Almost Summer - July 2012

Geez - I fall way behind - don't I??  I guess it really doesn't matter - no one comments - so I'm mostly typing as therapy.. :-)

The beginning of February our little girl was paired with a forever home.  It was a great journey for her and a testament that even our convoluted system doesn't get everyone down.  We still have the Tman and he is a total joy!  He is 'surfing' now and calls me mama and Keith dada.  We tell him Amah and Papa but he tells us back .... mamamamama and dadadada. ... another glitch in the system... he is growing so well and so fast!  A testament to my belief that giving birth does not bring forth a mommy any more than the act of donating sperm makes a daddy...  So sad in so many ways... but back to lighter!

In March I had another rather major surgery.  Mom came up and stayed with me and took care of the baby while I was recuperating.  Thank God for her!  Keith helped as much as he could - but there is just something about a woman's touch when you don't feel well.  Her and Tman bonded well and he is well-loved by all his grandma's and grandpas as well as us.  He is the light of our lives!

We had SNOW this year in March!  1st day of Spring Break!  Such weird, weird weather these days!














On my way down 101 one morning I happened upon this sight - brunch at the Red Lion!  I thought it was so unique to our little part of heaven that I pulled over and took a couple of photos!  I watched as they finished their snack and wandered on up the road towards the woods.  I never know just what I will find next!


 

 
  

 Then Track and Field Season started!  Mom and I took Baby T up and visited for a couple of days and attended the only meet that was held during that time.  Man, it was nice but the wind was cold!!!  And that evening this truck was parked at the hotel we stayed at.  I got to touch a huge part of history!  It was so moving - tears!!!!

I babysat for a bit for my Cousin Linda's great-grandson Jordan (does that sound like we are getting old?) and had a blast!  My goal in life was to have a huge family - complete with kids and grandkids coming in and out all the time and big Sunday dinners - and all that old fashioned stuff - so having Jordan and some connection with family was wonderful.  Chelsea found more permanent daycare after about a month and I hear that they are all doing great.  He is a real sweetie and he and Baby T played so well together!

T-man is doing great, and we've added a new member!!!  This is Cinco!  Mr. Tim had a neighbor that had puppies!  Mr Tim was supposed to get one - boy was he all excited... but it didn't happen - but I did!!  Cinco started out as "Bucky" but Mom noticed that his birthday is Cinco de Mayo - hence the name.

Brayana did wonderfully at State and Jaleel and Brayana both competed at the USAFT Regional Competition!  It was awesome!  It was as hot there in Bend as it was cold in Washington! 

Michelle came over to see us at the field!

Michelle and S'te and a few of the kids!

My Dad and I

I think I will save the rest for another post... Since this turned into a book!

Christmas 2011

Since our last post life has settled in pretty well.  At Christmas we took our to kids and went up to S'te's for a few days.  It was great!

 Our Decor at home

Taniyah's 7th Birthday Cake that S'te baked and decorated! How time flies!!! 

 Friends over for cake!

 And the arrival of TYREQUE!!!  A huge suprise for the kids!  They were SO happy to see him (as were we!)  He is looking so good!

 Ladaria's new look - she's all grown up!!

 The boys all ready for Christmas Eve Service!

 Mak and Kyaria

 Baby T all ready for Church!

 And the whole family after the service!

We headed back down to the big city of Coos Bay and were rewarded with a beautiful drive.  It rained (after all, this is the great northwest) for a portion of the drive - but in the most part - it was nice.  It was a wonderful visit, we had a great time - and I love seeing 'my' babies as often as possible!

Summer 2011

August was a very, very busy month for us.  Not only did Brayana and I have our mad dash across the country - but Keith visited April and arrived back in Coos Bay on the 7th.  His flight into North Bend was only 5 or 6 hours late - it is terrible trying to fly via San Francisco!  I long for the days that we just flew into Portland and then on down!  We very seldom ever had the problems that there seems to be on a daily basis!  But - oh well, I guess the powers that be (the Airport Council - or whatever they are called ) know much more than I do - so I'll leave that at that! :)

So, Naner and I got back, the rest of the family arrived on Friday - to turn around on Saturday and go over to the Dully family reunion.  The Dully's are S'te's Grandma Jean's family.  There were 11of the 12 children that grew to be adults - so you can just imagine how many showed for the reunion!  Here are some of the pictures she took (they are on her Facebook page).  Here are my favorites tho!

From the recounts of the day - I think that they all had a great time... and in case you can't tell by the photos - Gma Jean's color was lavender.  Each of them were assigned a color - and to most of the men's chagrin - it was lavender.  I think it looks good!  I love lavender!!

But on to the best part of getting home...  Our addition was finished.  Well, maybe not completely done!  But so close!  And it looks so great! Here is the before:

to this!

It took a lot of hard work and effort and I can't thank Brayana and Jaleel enough for coming down and helping so much!  Rod and S'te brought the rest of the family and worked really really hard on it too!  And I think it looks nice!

August 14th - 25 Years

S'te worked hard all summer putting the commemoration for the 25th Anniversary of the last time we talked or was with Jeremy.  After their breakneck trip down and her family reunion was over she went into high gear on  all the last minute modifications and plans and details for Jeremy's Memorial.  Balloons were released all over the United States ~ and according to posts ~ in several other countries in the world.

Jeremy's Balloon Release
(click for a slideshow of the hundreds of balloons released in Memory)

I spent a very, very emotional day trying to cope with the whole idea of really truly coming to terms with the idea and the FACT that I was actually telling Jeremy good-bye and Rest in Peace.   He was such a joy to me, so very active and smart, so protective and so very proud of his little sister!  Even now it is so hard to grasp that in all likelihood I will never see or touch him again.

About 50 of our friends and relatives came to the Myrtle Crest baseball field to Memorialize his life. I was amazed by some of the people that came - and just as amazed by those who didn't.  I was so glad to see old friends - Jeremy's friends, those who played ball with him, some who went to school with him, and many, many relatives came to show their love during this wonderful send off.  We all had blue t-shirts with his picture on them - an awesome sea of blue - if you will!

S'te prepared an amazing, awesome, wonderful, and heartwarming send off for Jeremy.  The balloons that she and those wonderful helpers spend the morning inflating and tying were released in turn. . .

14 blue balloons - released by S'te and I - for the 14 years he was with us

25 red balloons - released by his nieces and nephews - for the 25 years that he has been missing

100 white balloons - released by family - for all the love he was not here to enjoy

800+ green balloons - to memorialize, not only Jeremy's missing status, but for the over 800,000 children on the missing childrens lists at any one time.

and

finally, the pink balloon that I'd been seeing around the house for a week.  It showed up at the ballfield with HOPE marked on it.  S'te released it with the HOPE that an answer would someday be found as to why my baby boy, her brother, had to be taken from us - and what evil was done.  

I honestly have to admit that most of the day was in a fog.  I cannot remember all the kind words that were said or all the wonderful people that did come - I just know there was an awesome amount of love in that field.

I know that Jeremy, my Mom, Uncle GL, and the other loved ones that have gone before us were all smiling down on us as we paid this final tribute.

Thank you S'te for such a lovely tribute. I love you.