Saturday, July 10, 2010

A little lightheartedness

I do not often share my family on here because this is Eli's journey, but I thought that I would share a little about how we have been slowly adjusting to to life without him. It really has been difficult to participate in fun filled activities knowing that we had planned on having a little one around to enjoy in the fun also. There are constant reminders of our loss, but not every moment has been filled with sadness. The 4th of July is always a time when we get together with family and celebrate our country. We generally go up to Lake Martin where Jamie's parents have a place on the 4th. This year we went on the 3rd because the 4th fell on a Sunday. We most always swim, boat, jet ski, and enjoy BBQ. The boys actually got to have a little fun tubing this time around. I am not very comfortable around water and up until this year my nerves just could not handle it. I decided to give my faith a chance, put my nerves on the back burner, and just go with it. I did and all turned out well. The boys were overly thrilled and had a blast. Here are a few pictures to prove it.


This is my Jay man. He loved the tube!
This is my Coop bug. As you can see he about wiped out on that last picture, but he held on and made it safely back. Uncle Ryan was navigating the boat and he took it easy for their first ride. Jamie was riding along just in case.
We had a really good day and everyone was tired when we ventured home after a leisurely pontoon ride around to see how everyone else was celebrating. Lucie Rose was not too terribly crazy about the boat ride, but she finally relaxed and almost went to sleep until her Opa dared to take his hand off of the steering wheel and she informed him that he should drive with two hands.

Today we went up to Tina and Ryan's to celebrate our annual Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a. Tina is Jamie's sister and is one of the kindest people you will ever meet. She just has a heart of gold and has been a terrific sister in law. Ryan is her husband and is every bit as terrific. They have four amazing girls that have such hearts for God. Their two oldest are spending the summer working with a backyard mission group and are reaching small souls for Jesus. Yes, I am a proud aunt! The oldest young lady is the author of Eli's poem on my sidebar.  She seriously wants to be a missionary when she is grown and I have tremendous respect for her. Actually, I have respect for them all. They are great and so much fun to be around. We went up today and hung around a bit, then donned our spots and went to Chick-fil-a for our free (yes, I said free) supper. Here are some pictures of our wild and wacky day. I must warn you, Mamas will do just about anything for their kiddos and free food!


This is LR and her little cow tail!
This one is blurry because Cooper was running from the camera!
This is the crew (minus the guys, they would not play) before heading out.

This is Jay with the famous cow before eating his yummy meal.

Yes, we did have a great time and a very yummy supper. After eating we ran out in the rain and headed home to play Minute To Win It. I did not get any pictures of everyone playing but they would have been great to have. I would loved to have pictures of everyone playing chocolate unicorn, with cookies stacked on their foreheads, but I had them stacked on mine too. So....I have none. 

Honestly, we needed these times together. The trip up was a little tough today. I got behind an ambulance and the memories came rushing in on me. It is crazy, the things that trigger those moments. However, as you can see, we were able to really enjoy ourselves. Even if it was more than a little silly, it was great fun. 
Much love, 

9 comments:

  1. It's great that you had a chance to do something fun, even though it's hard sometimes. The pictures are great! Thanks for sharing! I know what you mean about doing things without Eli. I hear ya!! It's hard to enjoy life sometimes (or a lot of times!) with out Avery... But I know both Eli and Avery want us to be happy. :) And how exciting to see young people with hearts for God! That's something to smile about! :) Love to you, Jennifer!

    ReplyDelete
  2. looks like fun times! I love that we can still create memories with our kids even though it would be so much better with our other child with us. Glad you had a great time!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can only imagine how difficult it is for you.
    Keeping you in my prayers. Looks like it was a fun 4th and the costumes are so cute.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your fourth looks similar to mine...boat...nieces and nephews/cousins...tubing...fun...but someone definitely missing. So hard, isn't it?

    Thinking of you and love the pictures!!!!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am glad you and your family had a great time-you all deserve it. Your kids are too cute:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a beautiful family xoxo Someday Jennifer, you will ALL be together

    ReplyDelete
  7. I find holidays to be hard too, but you are doing exactly what Eli would want you to be doing..living your life and enjoying your family. I try to remind myself that I don't want to "die" with her..I need to try to keep on doing what I would normally do even if there is a hole in my heart. Sending lots of hugs your way!

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a fun time tubing!! When my family used to have a boat we loved to do that. It was always so much fun!! I'm glad you shared!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the pictures! (The tubing pics turned out great!)
    We loved spending the evening with you! (I'm still finding spaghetti noodles on the floor every now and then from minute to win it.) It was a fun evening and we always love being with you.
    We are proud of you too. We think of and talk about you, Jamie, and the kids a lot. We always love it when we're able to spend time together.
    Love you!

    ReplyDelete