On a Game Kick

My kids have recently become obsessed with playing games.  Seriously they want to play all the time.

Their favorites are Apples to Apples (kids), Monopoly Jr., Hulabaloo, Kid’s Cranium, Zingo, Candyland, and Chutes & Ladders.  Do you have any kid friendly favorites?  I’m thinking of adding a few more to our arsenal in order to make for a happier summer!

The First Fruits

Of those that labored in the family garden…

It is not much, but  nothing beats a vegetable that you have grown yourself!

Rooster Layton

I think Layton has found his calling in life.  He will be the next bird calling wizard.  Seriously - just listen - it is crazy how well he copied the sound of the rooster!  I know there are a lot of pauses in the video when he isn't saying anything, but just hang out until the end.  He does his best rooster call then :)

So Proud of Her!

Just wanted to give a little shout out to Melanie.

While visiting with my family, we got to attend our niece Melanie’s graduation.

We are so proud of her accomplishments.  She graduated as the Salutatorian of her class.

She received numerous awards and scholarships.  I’m not even sure how many.  I think I stopped counting after 4 or 5.

She is such a good young woman.  I have high hopes that Mandy will grow up to be just like her!!!

Congratulations to the class of 2010!

Swimming

In the days after Daddy’s funeral, we decided to enjoy the company of our family a little and enjoy some of our favorite things to do over in west Florida.  Like swimming at White Springs:

 

We were even treated to a water wrestling match between Bradlee and Andrew.  Guess who won?  Andrew should know better by now!

Thursday we headed out to the Gulf of Mexico.

I love the beaches along the Gulf. 

I love the gorgeous sugar sand.

I love how clear the water is and how gentle the waves are.

I love how warm the water is.

It was perfect that day!

Chelsey didn’t want me to take a picture of her,

but that’s ok, I took lots of pictures of her and Cliff later that day which you can see here and here.

I love…

sweet little moments like this one.

Searching For

a little inner peace.

I’ve noticed Mandy doing this a lot lately.  What is impressive is that she can maintain her concentration even with a crazy little Layton around.

Now that is commitment!  I have a feeling she is most likely meditating on how to get her next chocolate fix!

 

P.S. See a few pictures of my sister Lisa and the boys here and here.

Saying Goodbye

It was hot out there.  We walked along the path that I walked down hundreds of times as a child to the family graveyard.

Even though it was mid-week and 1:00 in the afternoon, so many people showed up.  Hugs really do make a person feel better.  And we all got lots of them that day.  It was all set up beautifully.  The funeral home made a beautiful program full of pictures that we had given them of my dad (NO, I didn’t make it!).  Many people had sent flowers.

The service started with everyone joining in singing How Great Thou Art.  My dad never really sang much.  In fact, I can barely remember him singing at all.  But this song…this song he ALWAYS sang when it was played in church.  I think he always sang this one because as he did he MEANT every word of it.  The last verse especially holds great meaning for him now:

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!

Then I shall bow in humble adoration

And there proclaim, “My God, how great thou art!” 

Daddy’s very good friend, Brad Peddie, gave his eulogy.  It was simple and beautiful.  I think my dad, while being a little embarrassed by some of the praise given him, would have have liked it.  One of things that Brad said about my dad that really stood out to me was when he talked about the euphemism “What you see is what you get” and how that really wasn’t true at all with my Dad.  He wasn’t really an open book kind of person.  You had to REALLY know him to understand the depth of his goodness.
Following the eulogy, our cousins Paul and Lori, sang a beautiful song for him and then David dedicated the grave.  It was short and simple and just like my dad would have wanted.  I think one of the most touching moments for me during the funeral was when Dallin began to cry.  I think that it really hit him at that moment that he wouldn’t get to see Granddaddy again, at least not in this life.  As he cried, Layton climbed into the seat with him and began giving him hugs and kisses and patting his shoulder and doing everything he could to comfort his older brother.  It was so sweet.  It makes me tear up thinking about it even now.

While this has been an extraordinary sad time, I can't help but be amazed and grateful for how much love and kindness has been shown to our family.  People are always talking about how awful the world is and how selfish people are – but after this past week I was left with a completely opposite impression of the world.  I had sweet visiting teachers who came by to bring a special little basket of goodies full of things for the kids to play with and eat as we traveled back home.  I had a best friend who showed up at the funeral with boxes of tissues to make sure that we had what we needed.  She even stopped by and left snacks and drinks for us to enjoy while we spent the rest of the week spending time with family.  A very sweet friend who organized a dinner for my whole family to enjoy after the funeral.  She even went so far as to find out exactly what my picky children like to eat so that there would be something there for them.  And for all those who contributed to the meal – it was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!  Seriously, I’m going to need to check in with a few of you about some recipes.   All the sympathy cards that we received were so sweet and thoughtful.  All the comments here and on Facebook and phone calls and the so many other ways that people reached out to us to let us know that they were thinking of us and grieving with us.  All those that stood in the hot sun and sweated as we laid my dad to rest.  Saying thank-you for all of that just doesn’t seem like enough. 

What Might Have Been

 

I think one of the worst parts of losing someone that you love is thinking of what will no longer be.  No more snuggles with Granddaddy.

 

No more made up silly games.

 

No more stories read.

 

No more little smiles.

No more granddaddy laughter.

 

No more fun days with him at the farm.

No more faces lighting up when I tell my kids that we are going to see Granddaddy.  I sorrow as much for what my kids will be missing as much as I will miss my dad myself.

Aquaculture

Did you know that we were once named Farm Family of the Year by some Florida farming association?  Funny, right?  But did you know that it had absolutely nothing to do with raising crops?  We were named the Farm Family of the Year because my dad raised catfish!
 
Yep, that's right, for years, my dad had lots of ponds full of catfish.  It actually was a pretty cool operation.  He would put these 5 gallon buckets that had been attached end to end and a hole cut out of it into the ponds.  The catfish would go into the little contraptions and lay eggs.  Then he would pull it up out of he water and hatch the eggs in a special tank that constantly circulated the water.  Once they were hatched, he kept them in a larger tank until they were big enough to release back into a pond.

Watching him harvest the large ready to eat catfish was a pretty cool thing too.  He had this huge net that stretch across the whole width of the pond and was weighted at the bottom.  He would hold one end and either David or someone else he had working for him would grab the other end. Then they just dragged the net down the length of the pond scooping up all of the fish.  Talk about an efficient way to catch fish!

What was also rather strange about the whole catfish farming business is that as quiet as my dad was, he actually had a pretty big voice in lobbying state legislature for the promotion of aquaculture in the state of Florida.  I remember once going to some shindig at the huge house of some state senator where Daddy cooked them fried catfish nuggets and talked with all the senators and representatives there about aquaculture.  I remember being so proud of my dad as I saw all of these supposedly important people deferentially conferring with my dad and respecting him so sincerely.  But really, who wouldn't respect a man who delivered little nuggets of pure deliciousness right into their hands?  Seriously chicken nuggets ain't got nothing on catfish nuggets!