A weekend with Audrey, Billy, Bessie and Jodi

This radiant lady is my grandmother, Audrey. We lovingly call her Mom (and now that she's a great-grandmother sometimes The Grand Mom). I just spent an amazing 3 days with her thanks to several family members - namely my hubby! To read the back story of how this came to be, click here.

What an amazing weekend to learn more about my grandmother and her faith, my late grandfather, my father, and other family. She is a kindred spirit, and I am so thankful for these memories. Rarely do I have her all to myself - and for 3 whole days! We laughed, we cried, we sat in awe of God, we worshipped, and we prayed together. We were scarcely quiet - even when reading late at night my grandmother laughs out loud when she gets tickled. My heart overflows with gratitude for those who helped us get away for this rare treat. I didn't think I could love this lady any more, but I was wrong.

Friday morning, I flew to Birmingham where I met my grandmother at the airport. Mom and I hit the road to Charlotte trying to beat the bad weather that was headed our way. Eight hours (filled with stories, laughter, heavy rain and much traffic) later we arrived at our beautiful hotel and crashed.

The next morning we headed to the Billy Graham Library for the day. Literally, I mean the day. They say to give yourself 1 1/2 - 2 hours for the tour - we were there a total of 6 hours (yes, S-I-X!!!!). We enjoyed ourselves so much that we didn't even notice how late it was. Not only are the grounds beautiful (even with a light rain), but they have thought of every detail. The library/museum is constructed like a barn - even down to the sinks in the bathroom! The cafe is called the Graham Brothers Dairy Bar and the hot dogs are named Billy Franks. (The family dairy farm was known as Graham Brothers Dairy and Billy was called Billy Frank by his folks since he is a junior.) They even have a robotic cow, Bessie, that starts off the tour with a song. She was quite impressive! Check out Mom eating her Billy Frank...

This is the house Billy grew up in just a few miles from its current location. It has been moved brick by brick and restored. We had the joy of talking with Rose Adams, Mrs. Graham's nurse in her last years (Billy's mother). What a treat to hear directly from the women who was so close to her in those days.



The focus of the tour is Christ. You enter the library through the foot of the cross. Every video, memorabilia, quote, and Scripture speaks of the message of the Gospel. Inspiring!

Two things really struck me while I was there:
1. The chain of faith as they called it. The chain starts with a Sunday school teacher who led D.L. Moody to the Lord. D.L. led someone else who did something else and on and on until it mentions Rev. Ham, the evangelist that led the revival when Billy Graham accepted Christ. We never know how our actions affect the Kingdom.
2. The faith and commitment of Morrow Coffey Graham (Billy's mother) and Ruth Bell Graham. These women served their families tirelessly and sought God above all else. What an influence they had on Billy and what crucial roles they played so Billy could do what God called him to do. What a challenge to me as a young wife and mother.

Ruth Bell Graham is buried on the grounds - at the foot of the cross. The sidewalks down to the grave site form a cross. What a beautiful picture. Her marker, a simple field stone from NC, reads, "End of construction. Thank you for your patience." She saw the sign as they were driving down the highway one day and said that it was what she wanted on her tombstone. The family agreed. I think it is quite poignant.


God blessed us in a myriad of ways Saturday. One of the best was getting to meet the director of the library, Wayne. Mom's pastor knows Wayne and told her to ask for him. Being a Saturday he wasn't there, but she left him a note. As we were about to leave the library, a guide caught us and told us Wayne had stopped by. He took a large amount of time from his day to share with us some details we didn't know about the library, the current happenings of the ministry, and Billy's health. He gave us a couple of commemorative magazines and gave my grandmother a wonderful book that chronicles Billy's life and ministry in pictures. We felt God smiling on us all day.

God blessed me personally with a real treat - tulips everywhere! I love tulips and the business complex near our hotel used them as the backdrop of their landscaping. The red, white, and unique orangey-pink flowers warmed my heart each time we passed.

The drive back to Birmingham Sunday was much less eventful, but full of worship as we enjoyed the CD Mom bought at the gift shop. Those old hymns brought back a flood of memories.

To cap off the weekend, my best friend met me at the Birmingham airport to visit while I waited to take off. She kindly brought a Sonic coke and Cadbury Creme Eggs - gotta love her! It was another wonderful refreshment for my soul to spend time with her. Always a treat - even if it was only an hour.

It was a weekend that I am still processing - a weekend of rejuvenation and refreshment. A weekend where God spoke.

And Clay and the kids did great just like I knew they would.

Make It Rain - The Sequel

In the spirit of Pebbles

Our daughter sported her first ponytail today.

I had to capture it - and got some of her famous faces as well!





And yes - she knows she's cute.

Our mini-adult

I failed to catch the best pose: him holding the paper open intently checking out what's on sale!

I'm hoping to teach him early how to find the best deal!

Bye bye curls

As promised, this was a full family affair. There was much thrashing and wailing, and at one point it took both of us holding him down! I was sad to see the curls go, but summer is upon us. As much as he loves to play outdoors, as dark as his hair is, and as much as he sweats, the summer cut was a must. He does look quite dashing though, doesn't he?

BEFORE

















AFTER

Enjoy the game

This is a phrase that is repeated often around our house right now thanks to Super Why! The "super story answer" to Red & Princess' problem is "enjoy the game." (I know that makes no sense unless you've seen The Tortoise and the Hare episode.) Anyway, I walked into the kitchen this afternoon and found this on our fridge...I confirmed that Dad didn't help- the boy did this all on his own! I'm quite proud...and have to protest those that say any amount of television is not good for our little ones. I agree too much can be a problem, but our boy has learned A LOT from Blue, BOZ and Super Why! that I'm not sure he would know by this point if it was all left up to me!

A little about us

Found this on another blog and thought it might be fun for those of you who don't know us all that well - and some of you who do know us might be surprised by a few of the answers (yeah, right!).

1. Who is your man? Clay

2. How long have you been together? married 9 years in May

3. How long did you date? 11 months before engagement, 7 month engagement

4. How old is your man? 30 (this is where he would point out that I am older than him even if it is only 4 months and 3 days!)

5. Who eats more? usually him, but I can put him to waste with chips & salsa

6. Who said, "I love you," first? he did the Sunday after we got back from a ski trip in the street - he led me to the interstate (we were in Memphis) and then I was headed home to Nashville - we'd been dating all of 1 month

7. Who is taller? HELLO - not hard to beat 4'11"

8. Who sings better? we can both sing on key, but it's not a natural gift for either of us

9. Who is smarter? again- HELLO - engineer vs. communications gal and he remembers all sorts of various junk he learned in school and on the History Channel

10. Whose temper is worse? On a regular basis - mine. His fuse is longer, but once it's blown it's blown big.

11. Who does the laundry? mostly me, but he will

12. Who takes out the garbage? I usually gather it from around the house and he takes the cans to the street.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? when you are facing the bed, me (see, it's different if you are talking about when you are lying down on your back)

14. Who pays the bills? I do, but he has and can.

15. Who is better at the computer? Depends on the program

16. Who mows the lawn? definitely him - and he does an awesome job!

17. Who cooks dinner? mostly me, but he grills

18. Who drives when you are together? him

19. Who pays when you go out? him

20. Who is most stubborn? usually me, but he has his moments

21. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? usually me because I usually am

22. Who kissed who first? we disagree a bit on this, but basically it's me because I misread his signals

23. Whose parents do you see the most? mine because they live 10 minutes from us while his are 8 hours away

24. Who asked who out? Since our first date was after our DTR, does this really count? But he was the one who asked for a real date the next week.

25. Who proposed? Him - he knew we were going to get married first too.

26. Who is more sensitive? Usually me.

27. Who has more friends? Probably me because I can talk to a fence post.

28. Who has more siblings? him - 1 sister and 2 half-sisters

Little Miss Attitude

Terrible twos. The tween years. These I heard about, but our little girl must be an overachiever since she is only 13 months. She has developed quite the little attitude lately. This morning she bit me - BIT ME ON THE CHEEK - because I wouldn't let her play with the computer. Some family members keep bringing up stories from my toddler days, but I just don't see the similarities (yeah, right). My mom found this picture from my dad's birthday party that captures one of her fits (without the arching back and flailing legs). As you can see, my dad is quite surprised as this was the first time my family had the honor of seeing her in full swing. Now you know better how to pray for me and Clay!

Easter

We had a fabulous Easter weekend. Mimi, Granddaddy, and Aunt Claire came to visit. We had a great time playing outdoors, watching basketball and just enjoying each other. Again, I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few from Sunday morning. The boy is less tolerant of posing these days - thus why the family photo only has 3 of us in it! Hopefully I'll have more pictures to share once Mimi and Aunt Claire send some my way!

Make it rain!

It's March Madness time, and my boys promptly pulled the basketball goal from the younger boy's room Thursday night. Much fun was had as Clay taught the boy about basketball. The girl so wanted to get involved, but mostly just got run over or pushed out of the way. Here are some fun shots and a video so you can hear the boy makin' it rain!

ZOO redeux

I made a trip to the zoo with both kids for the second time last Thursday. We enjoyed the day with Grannylou, Aunt Kristi, Dylan, Kadyn, and a couple of Kadyn's friends. We couldn't have asked for better weather and crowd (especially for it being spring break). I think we all had a great time. The boy finally enjoyed the animals instead of just the water at each exhibit. The girl also enjoyed the animals, but not being contained in the stroller (see her unhappiness to the left - and we hadn't even started seeing animals yet!). I didn't take a ton of pictures because we were having so much fun - and I only have 2 hands/arms and 2 kids who wanted a better view. We spent over 4 hours there - I think visiting the zoo will be a must again this spring & summer.




Here is the girl entralled with this gorilla. I was so excited to watch her find it. The lion put on the best show with multiple roars right after we walked up. The boy practiced his roar once the lion laid down!

Trying to get a better look...

Look Grannylou, an elephant!





"Climb, climb, climb," he said, and then he simply tried to get a better look at the cow in the petting area. The animals weren't much for being touched while we were there, but the boy did pet a chicken. I was so proud he touched it. The girl promptly crashed for a brief moment...but it didn't last long because she didn't want to miss a thing!




The boy wasn't too thrilled about stopping to take pictures, but we did capture me getting some little boy lovin'. I know the days of public displays are short lived.

You know you're tired when...

you fall asleep right where you're playing -

especially when your bed is only a few steps away!!!

The kids + outside = LOVE

Our kids LOVE to be outside. I am thankful, but dreading the late summer heat. I am also thankful we got the boy a swing set for his birthday last year so playing outside can simply mean opening the back door - no need to look presentable! The girl loves to swing as much as her brother, and he is finally tall enough to maneuver climbing up the slide all by himself. After almost 2 hours outside this morning, I was only able to lure them indoors happily with the promise of Super Why! and snacks. I foresee this being a regular routine now that spring is here.

Yesterday was another wonderful spring day so I opened the windows to air out the house. The girl stood like a captive longing for freedom at the front windows for about half an hour. It didn't help that she kept seeing her daddy "enjoying" the outdoors as he pulled limbs and bags of leaves to the street for pickup. She couldn't seem to understand why he was getting to have all the fun!
I couldn't resist posting this picture - don't you just love that smirk? We are discovering what a joyful handful little miss will be in the coming years. Yes, you can begin increasing your prayers for us now!