Father's Day 2009, Part 2 (Emily's Game Ball!)

Here is Emily with her game ball, straight from the bat of a Mississippi Braves player!

We never saw it coming (no time for Mama to freak out that way, I guess)! :)

The sight of the injury... it got MUCH worse later that night and the next day! She cried when it first happened, poor thing!

Father's Day 2009

As you can probably imagine, Father's Day brought mixed emotions for me as I mourned not having my Daddy here, as well as celebrated my husband being the World's Best Father to Emily.

There was no Sunday night service at church, so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch at Olive Garden after the morning service, spent some time on the phone with family, and then relaxed with a movie from RedBox.

Monday night, we enjoyed Emily's gift to Daddy--- a Mississippi Braves (the Atlanta Braves farm team) baseball game in Jackson! We had an absolutely wonderful time! It was our first "real" baseball game as a family, and it was so neat! And guess what?

Emily got hit with a ball!! It smacked a MB player's bat, flew up in the air, smacked one of the stands, then smacked our Baby Girl's leg! She has the bruise (and the ball!) to prove it! :) It was exciting... since she didn't get hurt! It is a worn game ball, so it is neat to think of all the players that have touched it!

Daddy had a great time with his girls... here are a few pictures--- I'll post some of her with her ball and her injury next! :)

Here is our favorite pitcher, Diamond. It was 100 degrees outside, by the way!

Emily had a lot of fun with the girl of a family next to us... she's ever the social butterfly!

Emily and Mama, enjoying ballpark fare!

Daddy and Emily on Sunday... she's such a Daddy's Girl!!

Emily Asks Jesus Into Her Heart!!

On Tuesday, June 16th, Emily asked Jesus into her heart! I led her to the Lord that afternoon as we sat on her bed. It all began with a conversation about missing Grampy she started as I was dusting the furniture in her room.

I cannot think of any greater privilege as a parent than leading your child into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Thank you, God, for this precious opportunity!

We called Daddy at church to let him know and celebrated her "Second Birthday" that night with a yummy chocolate cake, which we ate before dinner! :)

After the cake, Daddy shared Revelation 21 with Emily and "gave" the chapter to her as special verses for her life.

As she prayed to ask Jesus into her heart with me earlier that day, she cried in a way I've never seen (or heard) her cry before... it was as if her spirit really was grieving and understanding what she was doing... it was incredible! As she continues to grow, we will continue to reinforce the decision she made and what Christ did for her when he died on the cross, and her understanding will obviously increase as time goes by.

What a precious day that will forever be imprinted on our minds and hearts!!

Emily Takes Art Lessons!

Emily took Summer art lessons (one week of drawing and one week of painting) at the Meridian Museum of Art June 1st-12th on a "Grammy Scholarship" (Thanks, Grammy!). It was so neat!! Her work will be featured in a special art exhibit at the museum on July 18th-19th, with a reception for family and friends on July 19th! These were her first formal lessons of any kind, and she loved them! I loved her getting to do it!

She has also been in the Summer library program, which is still going on, and loves that as well! In addition to the meetings where she has a lot of fun, she read 37 books with me (I read them aloud) for the program, which means she attained the highest level and will get all three prizes. :)

The library program is on Tuesdays, so while her art lessons were going on (which met Monday-Friday for two weeks), on Tuesdays she and I would have a picnic lunch at Highland Park between her library program and art class. Here are a few pictures from those two weeks:

The nest of duck eggs we found at Highland Park! A park employee told us the mama duck must be off getting food...

Emily looking at the ducks around the pond at Highland Park. She loves them! We always watch the ducks for a while when we go there.

Emily getting ready to go to her art class for the very first time!

We haven't been allowed to see any of her work yet--- we are so looking forward to the exhibit on July 19th! Wish all the grandparents could be there...

Grammy's May Visit!

My mom came for a weekend in May, and as usual, the time went by much too fast! Here are a few highlights...

Playing Barbies--- I had to teach my mom how to play, as Emily was really intent on a good Barbies session! :)

Emily trying on bras at Victoria's Secret with Mama and Grammy... Daddy will probably have her locked away in the basement before she ever really needs one! :)

Grammy took us to a yummy lunch after church at Outback Steakhouse :)

Grammy and Emily playing Spider Solitaire on Mama's laptop. :)

Come see us again soon, Grammy!!

Photo Shoot at Highland Park, June

My Baby Girl, gorgeous as always... the first and last are my favorites!

Emily's Prayer Journal, Entry #1

Today, we read how in the Bible, Hannah prayed for a baby. God heard her prayer and gave her a baby boy (1 Samuel 1:9-11, 17, 20). As part of her Bible class, Emily is going to start keeping a prayer journal on our blog, where she will occasionally share her prayers. We hope this gives our family and friends a peek into Emily's heart through her own words.

Today Emily prays:

Dear Lord,

I love you and you're Jesus, the best Jesus ever. And we know Jesus is God. You are the best Lord, you saved me from Hell. That's all.

Amen.

It is going to take forever for me to update our blog...

because so much has been going on! :) Every day I tell myself I am going to sit down and make a dent in the updating, but we have just been so busy! I promise to start filling everyone in soon, though, because there are just so many neat things I don't want to miss sharing! :)

A quick update on trying to grow our family, for those who might be waiting to hear:

I am on my second round of the fertility drug Clomid. I guess the first time wasn't the charm. :( Emily definitely wants a brother or sister, and her Daddy and I keep assuring her we are trying our best to give her one! :)

Please pray for us as we trust God for His timing, yet remain impatient!! :)

Uncle Jeremy Comes to Visit

Uncle Jeremy, Josh's younger (but not youngest!) brother came to visit Saturday, May 16th. We were thrilled! It was a short visit--- he had to leave Monday morning--- but a wonderful one!

Jeremy was definitely in uncle mode, and it was awesome! He watched Emily out at Bonita Lakes ALL DAY while Josh and I headed up a big event our church put on there called Walk for Renewal. It was SO NICE that I could do what I needed to do without ever worrying about her and wondering if she was okay! He was just so totally great!

When it was all over late that afternoon, we were exhaused, and ate leftover burgers from the event with some of our church people before heading home.

After relaxing for a while together, Josh and Jeremy got in some much-needed guy and brother time at the movies, where they saw the new Star Trek movie--- I was not jealous one bit, I assure you! Can you say lame-O?? :) However, they claim it was excellent! Emily and I watched a movie together at home and vegged.

When the boys got home, Jeremy and I stayed up late talking, like we always do when he visits! We get along so well!

The next morning, it was time for church, and afterwards, a yummy lunch at the Olive Garden, courtesy of Great-Gramma! We thoroughly enjoyed it!

Then back to church, where Uncle Jeremy helped Daddy out with Emily during Pre-Service Prayer while I attended the monthly ladies' meeting. :) After church, we watched the Survivor Live Finale together--- yes, my husband has me hooked, I can't believe it!

Monday morning came too soon, and we promised Jeremy we would come see him soon!

Here is Emily and her Uncle Jeremy:

Josh and Emily On Their First Father-Daughter Date!

On Saturday, May 23rd, Josh took Emily on their first date! It was so neat to see him continuing the tradition my Daddy did with me when I was little! I can remember my Daddy taking me to Red Lobster for dinner and then to the jewelry store for expensive earrings!

Here are a few highlights from Emily's date with her Daddy:

They ate lunch at Gatti's Pizza and Emily got to play a bunch of games there!

Our Future Teenage Driver--- Help Us, Jesus!! :)

Emily got to roller skate for the FIRST TIME!! How special that her Daddy is the one that took her!!

Daddy said he wants to teach her how to skate backwards next! :)

They had a wonderful time together--- which is no surprise since Emily is a Daddy's Girl and informed me a week or two ago of her Daddy's secret identity:

Emily, while eating lunch at the kitchen counter one day: "Did you know Daddy is Superman? Shhh... don't tell anyone--- it's a secret!"

It was all I could do to keep a straight face, I assure you! :)

I Miss You, Daddy!

It was on this date last year that my Daddy passed away so tragically and unexpectedly.

It is difficult to believe it has been a year since his death.

I miss him more than I could ever express. Probably what hurts the most is knowing how much he has missed with Emily this year, and not getting his hugs and hearing him tell me he loves me anymore. (He said it constantly, and I am so grateful!)

Yet, I know I only see things from a human's point of view. And my Daddy now sees them from God's point of view. Standing face-to-face with God, I know it must be impossible for my Daddy to feel like he's lacking anything--- because as hard as it is for me to understand, he's not.

When I think about the pain he was in his last week of life, when none of us knew he was dying, I can't help but rejoice for him that he will never feel pain again.

When I think about the granddaughter who is now growing up without him, I have to take comfort in the thought of him being Grampy to my three other children, who are in Heaven! The first two greeted him when he arrived, and then he was there to meet MacKenzie.

God and I have done a lot of talking this past year. I've done a lot of questioning, and tried to do a lot of listening, too. So many of my questions remain unanswered... particularly why my Daddy had to die when my mother, brothers and I were nowhere near ready to let him go... and when there was a three and a half year-old fan of his named Emily who was his life, who was nowhere near ready to let him go, either.

It is hard when you realize God doesn't owe you any answers. That sometimes you just have to accept that He is God and He knows what He is doing even when you can't begin to understand what He is doing; that His decisions are always perfect, because He is always perfect; that He acts out of love, even when it doesn't feel like it. I know He loves my Daddy, and I know He loves me. Whatever God's specific reasons were, He chose to take my Daddy home because of His love for him. God will comfort me because of His love for me.

Today marks one year that God has comforted me in a way I hadn't experienced before. And today marks one year that my Daddy has gotten to live with God, to stand face-to-face with Him and see Him in all His glory.