Joyful Transformation

Mom is getting to come home next Friday August 4th
Mom is getting to stay until next Friday August 4th.

Good news, she has an end in sight, but gets to stay long enough to get her staples out without making a return trip, can regain more of her mobility and they will spend one day training Dad to take care of her.

I have heard lots of bad stories about Rehab facilities, but I will say the Healthsouth center in Hunstville Alabama is top-notch in my book!

This morning I saw a cow on her front knees with her head out the fence eating the grass on the other side. I know that we are made in the image of God, so where do these animal instincts come from? Why does that grass that is on the other side always look so much sweeter?

Brief news:

• Mom is improving steadily. She was able to stand holding on to a table for 6 minutes yesterday.
• I have driven to Huntsville 8 of the last 10 days
• I have driven to Decatur 2 of the last 10 days
• I am thinking about getting a more fuel efficient car! (suggestions? )
• I have lost 6 lbs trying in the last 10 days, my Dad has lost 8 not trying.
• Matthew loved his Lincoln Logs we got him….but we need more logs!
  

Have a great weekend blog family. We will be partying with the two year olds tomorrow!

That's right turn around and two years are gone! What did I do before this sweet boy came into my life. He has so much energy and he is sweeter than honey. I discovered new levels of love when I met this young man.














It seems like just yesterday he was blowing out the candles on his first birthday cake!


And I will always remember this...the first time I saw him. It truly was love at first sight!

Tuesday morning when I got in the shower I felt a stinging sensation on my side right above where my bra normally comes to. I immediately panicked thinking how long it had been since I had been to the Doctor, but then realized this was a skin irritation not something deeper and more serious. The shirt I had worn to walk that morning had some kind of thread in the seams that caused a major rash on this tender part of my body when it was coupled with the friction of swinging arms. The rash became red and raised and basically bugged the stew out of me all day long. The sleeve on my dress hit it just right to keep it irritated all day.

This morning I wore a really ugly sports bra that came up over that area and wore a t-shirt just to avoid any possible crazy threads. Today there was no new irritation and the rash from yesterday is almost gone. It is still a little tender to the touch but how often do you touch that area?

Yesterday my entire day was spent in the shadow of this pain. It was not a major cut or injury, but a small irritation that was caused by friction. Yet it stayed in the forefront of my mind and affected my mood and my attitude. I could have justified not walking this morning in a valid attempt to give it time to heal. However, I knew that I needed to walk and Terri was counting on me to be there, so I came up with a solution that would protect the area from further irritation.

That’s the thing in life ain’t it? It is not the big things that keep us in a funk but the daily irritations brought on by friction. We can choose to avoid any activities that might cause such friction or we can protect our sensitive areas and proceed. There is a danger that if proceed with the same activities without changing anything the irritation can be made a serious sore spot and take outside intervention to heal. I made a conscience effort to not tell anyone about my problem except my daughter, my daughter-in-law and my husband. I wanted to whine to my Mom & Dad last night, but it hardly seemed appropriate when my mother is laying there with staples in her back. I fought the urge to whine to Terri this morning, but I wanted to. If I would be as restrained in verbalizing my displeasure with some of the non-physical irritations in my life I would be much better off. So many times if we will just let it go…it will go away. I know- easier said than done, but I am going to work on it!

I have noticed several benefits from walking in the morning versus going to the gym. First of all it is just great to be outside. I have experienced some amazing sun rises and have had other encounters with nature; barking dogs, crowing roosters, crazy men on bicycles, that kind of thing.

One of the most amazing things to me is seeing all of the shops and businesses that I pass by in my car everyday and never notice. On my block alone I have discovered two businesses that I did not know existed and I have found a place to go buy a Diet Mt. Dew when I am desperate. There are many houses and businesses further along on our walk that I have never noticed. To say I have not seen them would not be accurate, but to say that they have not registered in my conscience mind, that is accurate.

I am afraid that is how I live my life. I am so busy getting from one place to another that I don’t take time to stop and notice things- especially people- along the way. It is real hard for us to show Jesus to the world when we don’t even take time to acknowledge that they exist. What would it take to slow me down, to get me to really see people? I feel like I am doing better. I try to think what may be causing the person in front of me to drive so SLOWLY….. Maybe their eyesight is impaired, or maybe they are lost. I will pray for them instead of yelling at them; but what about the other 3,500 cars on the interstate? Basically if you are not in my way I don’t notice you at all.

I can make a ton of excuses- some of them may even be valid- for why I don’t have time to notice people. But I don’t think that is what Jesus would have me to do. For today I will try to look at and not through people. Today I will try to reflect the love of Jesus to someone I would normally not notice. Will you join me?

Rarely am I intimidated by people I meet. I am far from being a rocket scientist, but I scarcely run across things that I feel that I simply CANNOT do, if I put my mind to it. Sure there are a lot of things I would never choose to put the time and energy into and therefore will never do them, but most of the time I feel like I COULD if I really wanted to.

Yesterday I felt a hint of intimidation. It is easy to get lost in the words and the message of a speaker and have no thought for his preparation. But I, being the eternal dissector, usually try to figure out the method a speaker uses to prepare for his talk (unless of course he is reading it, then I mostly ignore it). I think I mentioned that our new minister has committed most of the Bible to memory, not just he knows where to find something, he can quote it word by word, verse by verse, chapter by chapter.

Yesterday in the middle of his sermon on the crucifixion he quoted Isaiah 53. Not that dry quote that sounds like you are reading in a monotone voice. He owned it. He made the passage come alive. I dare say that there were people present who did not realize when he transitioned from quoting to talking again. I was impressed and I admit somewhat intimidated. I don’t have any illusions that I could do that, even if I wanted to.

I enjoy being pleasantly surprised by people.

There is nothing more relaxing than a nice rain storm on a hot summer day. I drove 45 minutes to Decatur this morning to play tennis only to be rained out. But my sweet husband took me to play when I got home where I could try out my new tennis racket. The rain has finally caught up with me again. So after sweating off some energy I am sitting in my recliner, listening to it thunder while sipping my favorite drink. Our satellite TV is out, the satellite internet service is down (rain clouds block both signals) so I am writing and then I will read! What fun. It has been hard for me to find the time to just sit down and relax in the last few months. I have often thought of rain as “permission” to slow down and just do nothing.

This morning on the way to Decatur I was listening to the book of Mark. Do you remember the guy that Jesus said was “not far” from the kingdom of God? The reason he was not far was because he realized that to love God with all of our heart soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves is more important than burnt offering and sacrifices. I guess in our day we would say it is more important than church attendance and involvement in programs. If we use love as the measuring stick I wonder how many of us could say we are “not far” from the kingdom of God.

I love Bradford Pear Trees. They usually are the first hint that spring is upon us. In the fall they are ablaze with color. The neat thing about them is that they grow fast. If you plant one this year in a couple of years you will have a beautiful tree in your yard.


However, I have noticed that these lovely trees do not seem to weather storms very well. This past week we had just a mild thunderstorm and I noticed five or six of these trees that had major limbs broken. A few twigs and leaves came off of some of the other trees, but these beauties had major damage.


Do you know some people like that? Their appearance is so striking. They seem to mature very quickly and their beauty is enhanced all the more. But when the smallest storms of life come along they become broken and battered.

Sometimes we need to guard against placing people on a pedestal because of their looks or even their amazing growth. More importantly we need to nurture our own roots where we can be strong enough to weather the storms of life. Yep, this is my lesson from the Pear Tree.

Best Bumper Sticker I have seen lately-

"I am a Whosoever- John 3:16"

Best Quote:

"If you can do something with your eyes closed, it is time to do something else"
Kathi Lee Gifford- in the Reader's Digest
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My Mom continues to surprise me with her recovery. She is in pain. a lot of pain, but they have already moved her to the Rehab Center and she will start physical therapy today. Thank you for all of your prayers.

**warning long post mostly justifying myself to myself**

Yesterday I was at the hospital to see my Mom. They were going to remove that drainage thingy from her back and I decided I didn’t want to stay in the room. The nurse assured me that it would be O.K. but I assured her that it most certainly would not be. (By the way my Mom is still doing great, it is going to be a long haul but she is being a real trooper). Anyway, I went for a little walk to the other end of the eighth floor. There were windows where I could look out on Montesano Mountain and see most of the valley on that side of Huntsville. It was such a hot and humid day that the view was not as beautiful as it could be and yet there was a great deal to take in.

That is when I noticed the air conditioner units on top of the building and the lights that helped the helicopter land right above us. I got to thinking about the hospital and how incredibly awesome it was that it all worked together. There are so many people with individual responsibilities that make up the efficiencies of the hospital as a whole. I doubt that the outpatient receptionist has any clue what it takes to land a helicopter. The nurses in ICU would not know where to start to prepare lunch for thousands of people each day. The skilled but busy anesthesiologist can not comfort and care for a patient like a nursing assistant can. No matter how skilled a surgeon is he does not want to deal with the money raising activities that are handled by the marketing department. I am sure many of these people don’t even know each other and yet they all work at Huntsville Hospital.

Such is our life in the kingdom. We should not even think that we should be able to do it all. We have a special and unique gift and we should find our “profession” even inside the kingdom to work and serve for God. At the same time we will sometimes out grow our position. The nursing assistant wants to work up to being a registered nurse. Perhaps the cafeteria worker will apply for a job in admissions or record keeping. But the truth is they can’t do both jobs at once. It is great to find new ways to serve and to work in the kingdom as well. We can’t do it all. We shouldn’t try to.

This post is really a form of justification on my part. I have felt embarrassed when people have told me that they were thinking of me and how much I have on me. I simply have not felt overwhelmed (most of the time). I actually feel guilty because I am not doing more. I have always worked better under pressure; I tend to get more done. I guess my point is that in my personal life I KNOW that I am the grandmother, not the mother. I come in and help as much as I can, but then I leave. I am the daughter, but my Dad will be the primary care taker for my Mom. I will come in and help out, I will offer support and assistance, but then I will leave. I am honored to have people who depend on me in their lives, and I know I don’t do as much as I could, but I do what I can. I also take time to play with my grandson, I work in some tennis (OK David, a lot of tennis), I have my walking, talking, exercising with Terri, and I have a full time job. Sure, I don’t cook, I don’t clean much, I never iron, I sometimes forget to go to the post office and pick up the bills to pay, but all in all I keep it in balance. If I tried to do all of those things I could not do the things that are really important right now.

I do regret that I have had to give up teaching a class at church and I hope to get back to that soon, but I think I have learned that I can’t be involved in everything that comes along. I have to prioritize even in my church life. I cannot and will not let others make me feel guilty for not participating in an event. You should not either. God will not give us more than we can bear, but we sometimes have to know when to throw things off of our backs.

I am afraid to say it......
But how about those Braves?

20 home runs in the last 5 games.

5th straight game to score 10 or more runs!

Cool!

I was pleasantly surprised with my Mother when she came out of recovery yesterday. I expected the worst; the Doctor had told us she would hate him and us for at least three weeks. However, with the help of the morphine pump she was actually quite funny. My Dad is always a big cut-up so I was really enjoying watching them spar. My Mom was cracking me up especially when Daddy and I were trying to feed her. Anyway, it was good to be surprised in a pleasant way. I think she has lived with so much pain for so long that she was just glad to know that “this pain” would make her better.

As she lay there in the fashionable hospital gown I noticed that she has perfect creamy white skin on and around her collar bone. This skin has been untouched by the ravages of the sun and wind. I felt a little jealous at first. That area on my body is very tan, but that tan has come at a price. I am freckled and perhaps a little wrinkled due to exposure to the sun. But as I thought about it I knew that I would not trade the experiences that have marked my skin for the creamy perfection of missing them. Sure when I was younger I abused sun-exposure thinking the darker my tan the better I looked. But in the last several years the only sun exposure I have comes from “doing” something. I have an “X” on my back from wearing racer back tops when I play tennis. I am too hot natured to wear a sleeve! I currently look funny when I wear sandals (all the time) because my feet are white. Most of the sun I get is on the tennis courts. The other sun exposure comes from playing on the lake. Yeah, I will keep my slightly damaged skin to enjoy the things that I love to do. Now don’t misunderstand my point, my Mother would be perfectly miserable doing the things that I love! I am not implying that she has not enjoyed her life, I believe that she has.

Are we this way with other things in our lives? Do we have something that is beautiful and special so we are afraid to use it? Do we think by using it we will destroy its beauty or its worth? Don’t get me wrong, I think we should protect things within reason (and I do wear sunscreen when I am going to be out more than a couple of hours), but if we forget the reason that we are given gifts of all kind is to use them, we are cheating ourselves. We can be guilty with our looks, our homes, our church buildings, our cars even our physical safety at times. We can sit on the sidelines, we can keep an immaculate home, we can forbid eating or drinking in our church buildings and our cars or we can use what we have. Sometimes we may need to go to “that” part of town, maybe sometimes we are supposed to pick up the hitch-hiker or stop and see if we can help someone on the side of the road.

Life is extremely short, that point becomes clearer to me with each passing birthday. What exactly are we saving ourselves for? In the end we are going to get a NEW BODY!! We might as well use this one up in service and in living our lives for him.

Thank you for your prayers. My Mom came through her surgery great. The Dr. was happy with her bones, saying they were in much better shape than he had feared. He also warned us that she would hate us all for the next three weeks. She will spend three months in a a back brace and the recovery will be brutal. But she was in good spirits when I left today (some of that may be the happy morphine pump) and was dealing with all of it much better than I had hoped.

As for my faith building question, my experience last week was at a business luncheon. The main speaker spoke freely of how God had led her to her job and how the lady who had hired her approached her after God had answered her prayers to find the right person. I know, we have this type of talk at church all the time, but when people truly share it wherever they are it boost my spirits and makes the Spirit soar!

Perhaps this week we can strive to demonstrate our faith when and where people least expect it!

In the last week who or what has been the strongest influence on your faith?

Did it happen inside the walls of the church building? What should this tell us?

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Please pray for my Mom's surgery on Monday. I will be out of pocket.

It was great to welcome our new preacher and his family today. I admit that I am already impressed. He remembered my Mom was having surgery and that I had triplets, plus he called me a hippy, but that is another story. It is amazing how well we like people when they take the time to know us. (I could learn a lot from that myself.) His memory gets a good work out, he memorizes his entire lesson, including all of the scriptures and preaches without notes.

It has been a long wait to have our new minister stand in the pulpit. It is good to be moving in a forward direction. I think the Forrest family will be a great addition to our church family.

Of course, this was his first day, and like he said, he was in a pressure pot. I think he handled the pressure with great finesse. The most important thing to me is I could see how excited he gets about bringing the word of God to a group of people.

Usually I post pictures of my babies when they look their cutest and are behaving. This was the scene at my house right before the 10:00 feeding last night. They were in full vocal throttle.

I can say honestly that these three babies "whipped" me yesterday. There is a reason I had mine in my early 20's!!

It is hard to get a picture of my house the way it sets on the lake. But I saw a great view from the park while we were playing with Matthew yesterday.

If you are ever on Smith Lake, stop by!

It was bound to happen sooner or later, I am just grateful it is not the babies. Diana's husband Joe has come down with some kind of stomach virus. He was up all night holding on to his porcelain lover. I had to take the day off today and pick up the babies and take them home with me. It is a little more stressful than I would like to admit to take care of three babies all by myself. They are sleeping at the moment....but moments are fleeting.

I pray that Joe gets better and no one else gets sick. My Mom's surgery is scheduled for next Monday. I would appreciate any prayers you might throw out for us.

Click here to see why....

Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing.

Wernher von Braun

The second hour of walking seemed like it was 10,000 miles. I walked alone, and I didn’t carry my MP3 player or anything. I guess God and Terri knew I needed some time alone to talk to God. There is a lot on my heart right now. It was great to walk and talk and then to have him paint me an absolutely gorgeous sunrise….He is an awesome God.
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One quick Matthew story; yesterday I went by to see him on my way to tennis practice. When it was time to leave, I said “I have got to go, I am going to play tennis”. He said “I betty to go pway tennis”. Broke my heart (because I had to leave him) and made my day!

He has always been better at me…at everything. Some things are logical; I mean I know that I married a jock. He should be better at softball and football. He is much better at tennis; I used to could occasionally beat him at bowling. There was no point in me trying at golf. Sure my score was ALWAYS much higher, but I found out in golf that was not a good thing. The thing that frustrates me is the things I should be better at. He cooks better, he irons better, he cleans better, and he takes care of the flowers better. I guess the competitive edge should have been beaten out of me by now and I have mellowed a lot. But I keep trying; I would like to be the best at SOMETHING!

Well the newest insult is his amazing weight loss and fitness program. I have been going to the gym at 5:30 for three years now. I have jumped from one diet plan to the other. I play tennis three and four times a week. But in March David decided to lose weight and get in shape. Part of it was driven by his high blood pressure; part of it was realizing the BIG birthday hits this year. With a regiment of walking and reduced eating he has lost over 40 pounds! I don’t think he has an ounce of fat left on him. In the meantime I have neglected my workouts but not the drive up window at Dairy Queen. I blamed it on the babies, but I have been sporadically finding this weight he is shedding.

Inspired and motivated by that crazy little thing called competition, Terri and I started a walking program this morning. I am sure that in a few months I will be telling you that I am in a size 2 and all my friends will fear that I am anorexic. In the meantime I will fight off those urges to drive through at Dairy Queen and will resist the bags of M&M’s that continually jump in my cart at Wal-Mart.

Last night Ali woke me up around 1:30. She went right back to sleep with her pacifier and I was grateful I was able to look out and see the full moon on the water. I started thinking how amazing nature had been this weekend, I enjoyed this lovely moon, we saw a beautiful sunset from the boat Saturday night and I got to see a Mother duck with 8 little babies swimming by my boat dock on Saturday.

As weekends go, I would have to say this was a good one. David and I got to go out and eat Friday night, one of our old traditions that have fallen by the wayside in our new role as grandparents to triplets. We were going to the movie, but evidently the rest of our fair town had the same ideal. Rather than fight the crowds we went to Dairy Queen and then home to watch a DVD.

Saturday morning I played a great tennis match with a partner named David. We had a lot of fun and more importantly we won! I came home and watched some more tennis (man I miss Wimbledon already) before heading out to ride my SeaDoo. In the meantime David- not tennis David- had bought groceries and prepared to grill out. We had some good friends over for dinner and had a wonderful time laughing and talking. I was asked if I realize how lucky I am to have my David….yes, I know!

When they left we went out in the boat(where we saw the amazing sunset) and then drove into town to see Matthew. The Braves decided to get fired up before the All Star break and had a couple of impressive wins over the weekend. Junior finished 5th in the race Sunday and the girls beat the boys yet again!!

After church yesterday I brought the triplets home with me. They were all so sweet, but they did demand all of my energy. I did not leave the house after I got home around 1:00 p.m. Ah, but they are so sweet. It does my heart good to play with them.

I do have a prayer request. While I was enjoying my weekend tragedy struck one of my relatives. My 2nd cousin lost his 10 year old son in a 4 wheeler accident. I covet your prayers for my cousin Randall and his family. My heart breaks just thinking about losing a child.

From Phil Wilson:

Following Jesus is an intensely personal journey that can only be properly done in community.

This is what I have been thinking lately.

This year’s 4th was a little different for me. For the first time in many years I did not stress myself out about the house being clean (that may have to do with the fact I pay someone to clean it now). I did not worry about trying to spend time outside in the sun (cloudy day helped) I did not worry about trying to cook anything (just because!). I suspected the crowd would be down this year. I did not have time to personally invite many people (although they are supposed to know if they come once they are automatically re-invited as long as we live there) and Wednesday was a work day. I was correct about the size of the crowd but with three new babies in the house it still seemed like a house full. Everyone was there was very special to me. My sweet friends the Chambers were there. They have only missed one year (the year their son Josh was born on June 24th) since we have lived there. They were able to bring sweet Marie with them. I was glad she was there. Josh turned 10 this year, and my Matthew was pretty sure he was there to entertain him. Jane Ann said it was only fair since he used to do the same to Derek and Diana. He was incredibly patient with a rowdy almost 2 year old.

I watched the fireworks from inside the house while holding a baby. It was still a great show. Everyone left right after the fireworks and David and I had cleaned up and sat down to watch some of the Braves game by 10:00!! Some years the last people can’t even get out of the driveway until after 11:00. I had around 25 hotdogs left over and probably 100 can cokes….but maybe I will have another party soon!

In other news I am wearing my reading glasses on top of my head today. There is some conspiracy afoot where everyone tries to see how small they can print things! I finally have given in and realized I needed help to read some of it. But I don’t like it!

The Braves tried to lose last night, they blew a 5 run lead in the top of the ninth to let the Red’s tie things up. Fortunately they came back to win in the 10th…. I don’t know if I am cut out to be a Braves fan this year.

Have a great weekend!!

• Do you think that TV and books make us overly dramatic? Do we sometimes force an emotion or situation because we think we are supposed to?
• Why does keeping one baby suddenly seem so easy?
• I dreamed last night that my checking account was overdrawn. I checked my account today and if I had not transferred some money it would have been.....Coincidence?
• This is the first time in a long time that I was not ready to get back to work after a long vacation....
• I am playing mixed doubles on two different teams this week with a partner named David neither of which is my husband.
• I have hit a temporary (I assume) lull in reading.
• I have never worn pajamas (I am a tank shirt or t-shirt girl) but I recently bought some white crinkled pj's with capri bottoms and sleeveless top that I LOVE to wear.....I don't really know why except that they are so comfortable. (of course I don't wear the bottoms to bed...)
• The Braves have really sucked for the last two months....tonight they won 14-4....whatever.
• Junior won at Chicago last year and it was considered a fluke....what if he wins this year?
• I have stated that I never wanted another job, but recently I have felt compelled to find a vocation to be passionate about? Is that just another form of Mid-life crisis?

I am grateful that so many have fought in the past to provide the freedoms we now enjoy. I know that I am blessed that I was lucky enough to be born in the USA. I have spent many years declaring myself an indepent woman and truly we Americans are a little caught up in the whole "Independence" thing.

Sunday when someone was speaking of independence day at church I was thinking that this is the one place where we should be proud to admit that we are totally dependent on one much greater than us. Stephen Curtis Chapman said it best.

I like this picture. I know I posted it with Matthew's pictures, but I just love the colors and how very refreshing the water looks.


I noticed something this weekend as I was out and about on the lake. People are very friendly out here. If you come up on another boat, especially if it it traveling slower, you always wave. They will always wave back too. When you meet someone you wave. There are a few exceptions as many people come in just for one or two weekends per year, they just don' t know the rules..... so I was wondering, Is this an Alabama thing? Do you do this where you go to the lake? How about it Amy? We even wave when we are skiing....

We kept the babies last night. Derek & Mary were here to help us for awhile. Matthew is not real sure about losing his role as center of attention, but I don't think he is suffering too much.

I could never keep these babies if David was not so good to help me. He is more help than I can even describe.

Today has been somewhat lazy since taking the babies home, although I am trying to straighten the house up some for tomorrow, and of course I am watching the Wimbledon quarter finals.


BTW- Fireworks at my house tomorrow night. Come anytime after 6:00. Bring food or drink and we will sit on the deck and watch the fireworks at 9:00. Sorry, this year my secretary was too busy tending to three babies to send out invitations...But everyone is welcome!

I started this blog adventure on June 28th, 2004, so I missed my anniversary while on vacation.
Many things have changed in the last two years. I have four new grandchildren. That is scary. It is also the main reason I keep doing this. I hope to share a part of my life with them some day. Many things are the same. I am watching Wimbeldon and even as we speak am watching the night race at Daytona. My tennis picks have been dropping like flies (at least on the men's side) I hope I do better with my race picks.

It was nice to take a vacation from many things, including blogging. But I did find that the one thing I did miss was "Donna time". It was hard to get away by myself for even a few minutes. Derek said that Mary suffered from much the same thing so I don't feel too bad about it. Even getting home I was glad when David needed to run to Lowe's or go walking..... Sometimes I just need to stick my tongue out at the TV all by myself....

But, I am glad to be home and I am glad to be back in blogville.....life is really about balance.

By the way the title "673" is the number of this post. Can you believe that I have had that much to say in two years? (I am not real sure that is in "balance")

Well we have Monday off, so I have an extra long vacation....let the celebrations begin!

The weather was perfect, the accomodations very good for families, we had some "iffy" dining experiences, Matthew is a very EARLY riser and our sun screen worked!! All in all we had a great time. I was able to rest and relax in way that I have not gotten to do in a long time. PLUS when we had some down time Wimbledon was on!! How sweet was that!

Matthew was great. He can melt my heart just by looking so excited when he says "Mimi" with a big smile on his face.

I did learn why so many grandparents learn to love soccer, gymnastics and other things that they ordinarily would not watch. It has to do with the grandkids. See, I have gone to the beach for the last 15 years or so without getting in a pool (you can do that at home, why drive 6 hours to swim in a pool?) but Matthew loved the pool. He spent most of his time there and of course so did we. He learned to swim like a fish with his swimmies on and we had to hustle to keep up with him. There was one full day when I didn't even go the beach...in my past that would have been unthinkable, but the truth is I didn't mind. I knew this trip wasn't about "me" it was about enjoying that sweet little boy and his wife and son...(confused you there didn't I?) I did enjoy spending time with Derek & Mary as much as I did with Matthew. Don't get me wrong, just like other grandparents still watch football when given a choice, I will spend hours on the beach when I go without the grandkids. I just learned to appreciate a "different" way of doing the beach.

We did see some spectacular sunsets. Here is one we enjoyed.