The Calm After the Storm

So funny. Eggie appreciating Noelie helping her rinse off the sand:)

Silly girls



How happy is he?


Action photo and two lessons to be learned: If you're getting more than one float they both need to be the fancy lounge kind as that's what the kids will battle over and the other lesson is they make swim diapers for a reason.

Greetings! I have refrained from posting the past few weeks as it has been unpleasant to say the least. So instead of whining continually about all my ailments I am just now happy to report that I'm doing better since the surgery. (All the whining and last grips of sanity for a few days there only my FB friends were 'privy' to:) Black eyes gone, swelling down, and cast off... the only real evidence of the 4 hr operation is the tape on my nose that will remain there until the first of November. I even got up enough bravery to face a cafeteria full of Kindergartners as Noelie has been patiently waiting for me to dine with her at school. She said, "Don't worry, Mom. I'll tell teacher that, hey, sometimes people break their nose, it happens, and no one better laugh at you or they're in big trouble." Sassy pants!

Considering the month I had, I was so happy to get a life again. We spent Saturday morning at a birthday party at Zoo Boo and then the kids and I headed down to Bolivar with my parents on a last minute invite to a cabin my Aunt Terri rented for my uncle's birthday.

To sum it up, it was such a blast! The cabin was super cute even though my bed had hidden posts coming from the footboard that kept targeting my knee caps. LOL! The weather and water were perfect! The kids had a great time and it was so nice that there were no crowds. Just a chance to breathe again for a bit. Mostly it was just so fun to get to catch up with the family and enjoy some time with my younger cousins. - Oh, and can't fail to mention for the first time (and likely the last) I beat my mom in Scrabble.

I have not been to Crystal Beach in a very long time, and certainly not since Ike wiped it out for the most part. It was really nice to see cabins and businesses being rebuilt. It had been a place I loved to go as a child and teen but in more recent years it was also a reminder of the place where my mom lost her brother to a massive heart attack. To be honest, I was kind of worried how it would be but was pleasantly surprised, at least for me, I felt at peace and closer to those loved ones we'd lost in recent years.

Oddly enough, our cabin ended up being really close to where my Uncle Ken was staying when the heart attack occurred. Of all the beach, we were right there. Of course, like many of the cabins, there are really just piers where it once stood. Early Sunday morning the youngest of our group gathered flowers and my aunt took them to those piers where it all happened. There they saw three butterflies and her husband even remarked how they were my grandparents and uncle there with us. I didn't get to see the butterflies, but I felt them there the entire weekend. In the unusual calmness and clarity of the water, in the comfortable breeze, in the overwhelming laughter of the great grandchildren soaking in the fun... it was all just too good. We always close our church service with the same little song. The song ends with "surely the presence of the Lord is in this place." That's exactly and undeniably how it felt.