Pictures from our trip

Me, Olivia and my Aunt Sheila

The Ecstasy and The Fantasy (docked at Yucatan)

My grandma, dad and mom

The ship at night
The grand entrance
Olivia jumping from the window in our room to the bed. Such a cutie!!

Olivia playing hide and go seek with Brian!!

The car on the way from the hotel to the ship--Think we could of fit anymore??

Me, my brother and mom at Yucatan

At the formal dinner- me, my cousin Seth, Aunt Bobbie and my grandma
My mom and I on the last day
Me and my cousin leaving the harbor in Galveston

At the formal dinner- we had 2 tables because of how many people went with us.

Lavita, Leslie, Olivia, Warren, Tori, my dad, mom and my brother Byron

My grandma

Today we lost my grandma 13 years ago. It seems like yesterday that she left us. I will never forget that I came home from drivers ed and my mom said that she had to leave that night because my grandma had a stroke and my brother was going to drive her to Houston. At the time, my dad was working in Austin so I stayed with some friends because I was in high school. I thought that she had a stroke and she would be in rehab for a while. My mom was planning on staying in Houston until she got better and I would just stay with friends.

Well the plans changed!! I went to Austin with Kendra and her mom and my dad called and said that he needed to pick me up. I said okay and we met him and he told me that she had another massive stroke and they would be taking her off life support. I remember it so clearly today. My dad and I were driving and we kept passing cemetaries. I know that I noticed them because it was on my mind but I was so frustrated. I never expected my grandma to be gone so fast and so quickly. We got there on Friday night and they took her off life support on Saturday at noon. They kept her alive until we got there. I know that her spirit was gone but I didn't totally understand at the age I was.

My grandma was the best at anything and everything. She was the most amazing cook!! Some of my favorites:

Chicken N' Dumplins
Banana Pudding
Homemade fig jelly
Fresh fruit pies
Sausage in the morning for breakfast

She could sew, good shopper and best of all she was my grandma. I can still recite her phone number after all these years. My grandpa has moved on and married this woman who know of us like-(she is another whole post) who knows if he thinks about her but I know that she will never be forgotten.

Grandma-- We love you and I know that you are taking good care of Grace!! I can't wait until we see each other again and I can get a big hug from you!!!

I miss you bunches and I love you very much!!!!

We are back!

We are back and had a amazing time!! We are definitely going to go again next year and we can't wait. Brian is going to upload the pictures today so hopefully I'll be able to load them tomorrow evening.

I hope everyone's week is going good.

Mr. Hallmark poem

A Mother's Day Wish From Heaven
By Jody Seilheimer

Dear Mr.Hallmark,
I am writing to you from heaven,and though it must appear
A rather strange idea,I see everything from here.
I just popped in to visit,your stores to find a card
A card of love for my mother,as this day for her is hard.

There must be some mistake I thought,I saw every card you could imagine
Except I could not find a card,from a child who lives in heaven.
She is still a mother too,no matter where I reside
I had to leave, she understands,but oh the tears she's cried.

I thought that if I wrote you,that you would come to know
That though I live in heaven now,I still love my mother so.
She talks with me, and dreams with me;we still share laughter too,
Memories are our way of speaking now,would you see what you could do?

My mother carries me in her heart,her tears she hides from sight.
She writes poems to honor me,sometimes far into the night
She plants flowers in my garden,there my living memory dwells
She writes to other grieving parents,trying to ease their pain as well.

So you see Mr.Hallmark,though I no longer live on earth
I must find a way to remind her of her wondrous worth.
She needs to be honored,and remembered too
Just as the children of earth will do.

Thank you Mr.Hallmark,I know you'll do your best
I have done all I can do;to you I'll leave the rest.
Find a way to tell her,how much she means to me
Until I can do it for myself,when she joins me in eternity

The "Dreaded" Mother's Day

Probably not everyone thinks that Mother's Day is dreaded but I am here to tell you different. Have you ever tried to go and buy a card for Mother's Day and not have a living child?? I've tried to go and buy some for my MISS moms and a card does not exist. I keep telling Brian that Hallmark needs to get with it even if we don't have a living child!!! I was on my MISS website and I found this interesting fact about how Mother's Day was actually started. Here is the article:

I was intrigued, as I found out that the founder of Mother’s day was inspired by the intense pain she witnessed in mothers who had lost children (sons to war). I did a little research online. Here was what I found. . . . Mother's Day was originally called Mother’s Day for PeaceThe first Mother's Day was in 1870, when women gathered to mourn losing their sons in the Civil War. The original Mother's Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe from 1870 is a timeless reminder of the profound loss and pain war creates for all mothers, but it also deeply recognizes that from such loss and pain can come a fierce determination and power within all mothers, to join each other, and give rise to the birth of peace.

So.... It was originally started for women who lost their sons in war. It's amazing how we have gotten so far from the reason it was originally started. I sometimes call these holidays "Hallmark Holidays" (how they make money). Last year for father's day I had to make Brian a card on the computer and color it myself because they just don't exist. Hopefully in the future someone at Hallmark will get a clue and count us as mothers and fathers because we are. We miss our little ones like crazy!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!