Lets look at some snaps today

I'm trying to jump start my blog again, but since life's been tough lately, I'm having a difficult time laughing or trying to make people laugh. And since that's my schtick, I'm floundering. So in order to work on my mood in hopes it will improve, I'm going to ignore all the heavy things going on in life so that we can all have a little laugh.   

Today I looked through some of my drafts I'd been working on weeks ago and I found this one that made me smile multi times. So I'm going with it. We haven't seen some snaps in a while so get ready. 

It's cold outside and I'm sitting on the couch in front of a fire. Not bad for a Friday night. 

Lets do this...

I'm nothing if not cool at all times. This pic proves it for reals.

But this is a cool beans dude right here.

So many good things about this snap. 

They were gigging me because they know this is not true. This is where all pretentious food items live. 

A little Marilyn Monroe on Jack I think.

A little Norma Desmond on the Mom.

Emma was snapping me because I snapped her to tell her to snap me a pic of her in that dress she was wearing. Got all that?

This was the outfit I wanted to see.

We don't know what day it actually was though. 

Agreed. 

Hashtag owning it.

No need for a caption when something is this awesome. 

This next set of pictures I'm calling the boxwood head series....

You could be hiding lots of things under those leaves.

Seriously hides a bad hair day if you're having one. 

I look so normal compared to what I'd look like with my color.

This made me laugh.

Pink Panther crept into Emma's shot.

Must have run out of pillows.

Surprises are almost always good. 

But a loving accident. Get it?!

Me and Emma were going to do something very intelligent. I can't remember what it was. But it was smart. 

She's a resourceful 1 year old. 

Hmmm and spelling issues as well. Not a good day for me. 

I thought when my kids grew up, they'd stop playing with legos. I was wrong. 

I'm not saying a word.

But she don't need no crown to further her agenda. 

When is a crown a tiara and when is a tiara a crown? I bet Queen Lizzie knows.

That's a queen with some tude right there. 

The only true and real queen has been finally found. 

What more can be said about this kid?

This cracks me up as well as sends shivers down my spine. 

This snap post has been a while in the making since Blake has aged considerably since I uploaded this pic. 

This will never not be true. 

This post was short and sweet with no drama added. That means I need to end this now before I start thinking. 

Kit Kat is on her way home for the weekend and the only thing that could make this weekend better is if Emma was here as well.

Hope all people are somewhere cozy and warm. 

Goat is what she was

Every room in my house has a gift from my Mom. They are everywhere because she was so good at it. Good at giving. She would give and give until she had nothing left to offer. I saw her do it all of my life. 

I remember when I was a young girl, a coworkers' daughter died. I remember she went and bought a dress for the child to be buried in. I've never forgotten it. It's who she was. A giver through and through.  

She was also generous with her love, and her time, as long as it wasn't during Dancing With the Stars. That show will have one less viewer next time. One who kept scores written down and took the whole show very serious. To call Billie during the show was not appreciated. Believe me, because I did it. Her very coarse, "Hello...." meant what do you want? And I knew to end the convo very quickly. 

We all have so many things she has given us, but John has something no one else in the family has. 

Here's why.

A few years ago my family was going to some event and we were taking Mom with us. I have no remembrance of where or what we were going to. But at the last minute, as Billie was want to do sometimes, she bowed out and decided to stay home. Well as we were leaving our house I told John, "Mom's not going after all." His response was, "Why not? The old goat." 

Of course on my next visit to see her I told Mom what John said about his mother-in-law. Well, she laughed OUTLOUd and thought it was the funniest thing. So when the next Christmas rolled around, guess what she gave John.....

She indeed gave him a goat, real...somewhere in the world....if he's still alive...and then a representation of him in our house. Forever sitting on a shelf in our den as a reminder of what a good sport she was.  

That's the kind of sense of humor Billie June Etheredge Walker had. It was as good of one as I've ever seen. You could tell her anything and make her laugh, even if it was at her expense. Of course John was kidding when he called her an old goat. Most likely it was because he was disappointed she wasn't going with us. If only John had known of the expression "greatest of all time." He could have used that as cover. 

All of this was prompted by my cleaning today, and as I was dusting in my room, I found this....

Then I found this....

This little box, always sitting on my dresser, she gave me when I was a teenager. 

She knew how much I loved this vase that she had once given to her mother-in-law. So she gave it to me. 

One of the last gifts she gave me was this little blue bird of happiness. 

We could all use some happiness right about now. 

I know it wasn't the things she gave me that mattered. Although I consider them valuable treasures, now more than ever. But she was a giver and loved to give people something as a token of her love. She thought about the gifts she wanted to give us. She pondered and poured over catalogs looking for the perfect thing for each of us. It was her thing to do for us at Christmas.

Christmas was hers to shower her family with gifts. She loved doing it and we loved Christmas morning because of her. And the older she got, the more I fretted over how many more Christmases we would have with her. Not because of the gifts, but because of her. I never wanted it to end. I certainly thought Christmas 2017 with her was a done deal. 

Until it wasn't. 

But there was never going to be enough with her. Enough OF her. Never enough birthdays, Thanksgivings, Christmases. I was always going to want more. 

I was never going to be ready for one without her. I never wanted to be without her.

So now here I sit, staring at my blue bird of happiness, and missing the old goat like crazy.  

She really was the greatest of all time.

John told her that in his own special way. Albeit by accident.

Love you forever and always Mom

Love and miss you always Mom

True love. I know what true love is. I've seen it. I've lived it and I've felt it. It's what I know of my mother's love. I know that first hand. My mother, our mother, knew how to give true love. She was a master at it. 

Until December 6th, 2017, my mother has been here. And although she wasn't with me in the flesh on every trip or every event or special moment in my life, she was always here to hear the story of it. And I've always loved to tell a story. And she loved my stories. She loved all of our stories. Because she loved us. 

No matter where we went, or what we did, she wanted to hear about it. No matter the destination or the situation, she was curious to know and to hear. She was such a good audience. Any one of us could sit and tell her a tale of happiness or woe and she would listen attentively and make sure you knew you felt her love. 

She was the most faith filled person I've ever known. She had many opportunities to question circumstances in her life. Ninety years of living certainly allows for the chance to have good times and bad. Plenty and want. Joy and sorrow. She had all of that. But she never quit. Not one time. I know she may have wanted to, but she did not. She did not quit. Instead she worked at making life better on bad days. Leaving a burned in memory of a day all of us in her family dreaded, when she showed up like this. 

On that first Christmas after Frank and Nina died she showed up dressed quite weirdly, even for her. But we've never forgotten her valiant attempt to change the day with some token of remembrance. And you know what? We've never forgotten it. We still talk about it. We still cherish the memory of her trying to make us laugh. Laugh at her. And we did. 

Well done Mom. You did it that day when you wore that outfit, because you loved us so much. 

I don't know how God managed to make her the way he did, and then give her to us. Or, give us to her. Her kids and grandkids and great grandkids were the lights of her life. And we knew it. She made sure we knew it.

She was this wonderful, amazing woman. And she was my mother. She was always a phone call away. And now I have to learn to live without her. And I don't yet know how I will do that. For 58 years of my life she has been here. And now she is not. 

But I won't grieve for the rest of my life, because she wouldn't want that. She would expect me....you....all of us, to remember her with so much love and smile when we think of her. And our love for each other. And live. Live well. And love.  

And so my dear sweet mother, I'll never let a day go by that I don't remember you and be grateful for you and miss you. I know you're where you want to be, but learning to live without you will not be easy. I wish it was one thing I could have skipped, like a childhood chore you assigned to me and I somehow got out of. But grief and sadness have found me. It found us all. It's an all too familiar feeling that none of us want to spend much time with. 

I promise we won't let grief take us over. We promise we will love as best as you showed us how. 

We promise. 

You were a gem, unique and wonderful. 

The prayers you prayed will last lifetimes and will continue to change lives. 

You made life better. 

I will love you forever and always. 

I will always be grateful you were mine. 

Aubrey Elise

There's always room for more sugar and spice, with that being said, the girls are continuing to make a comeback with the birth of one more tiny baby. Once again a precious sweet soul left heaven and joined our family on November 6th at 4:10 in the afternoon. What a blessing she already is to our family. 

First time parents, Mollie and Aaron, are settling in and getting to know Miss Aubrey Elise. Isn't it funny that she starts out being sort of a stranger to them even though she is their very own? But they have quickly set to the task of getting to know her and realizing all that she already is at this moment in time. They are her forever protectors and biggest fans. Somehow she probably already knows that. She will learn so much more about them as her tiny life unfolds. 

I know this, she has captured hearts from here to Peoria and I've never been able to say that before ever. For now, she's officially the tiniest member of our big family. I've said many times it's amazing to me who God chooses to send us to join our family. Married in is great, but handpicked by God to join us here on earth, that's even better. 

As usual, our family swarmed the hospital with great anticipation of her arrival. We walked and waited and ate and waited and then waited some more, and then she was here safe and sound and ready for the world. 

So welcome to the family Miss Aubrey. Lets see how the day you were born, and the following days, played out. 

Pre baby arrival. Last photo as a two person family. 

Anna and Dale were checking out the boxed items. She was NOT disappointed. 

Then she wanted to get her steps in down the hospital halls. 

What's that you say? You want whatever you want when you want it? Comin right up.

What she wanted must have been a stroll down the hall.

Sissies...and cousins make the best friends. 

Who took this pic of these people?

That would be me and James.

This is what we do when waiting on a child to be birthed. We take over things.

James eats cupcakes. 

Yes James, I was talking about you.

Back atcha David.

So while we danced and played....

They met their daughter for the first time.

There she is, first pic. 

Instant family of three. 

First moments are the sweetest. 

Making memories that will last a lifetime. 

Grandparents meeting her for the first time. 

Aunts and uncles meeting baby Aubrey. 

First day was in the books and happiness was the order of the day while celebrating a beautiful baby girl. 

That's perfection right there. 

And she's already hogging the bed. The child was ready to stretch out. 

Grampers is happy. 

Such a cute little bow headed burrito!

I had a hard time taking any photos out. But then why would I?

This picture is magical. 

Dad getting some me time in with the first born. 

Then just like that, the hospital sent them on their way to Grandmother's house they went. Once there, she had an audience with the matriarch. It was the most important meeting so far...

Grandma imparted her love and wisdom to Aubrey for the first time. 

It was a good and successful first meet cute.

By the next day, she discovered she had found her most favorite place in the house. 

I think they're both smitten.

Grandma's got lots of love to spread around. 

Ninety years difference in those hands.  

I love this picture. 

Dad snuggles.

Marlie snuggles. 

These are snapshots of a moment in time that changed lives and will last forever. The first born into a young family. It's a precious moment to treasure and remember and retell the story of... So now the story of Mollie and Aaron includes the lovely phrase..."I remember the day you were born..." 

Now, Aubrey is part of her smaller family, but also a part of the bigger whole, as we continue to walk this life out together. Doing our best, living, loving and trusting and praising God as we do. That will always be the most important part of us. 

It's the happiest day in our family when a new baby is born into it. It's the culmination of all that we hope and dream to be wonderful and sweet and blessed. It's who we are, and what we know to be. But above all else....loved.

And so we are happy to meet you Aubrey Elise, and so happy you were God's perfect choice to join this big, loud and blessed beyond measure family.

We all can't wait to see you grow into the woman of God you will be.

We will watch and cheer and love and protect and pray over you all the days of your long, healthy and happy life.

Always loving you forever.