The Heart of My Grandmother

December 1999

As a child, there were few things more exciting than visiting my grandmother’s house. During our visit to Midland a few weeks ago, I drove by my grandmother’s old house. When I look back on my childhood a number of funny and random memories hide in my mind. I remember her house always having a beautiful yellow front porch with overgrown flowers lining the whole front of the house. The house sits a block away from the Catholic Church where we spent most of our Sunday mornings growing up. The visits during my younger days were always fun. It was a happy and safe place. This was also the home where my mom and her three brothers and sister grew up and where eventually both of my grandparents passed away.

There are certain people from our childhood that seem to stick with us with unusual impact throughout life. For many reasons, my grandmother has been one of those in my life. I think about her often and I feel her presence in my life even today. She was a beautiful Godly woman who devoted her life to her husband and family. There was a sense of peace and joy about her that now looking back I can only say could come from having a deep personal relationship with Christ.

She enjoyed sharing stories about my grandfather and I knew without a doubt she loved her life. She had a stubborn and silly side to her that helped me get through my parents divorce which was one of the toughest times in my life. She somehow knew my anger and disappointments concerning the divorce ran deep and she had a gentle way of speaking truth into my heart.

She taught me that love is not just a mindless feeling that rides on waves of emotions. But lasting love is one that preservers through some of the hardest trials in life. (And she had her fair share of those). I watched her hope in Christ sustain her after the loss of her husband and the tragic death of her youngest grandson. I saw her suffer the physical pains of getting old and we joked about her silly looking orthopedic shoes. She completed her race in this life with so much grace and dignity.

My grandmother is someone who I truly admire because of her devout commitment to God and selfless devotion to her family. She inspires me to strive to be a better wife, a better mother and a better follower of Christ. She was my earth angel. 

Writing this on my heart

Unforgettable moments.

This is the cutest thing she does.  We can't help but giggle when she says the blessing. 

"God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. Amen"

My Funny Valentine

 XOXOXOXOX

Late night...

It's three o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep. What better time to update my blog right? I'll be regretting this in the morning at 6:30 when Bailey is crying she's hungry and I'm having to peel myself out of bed.  We finally made it back to Midland last weekend. We decided to fly instead of making the 6 hour drive.  It's a lot harder to make those trips with three little ones so we don't do it near as often as we did.  When we do, I feel like we never really get enough time with our family.  Then I come back feeling depressed and drained because someone's feelings are always hurt for not spending enough time with them.  I keep saying they could have us all to ourselves if they made it down our way.  But I must remind myself what's important to me isn't always important to them.  I've got to let it go... The sad reality of living in a different town means taking more time and effort to be involved in our lives. Moving my issues aside, we had a wonderful time and celebrated some great memories!

This is Russell's grandparents, Gran and Grandad . We ALWAYS stay with them when we go home and love the time we spend with them.  They fill our buckets, love on our kiddos and make Russell and I feel so welcomed in their home.  Once the kiddos go down for bed, Gran will fix us a glass of wine and Grandad will make a strong drink for the two of them.  We sit back and visit till sometimes the wee hours in the morning.  It's been a good 6 months since our last visit so we shared some wonderful late nights catching up on things.  While we were there they celebrated their 58th anniversary WOW!!!  I asked Gran what the secret was to a successful marriage and she told me to let go of the petty things and have something you can both enjoy together. 

In July my brother found out he had a daughter.  It's a long story but I have been so eager to meet her and finally had the chance.  This is a picture of my dad, grandmother and two nieces.  We had a wonderful evening celebrating our little family reunion. 

 My niece Kendra and Brenna. 

Last week Kinley also celebrated her 100th day of kindergarten. It's been a pretty tough road and I felt the need to celebrate.   I almost deleted this picture with Kinley and her teacher.  How funny, I can't spell?  I got my degree in communications not English...

 This weekend Kinley and Russell went to their first Father Daughter dance.  Sniff, sniff, don't they both look adorable!