Memorial Day

We enjoyed having family over on the holiday as we relaxed and visited. Jason cooked up some hamburgers and hotdogs and Bella and cousin Jordan had fun playing with bubbles. It is always nice having Grandma De Long (great grandma for Bella) be apart of the festivities. She seems to enjoy watching the crazy little ones.

We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend!

We Must RememberBy Rev. Connie Gibbs [Copyright, 2003]

We Must Remember
We pause on this Memorial Day, a brief moment in time,

To bring close to our hearts those memories we hold so dear

Of the men and women before us who unselfishly put their dreams, their lives on the line.

Where danger lay as a stalker,

waiting to take away each breath, while the soldier

plowed with determination the furrows of death.

We must remember, we must, you and I,

those special heroes who chose to fly,

to fly the skies of blue that turned as dark as the midnight sky,

Their wings began to shudder as smoke choked their breath away,

And hope gave way to the resignation, "Today, I'm going to die.

"Treading the waters so deep and wide,

Men and women continued on their mission,

For God and country, their hearts would abide.

Surprised by attacks with brutal disregard for human life,

they fought to the end, knowing that life and limb would be lost,

whether of self or friend.

Yes by land, by sea, and in the skies,

they fought for our land,

they fought for freedom so that you and I might stand,

Stand for what is right, for what is good and true,

fight that we might say without fear, "God loves you.

"Yes, we must remember, for freedom is not cheap,

for lives and limbs were lost so that we might keep,

All the things that we can have and all the things we can do,

Like cars and boats and a house with a roof,

Like going to church without fear,

and reading the Bible where we find the truth,

The truth of knowing that whether we are red, yellow, black,or white,

We are all God's children and we need to learn to love one another as God first loved us.

For if there is to be peace on earth,

where all men and women are free,

it must begin with each and all of us,

let it begin with you and me.

Bella gives baby Anna kiss. Two weeks away from due date and sweet sister Bella seems to understand as she says "baby" and kisses momma's belly.

Life Since Our Last Posting

Wow! How time passes and you stay busy with a toddler that will "go go" all day. How also you stay tired being 36 weeks pregnant (tomorrow). We are excited as we wait the arrival of little sister Anna. Bella does not seem to be to aware of her new sibling on the way, however she has enjoyed reminiscing through her old baby stuff.

Little Anna is set to arrive by C-section on June 8th...we are hoping that she might have other plans though and come sooner! We are leaving it in God's hands.

We took our annual Destin beach vacation early this year. We wanted another beach trip with just focusing on having fun with Bella before we become a family of four. It was a wonderful time and Bella had a blast. Papa Joe and Grandmomma Chapman also joined us.

Bella loved playing with her beach toys but saved getting her feet in the sand until the last day. Once she braved up touching her feet in the sand there was no stopping her.

Speaking of reminiscing, Jason and I have been to Destin, FL every year since we met in 2003. Here is our first beach photo:

Bella also has grown up since our trip last year:

Mother's Day just passed and to continue on the thought of reminiscing, it is hard to believe I have been a mom now to celebrate two Mother's days....although I've been a mom to Bonne and Noel our two cats for almost 5 years in September. We never forget that our cats were our 1st babies:).

I love my Mother's day flowers...both times and especially the Micheal Scott motherly advice in my card.

More Outdoor Fun

Sunday afternoon we went to the park for a little walk and some playtime. Bella is growing so fast, pretty soon she will be swinging from the monkey bars! For now though, we enjoyed helping her play and watching her explore.