I will miss you dear Mandy

Just a few weekends ago I found out that a friend of mine had taken her life...She was a very close friend of mine from high school. At the last minute while waiting for service info i decided to make the trip back for her funeral. It was very hard for me and a few of us who were close to her. Her sister sat down with a few of us at the service and shared the details of Mandy's life in the past few years leading up to this point. After the whirlwind of driving to Atlanta and flying to Denver and being there for one day and then flying back to Atlanta and driving home...i was so grateful that I went and fell a little better getting the closure that I needed. In the mean time her so sweet family is in my prayers and I can't wait to see Mandy again someday...here's a few words that i spoke to Mandy on the day i said goodbye to her:
"Heavenly and merciful Father, thank you for how you stand by us and how you hold us and care for us in our ugliest of moments. Thank you that in the footprints of this life that belong to our Mandy that yours are right next to hers. Thank you that leading up to this moment that you have held her and lifted her up to carry her as far as she has come. I don’t know how she left us and I don’t have to I just hope that it was painless and she found herself standing in front of you before she felt any pain. God you were in those places and conversations and prayers that we prayed together where we marveled at who you are and who we thought you to be. Mandy, I just wish you didn’t have to find out so soon how merciful and amazing our God is to us. I know that you are looking down on us now and you see all the faces both past and present that have made their way to this room today to honor you and remember you. Please be blessed by all of us gathered here in this room remembering you. God we thank you that Mandy is in your hands now and that she is in your care now and she is in a place in your presence where there are no tears, no pain, no hurt, no guilt, no sin but where she can bask in the mercy and love within your presence for eternity. Until we meet again Mands, kiss our Father for me and do a dance on those streets of Gold for you are truly alive. Truly alive in the presence of the Lord for eternity. Thank you Lord for the Life of Amanda Louise that you have blessed us all with for this sweet and short time. Amen"

All the girls in Castle Rock for memorial service

Ellie's first day of school!

I know, I know she is only two! But you gotta learn your numbers, colors and alphabet someday! I'm not a very teachy person and the place that we have her at is AMAZING! It's actually one of the reasons that we want to extend here. Anyway, she was a little sleepy as we usually sleep into almost 9 around here sometimes. She has to be up and fed and in class by 8:30 AM! We're all still getting adjusted. She also is going there for daycare on the off days of class so that i can finish out this quarter of school and hopefully get and "A". We'll see...

Ellie's first concert!

Well Foreigner came to town and Ben just had to go. We went and had a blast. It pretty much rained on us the entire time. The nice thing about rain in GA is it stay super warm so it wasn't too miserable. I think it was a little too loud for Ell though...she didn't know what to think when the music started. She did get her groove on to some old-fashioned rock and roll though.

Girl Time with Alina...BFF

Pretty Baby

Family time up north

Breakfast at Cracker Barrel, rockin' with Uncle Austin and Grandma Mac



"Guy talk" with Uncle Ken







The house that my Grandpa John built and my dad lived in when he was a baby

Family going back to the late 1800's

Probably the future Christmas card pic...

Fun times in the Windy City

Ellie lovin' the King

Grant park



Brian, Annalisa, Ben, Ell and I at Navy Pier





Brian and Annalisa on a carousel



Good old family time in the city

Well it wasn't windy at all when we were there. It was quite pleasant. It wasn't as humid as i remember it being. Maybe because i live in the most humid place on the planet!!! So there's the weather report of our trip...anyway. We had a great time with family. It became a little family reunion really. We also got to meet up with my old friend Annalisa in Chicago and met her new boyfriend too. We stayed in a very nice hotel and spent our evening at the Navy Pier.