In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 1:5-6
I'll start out with a a fun picture of my three sweeties eating some sweets! They each had these fun suckers in their Easter baskets, but I only just let them eat them this weekend. Love it when I get all three looking at the camera and smiling!
Our Memorial Day weekend started out with a beautiful wedding on Saturday morning! John is Sean's cousin Dale's son and he and Amber were married on Saturday morning in an outdoor wedding. Here is a picture of Sean, Dale and the four musketeers! John and these other guys (Jeff, John and Joseph) were all in the youth group when Sean was the leader.
The weather was gorgeous and the location for the wedding was in a beautiful garden. The bride and groom looked so happy and everything was just perfect!
It was a perfect opportunity to take some family pictures....so here is Sean with his mom and dad and his brother and sister!
All of the grandkids were there too, so here is a picture of Nana and Papa with all their "babies!"
After the wedding, the kids and I went downtown to the Global DestiNation Finals. My longtime friend, Trish is a teacher and her school from Williamson Co., TN had a couple of teams competing. We went last year and there are lots of fun things for the kids to do! Beckett with a giant bubble.....
Helen at the NASA exhibit in an astronaut suit.....
Beckett and Helen watching as the KIVA blocks were about to come crashing down......
After we finished there, we headed over to the Sunsphere! I have lived here for a very long time, and I had never been up in the Sunsphere! So we headed up!
A picture of the kids up in the Sunsphere looking down on K-town!
Then a few blocks up the street to Market Square to the International Biscuit Festival and a chance to play in the water!
On Sunday evening we headed down to the river with some friends for a cook-out. Here are Beckett and Garrett playing a wiffle ball game in the field.
Fun times sitting around in camp chairs and getting ready to grill out!
Helen eating some chicken right off of the grill and getting ready to play a little football!
Helen, Maddie and Will just hanging out!
A little later in the evening we roasted marshmallows over the campfire and made s'mores! Here is Will enjoying his s'more!
Our Monday was quite laid back. Lots of cleaning and laundry catch up. The boys all got in an afternoon nap together!
Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day weekend as much as we did! So thankful for the men and women who have served our country well and have fought for the freedoms that we enjoy!
On Wednesday, May 18th, my friend Wendy lost her battle with breast cancer. I have known Wendy for about 10 years. She had two daughters at the school where I taught and we were pregnant at the same time. Her third daughter, Emma, was born about six months before Beckett and about three years later they became great buddies in their Mother's Day Out class. I'm so thankful that Emma and "Bucket" (as she called him), became friends! Through their friendship, Sean and I had the pleasure of getting to know Wendy and her husband Joe. She was a wonderful wife to her husband, an amazing mother to her three daughters and a fantastic friend to many, many people. This picture was taken of Wendy and me about a year and a half ago at The Race for the Cure.
The last couple of years had been hard and especially these last couple of months. She had been so very sick. She never complained and she worked so hard to be physically and mentally present for her girls! I am going to miss Wendy very much and I'm so thankful for her friendship and the amazing example of a giving, loving and serving woman that she has been for me. She trusted in and loved her Heavenly Father and I know that she is enjoying resting in His presence as she is now fully healed!
The song on my playlist was played at Wendy's memorial service this past Saturday. She had requested that the song be played at her service. The words of this song reveal that she knew that even through her pain and trials, she understood that this earth was not her home. I'm so thankful that she is free from the pain of cancer and that she has been healed from the aching of this life!
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
Beckett and some of his buddies were recruited to participate in a video that was shown at our church service this morning in honor of Mother's Day! I just had to share! Happy Mother's Day!
We were so blessed by our time with some of the girls from The African Children's Choir! We went to their concert on Sunday night and we loved it! They put on a very high energy performance with a blend of traditional African music and contemporary worship music. At the end of the program, we went to a room to wait until they matched us up with "our girls" (as Will and Helen called them!) We had three girls from the choir and their chaperone/choir director come home with us to stay for three nights and we had a wonderful time! This is the only decent picture that I got of the whole choir. By the time we met them, they had changed out of their costumes.
On Monday morning, we took them to the church where they had school and rehearsals. We picked them up that evening and had dinner then went to a local playground and splash pad to play and eat popsicles. They all had so much fun!
Helen with "her girls"......A, J and F! Such sweet girls!
Just had to include this shot of Mr. Dimples in his "emee emee" shirt. (That is what he calls M and M's)
This is "A" and she was the oldest of the girls. This is her second time to be in the ACC and she is such a beautiful girl. So kind, fun, smart and responsible. When "G" (their chaperone/choir director) was not with them, she took on the leader role and she was so good with the younger two girls. I loved this picture of her dancing as the water splashed up in a ring around her!
Back at home, the kids had fun playing in our backyard. I figured they would think we were crazy having corn in our sandbox, but I think they enjoyed it! We got lots of laughs over all the corn that was tracked in the house! I'd rather clean up corn kernels than sand any day!
I took this picture when we picked them up at the church on Tuesday. "A" was sitting in a really cool chair that looks like a hand, but when they were all piled in around it, you can't tell it is even there! Oh well! It is a cute picture of them all! Can you tell that the girls were loving Will? He kept them laughing (as he does with us) all the time! He has the most fun personality and they just giggled at him the whole time!
The girls LOVE to read! They were so happy with all the books we have! I have a huge shelf in my garage that is full of books and they loved it! Every time we would load up in the van to go somewhere, they would each grab several books to read as we traveled! They spent a lot of time reading!
We also got out our box full of puzzles. I hadn't gotten out our puzzles in a long time and they all enjoyed putting them together.
On Wednesday morning, it was time to say good-bye. We took a few pictures before they left. "A" always had Will with her every chance she got!
This is the only one that I got with "G," their chaperone. She was so sweet! She had been a member of the choir back in the 90's and she is now their director. We loved spending time with her. She actually had the day off on Tuesday, so when the girls were at the church for school and rehearsals, she got to sleep in and relax. We went to the library after we dropped the girls off so that she could sleep in, and then when we came home, we enjoyed hanging out and talking to her about many different things!
I took this last picture in front of their bus on the morning that we dropped them off at the church. Our kids really wanted to go to their concert that night in a town about 45 minutes from us, but we couldn't make it work out. The choir is going to be in my hometown of Brentwood this Saturday and Sunday. If you live in the area, you should really go and see them!
From The African Children's Choir website:
Since 1984, the Choir’s message has reached many millions of people across North America and Europe and as far a field as Australia.
Through the excellence of their performances they have raised substantial sums of money. This supports both the commitment of the organization to the ongoing care and education of the Choir children themselves and funds the education and welfare of many thousands of children in some of Africa’s most troubled and needy areas.
To date the work of the Choir has extended from its beginnings in Uganda to Rwanda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Southern Sudan and most recently Nkomazi in the northern border region of South Africa. It targets children whose lives can be changed by the chance to receive the care and quality education that brings freedom from poverty and hopelessness.
They are the future of Africa.
On Tuesday afternoon when "G" was hanging out here at the house with us, she told us about the Music For Life program and schools and all that it does for these children. She showed us many YouTube videos of the choir and she knew many of the kids from the school in Uganda! She would point at them and smile and say their names and you could tell she just had such love for them all. "A" was in the choir that performed with Josh Groban on the American Idol "Gives Back" program and I thought I would end this post with that video. Get your tissues ready, because it is impossible to not be moved by this inspirational song and these precious children!
