtney.
The link is on the right, "EBing a Mommy"

Finally the Fourth

Even though we had to drive back to the flatlands and miss all the Colorado fun, I wanted the kids to at least have a little celebration of the 4th of July. We slept through the parade...woops...but they played and we had a good dinner with an impromptu red, white, and blue pound cake and a visit from the Berridge family. Not what we expectied, but we made the best of it! :)

Her Favorite Place

Brie loved going to her family's cabin in Cuchara, Colorado. Many of her posts were about the cabin. She loved her mountains and being together making memories. Brie always wanted to be buried at the cabin. Since that wasn't possible, her dad, Tom, decided to have a memorial/memory service for Brie at the cabin. One of her favorite holidays there was the 4th of July. She loved the parade and the fellowship and the family time. We all met up at her special place over the 4th weekend to remember and celebrate her life. Before we left I looked back at all her posting about the cabin on her blog. I wanted and prayed to see her special place through her eyes when we were there. Her brother, Brandon, had a memorial stone made for her, showing the mountains she loved so much. It is really beautiful and such an honor to her memory. Tom's family came to their cabin, and also 29 people stayed in Brie's cabin together! It was crazy and fun! Carrie, Brie's bff, her husband Dan, and their two kiddos Luke and Claire came. The Dallas family came, too. Rory and Judy, Eric's parents, stayed home with Curren who had an infection and could not come. So there was Tom, his wife Terry, Brie's brother Brandon and wife Liza, Brie's brother Jordan and his family of 6, Eric and the girls, 4 McCulloughs, 6 Dallas', 5 Williams', and I think that is all. Whew. Brie's sister Megan and husband Chris could not come at the last minute, so there would have been even more. I love looking around at all the faces. Brie would have loved everyone together sooooo much! Carrie and I decided that we would have to choose joy over sorrow, as to not be basket cases in front of our children. :) I think the amount of children there helped out! There were some tears, but there was much laughter all together again. We talked and ate and walked and sat and played and remembered our sweet friend. I missed her being there more than words. I wanted so badly for her to be showing me everything she loved, and for those quiet Melissa and Brie moments we always had to talk and share our hearts. That is what I miss so often...sharing our hearts. My heart misses that girl all the time. Here are some pictures of a beautiful and much-needed weekend.

A Mailey Baby Birthday Bash

Mailey's party was so much fun! I was at a loss as to what to do with 2 year olds at first. Going to a jump place or to paint pottery is just out of the question, but they need some fun things to do at a party. Our back porch was a great place to have some fun, but if anyone remembers, we have had ELEVEN dogs in our backyard for awhile. Another problem was the fact that the high in the flatlands had been 105+ every single day. So I bought some fabric, some long plastic tablecloth rolls, scheduled the party for early in the morning, and prayed for the best! We wanted everyone to come make a mess with our little mess!

We set up three stations to work at. One was painting their handprint, one was filled with playdoh, and the last one was decorating their cupcake to eat. Each kid had an apron to wear, and they got to play and make messes along the way. Mailey got a climber and everyone loved climbing and sliding down. She and her sweet friends had so much fun!
Seeing her present for the first time


Decorations




Center signs




Julianne getting an unwated hug from the birthday girl. Mailey is very up close and personal!


Grant


Kendi Claree...it was her birthday that day, too!

Abby


Ainsley


Cohen


Sliding!



Abby, Calyn, Grant


Ainsley and Kendi


2 Candles


Cake!


Presents!


Thank you to all Mailey's friends who came and played with us. We love y'all!

And the Saga Continues

Tyson has been working a lot. By a lot I mean, every day but Sunday afternoons after church, and nearly every night until either 8:30 or 10:30 if it is a teaching night. I have really not let it get to me, you know, just kept plodding along, thinking that surely, one day soon, he would get one job that would be great. Great as in not straight commission where you can work 70 hours a week and make nada. Nothing. ZERO! Ahem. So we are tired. All of us have not felt like a complete family in some time. You can ignore it or push through it or make the best of it, but it wears on you bit by bit. Last week I really just woke up one day and felt different. I was tired of it all. I just got pretty down about riding this year+ long train to somewhere. I know God has a plan. I know God has His future for us. I think I was just tired. Not quite pity party style, but just exhausted. I knew that this is nothing compared to some of our single parent friends, and I pray for them and think about them constantly. Even moreso over these last months of such long hours and such high stress, because this is their life for now. There is no help on the way. I know that. I feel that for them. But I was just ready for something to give. Some breakthrough had to be coming.


This is NOT the break we needed. Tyson was four-wheeling in Colorado, decided a shortcut was the best route, nearly gave Eric a heart attack, flew off the vehicle, watched it tumble down the mountain, and this is the result. It could have been so much worse, especially if Tyson had continued down the mountain along with it. We are thankful for that. So here we are. Our vacation was cut short, we missed our sweet niece's wedding, the kids' hearts were crushed about not seeing the 4th parade and missing family fun in Georgetown, CO, and we are searching for a doctor here to do surgery as quickly as possible. Craziness continues...

Some prayers needed:
-Finding a doctor asap to get in with
-Surgery quickly
-Some way to make up for all the missed work that will happen in July
-A great job for Tyson
-Patience and endurance for me

I will keep you updated!