I should have been packing...

but instead I decided to make these...

for a sweet little girl that arrived today!

Congrats to Jess, Orrin and the new BIG sister!!!

Buffet.

Well, as many of you know...it has happened again. Our family has been dealt another blow. My Uncle Gary, my mom's baby brother, has been told he has cancer. They haven't determined exactly what kind yet. Our three options are colon, pancreatic or stomach. I have been "spoiled" by the fact that Steph never truly looks sick and if she does it is because of the chemo. So it was VERY hard to see my uncle at church on Sunday. He is sick. There's no getting around it. I will continue to post "happy" posts in hopes that it will help my sweet Grammy find little bright spots in the day. We will wait for more tests and determine a treatment plan.

Am I sad? Absolutely. Am I angry? Like never before. Am I hopeless? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I have a choice here and I will choose to cling to my God with all that I am. HE brought us to this and I know HE will see us through it. But man, this sucks. My heart is aching.

Please pray for my Uncle Gary and his wife my Auntie Jay. Pray that they will be able to find strength to fight this battle. Pray for their children Amy, Angela, Amber, Andrew and Noah as they support Gary and Jay through this. Pray for my grandparents. No one should ever have to watch their child fight cancer...even in their 40's. Pray for my mom and dad. This has been so hard on both of them. Gary was like my mom's baby growing up and he has worked alongside my dad since he was a teenager. We will get through this. We always do.

I think our plates are getting pretty full here. But apparently our God thinks we are strong enough to be put in the all you can eat buffet line! I know what's for dessert...but for now I am perfectly happy struggling through the overcooked veggies to get there. I am thankful that God throws in some sweet stuff in the middle to tide me over.

Big Daddy...the romantic

Thirteen years ago today I spent an evening with my boyfriend. I remember sitting by our pool just talking about anything and everything. When he drove away that night in his 1987 Chrysler Le Baron (which we pronounced with a thick French accent just for fun) something felt different. "I love you" was a phrase I used a lot, and still do! We had said it to each other plenty, but on this particular night...I FELT it like I never had before. I still don't know what made this night any different from the others. All I know is I went in the house and poured my heart out in a note to my sweet boy toy.

Fast forward to July 8, 2001. I went on our annual trip to Pensacola Beach with the SAME boyfriend, my family, the Roberts family, the Prine/Beasley family, the Williams family (as well as Neile Hite and Kelly Weber!), the Langhofer's and our Louisiana gang. My boyfriend and I had BIG plans to build a super awesome sand castle after lunch. My mom and I headed to the Boardwalk because she insisted on buying me a new swimsuit. Of course, I was happy to take her up on the offer. We came back to the condo and had a sandwich. Everyone was REALLY getting on my nerves. My brother insisted that I make him a sandwich. Seriously?? Get it yourself DUDE! I was ready to head to the beach. Then my little bro wanted me to wait with him while he ate his sandwich. Really?? "Isn't that why you brought your girlfriend?" I snapped. As I made my way to the pool, the girls were insisting that I float with them a while in the pool. "I CAN SWIM IN A POOL AT HOME!! I want to go to the BEACH FOR SOBBING OUT LOUD!!"

FINALLY, I made it to the beach. I didn't think a single thing about the fact that my dad had a video camera in his hand. Didn't even notice that everyone on the beach was looking at me. I was ready to build my super duper sandcastle. My helpful brother decided to tell me that he recently read in Playboy the best way to build a sandcastle was to dig a hole first. Hey, if it's in playboy...it must be true...so I started digging. I hit something. It looked like a plastic bag so I didn't want to touch it. You see, at the time I worked at a drug and alcohol rehab and became very suspicious of anything in a plastic bag. But my boyfriend, who in case you haven't figured it out yet was Big Daddy, convinced me to dig some more. I pulled the bag up and noticed my picture. It was a beautiful jewelry box with our picture on the front. I pulled it out and opened it. Inside was a little blue ring box...inside the box was the most beautiful engagement ring I'd ever seen! I could NOT believe my eyes!! I looked up and saw my handsome prince on his knees (not just one...I guess he thought he was going to have to beg!) asking me to be his wife! Obviously you know what the answer was! To sweeten the deal, he told me that the sweet little blue box was the same box that his Grandpa Davidson used to propose to Grandma! AND...in the bottom of the jewelry box was a note. As I opened it up I was confused because it was my handwriting. It was the note I wrote when we were in high school telling him that he was my ONE and ONLY! Be still my heart!! Our dear friend Dan bought all the champagne from the little store on the beach and we all had a toast on the beach! If you know Marv, you know he had the perfect toast! I spent the remainder of the vacation looking through brides magazines that my mom hid in the luggage and admiring the new fixture on my left hand...and of course lovin' on Big Daddy!

Apparently, everyone was trying to stall me because Big Daddy had not buried the "treasure" yet! Way to go guys! Especially my little bro, he really took some heat from me that afternoon!

Dream a little dream.

My friend Emily asked in HER blog, "What do you dream about?" Here's what I've been dreaming of lately...besides the obvious cure for cancer.

I've been dreaming about grilling out in this backyard.

Teaching Claire to ride her bike with no training wheels in this driveway.

Painting this room turquoise to match a rainbow quilt.

Making this our master suite.

Preparing meals for my family and friends in this kitchen.

Having coffee on this screened in porch on crisp fall mornings.

Watching my kids come down these stairs on Christmas morning!

That's what I've been dreaming about lately. Can you guess why??