It was Memorable

If you live in the deep Southeast you too are probably wondering who stole our beautiful sun. I've not seen more than 30 minutes of consecutive sunshine in a week and a half and it's killing my creative side. What is it about the lack of sun that drains people? My pictures from our weekend getaway have been edited and have been sitting in my Flickr account for a couple days, yet the words and energy to recap our delightful weekend are far from my fingertips. So... in attempt to not fall far behind I'm going to sip some fully caffeinated ice tea and see if I can squeeze out a recap that will fully display the wonderfulness of our weekend!

In our pre-children years we would always pack the lake house full on Memorial Day weekend. Maybe even some of you have spent a Memorial Day with us? As we've now been outnumbered by children our friends too have been outnumbered by their children which has resulted in a Memorial Day going from a LOT of people to just a FEW. I like it both ways, but with a lot of little ones, the fewer the better.

The house sits on Silver Lake, a private, small, crystal clear, spring-fed lake near Marianna, Florida. A 45-minute drive from our house. Justin's parents {along with his aunt & uncle} built the house in 1981. The house is adorned in pictures, some of my favorite include Justin at Morgan's age swimming, splashing and fishing. He mentioned over and over this weekend what delight it gave him to see his children enjoy the lake the way he enjoyed it when he was a child. The lake is not very large and no motor boats are allowed, only sailboats, kayaks/canoes, or trolling motors {battery operated}. It's a quiet and peaceful place where you hear tree frogs, whippoorwills, and red-wing blackbirds rather than the loud drone from motors of ski boats and jet skis.

We were accompanied this weekend by the Stanford & Wright families {and a LOT of food} and had a wonderful weekend... despite the rain. Both of these families are wonderful, laid-back, go-with-the-flow friends.... which is especially important when the forecast showed a LOT of showers.

As we drove down Saturday morning, I thought for sure the weather would clear. In 10 years of spending Memorial Day weekend at the lake it's never rained the WHOLE time. My very optimistic husband would repeatedly say, "I think it's about to blow over!" Which it would, only to be followed by another downpour.

This picture of Raiger pretty much sums up a lot of what we saw & did: watched the RAIN & stuffed our faces.

John Martin & Mary Grace were fast friends and teamed up on cleaning the floors with their clothes, while the Raiger took care of baby Rhys {I only had to tell her twice, "Not so fast, Raiger!"}.

Saturday afternoon there was a small window of opportunity for me to take the young man to the swing. He was sporting his "I ♥ Mom" shirt and as if his smile {& teeth} don't win me over the combination of the two will certainly earn the man some serious swing time. So we swung. And we swung. And we swung some more.

I loved these pictures so much that I made a new header {thanks, Julie!}.

The weather cleared on Saturday evening in time for what we used to call a "Wine Cruise" but when you're with nursing mothers and young children a "Pajama Cruise" was a more appropriate name for our evening boat ride.

Sunday brought more scattered showers with a few windows for swimming and splashing for the kids.

Once the children were all snug in their beds both nights we pulled out the Joker Board. Shireen and Russell are big "Joker" fans and Russell even made this beautiful board. We had a lot of fun and loved learning a new game. There were a lot of laughs and we enjoyed a little evening fellowship with a game that is a combination of cards, marbles, a little luck and a lot of strategy!

Monday came way too quickly! We obviously forgot to get a group picture... maybe next time!

This picture was in my "stack" and it reminds me to tell y'all that I ended up zig-zagging around the owls for fear that after several washings the "Heat 'n Bond LITE" would lose it's tack. So, if you try it you may want to zig-zag around the fabric to ensure a good hold.

**There are more pictures from our weekend in my FLICKR account... you can click on any of these pictures to be lead there.**

The weatherman has informed me that the sun should reappear this weekend, until then we have plenty to keep us busy.

And for me: Same Kind of Different as Me. It's been on my reading list for 4 months and thanks to the rain this weekend I started it and almost finished it in a couple days. It's a life-changing book. That's all I can say right now... I don't imagine the last few pages will change my opinion... I know a lot of y'all have read it and I thank you for the rec. I'll be back soon with a full review.

I haven't been brought to tears in a while... and not only did this book bring me to tears but also a video I watched on Monday night. Have y'all heard about Rachel Barky? She is a 37-year old mother of 2 who is dying. She presented the most POWERFUL message to a group of women a couple months ago. I listened intently to her every word and found nothing that she said to be untrue or out of line with the Gospel. Her days are numbered, her young and beautiful body is riddled with cancer. Her hope is in the Lord, her maker, creator, and Savior. Her message is powerful. If you haven't seen it please click on the link and listen to her words. Her circumstances are dismal but her message is full of peace and hope. I pray it will encourage you the way that it encouraged me: to be a mother who delights in serving my Savior, my husband, and my children and may I do so with abounding joy because as Rachel teaches: "I know God", "I know myself", "I know the Gospel" and "I know my purpose". If you don't have time to listen now, I suggest you download the audio and listen to it when you have a chance.

Ok, until next time...