Uncle Jamie

My last real grandparent passed away about nine years ago. But Misty and I were blessed with a third set of grandparents in Aunt Marie and Uncle Jamie. They never had any children of their own, but they filled the role of parent and grandparent to many nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors. Last week we got to say good-bye to Uncle Jamie before he passed away. It was really different from other deaths and funerals that I've been a part of. Uncle Jamie has been ready for a long time. He hasn't been complete since Aunt Marie, his wife of 58 years, died three years ago, so it was all quite peaceful and just felt right. My sweet mama took such good care of grandma and Aunt Marie in their last few years of life, and Uncle Jamie was no different. I have learned so much watching my mom love on and care for elderly people all the while helping them maintain as much dignity as possible. She would take Uncle Jamie to Dairy Queen to get a hamburger and milkshake and sit with him and visit for the hour and a half it took him to eat. Throughout the last couple of years, Uncle Jamie referred to Mama as his best friend. When everyone else was driving him crazy, he knew that she loved him and trusted that she had his best interests in mind. Recently my mom started visiting and befriending people who are in hospice. I love and respect my mom so much and I love her example of loving people like Jesus, without expecting anything in return. This is the kind of love that we are all expected to give as we strive to be Christ's ambassadors. Thank you Mama for your sweet and humble example of love. We're going to miss Uncle Jamie but we're thankful for the full life he lived.

Keith and I with Aunt Marie and Uncle Jamie at our wedding.

Celebrating Uncle Jamie's 90th birthday in June

wordle

summer rewind #1...vacation

As you can see on Keith's arm, the spray on sunscreen is not all it's cracked up to be. We both had blotches of burn after day one at the beach:(

Back in July, Keith and I had a vacation! It. was. so. much. fun. We went to Gulf Shores, Alabama and we LOVED it! Here are a few pictures from our week of fun!

our nice, comfy, relaxing condo!

hanging at the beach!

our camp

big outlet mall!

date nights!

with lots of YUMMY seafood!

deep sea fishing

the serious fisherman...his less-serious fishing buddy got sea sick:(

before

after...we fried Freddy

and grilled Greta.

sporting our souvenir shirts for one last delicious blueberry biscuit at our fave place

If you ever get the opportunity to go on a beach vacation, GO! It was so much fun, so relaxing, so wonderful, we loved it!

Hi Friends!

Hi internet friends!!! I've missed y'all:) I'm excited to be back to blogging! It's taken me a while to catch up on all of your blogs; but I had fun doing it! I just didn't feel right about blogging until I'd read the last couple months on your fabulous blogs! Sorry for the lack of comments!

The end of the summer was busy with a super fun vacation and some home renovations (two reasons I got behind), so I'll have to do some summer rewind posts to catch up, but for now I wanted to show you my new toy! Our desktop was on her last leg (the other reason I got behind), she lived a good life, and I had lots of fun blogging with her, but it was time to say good-bye, so instead of getting another desktop, we decided to get a laptop, and if we were going to get one, I decided it might as well be cute! So, now I'm blogging in style and having lots of fun! It's a pretty purplish-pinkish color with flowers! I can blog in bed, on the couch, at the table, and even in the floor, no more desk for me!

I told you it was cute!

In other news, Keith got a new job! In addition to his job in enrollment marketing at ACU, he is now working part time with spiritual formation and young adults at University Church of Christ. He's been official for a month now. Keith interned there for a couple of years, before preaching at Maryneal, so it's been fun to go back and feel at home. Everyone has been very welcoming, and we're really enjoying getting to know the young adults. We have class with them on Sunday mornings, dinner and fun on Sunday nights, and this week we'll begin visiting home bound members on Wednesday nights. It is a blessing and we are thankful for the opportunities at University.

Finally, I just started my sixth year teaching first grade! It's off to a great start so far! I have a smaller class than usual, only 17 kids, so I'm enjoying that. The kids are really sweet and I'm having fun getting to know them.