Wednesday, May 27, 2009

It was Memorable

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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.

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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.

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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!"}.

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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.


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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.


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

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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!


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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.

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**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.

books

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...

24 comments:

Tara said...

It's too bad that it rained all weekend, but it looks like you all still had a great time!

Same Kind of Different As Me is one of my absolute favorites. I have lended it to all my friends and family. Life changing is exactly right.

So glad you posted - I was going through withdrawls this weekend! Ha! :)

Melissa Stover said...

beautiful pictures. i love the one in the bouncy seat because my 4 year old does it too fast with his sister in it too. i also love the swing pictures. it made a nice header.

Cherish Stockdale said...

Looks like you guys made the most of your rainy weekend.... Love your pictures :)

morethanthestarsinthesky said...

Loved all your pics! What sweet memories ya'll are building with your children. I'm a Bama girl to and I am looking forward to a Sunny weekend as well. We have only been able to go to the pool once. So hopefully Friday will be a good day. Thanks for sharing. Praying for Rachel....you can hear God's mercy in her courage. Sweet.


Amanda

Natalie said...

i guess we were far enough south to catch a break in the weather.

and yes, that book is a life-changer. stephen and i both read it recently and are still talking about it/learning from it.

thanks for the inspiring link - ill have to wait till b is taking a nap to listen to that one...

Kendra White said...

we LOVE LOVE LOVE Same Kind of Different as Me. If you are interested it is VERY good as a book on tape. I read it and purchased it on tape for my sweet hubs. Said it was a life changing book for him. So I then listened to it while ironing... made the task seem small!

Dianne said...

Looks like a fun weekend even though the weather did not cooperate. I enjoyed the pictures. Have been gone awhile...had some surgery. Good to be back.

meredith said...

Too bad it rained on y'all but it looks like y'all had a great time! John Martin is growing like a weed! He is such a handsome boy! Hope y'all are doing well.

~Meredith

duchess said...

We went to Atlanta for the weekend & it was raining the entire time there too.
Glad y'all had a good time regardless.

BKaminski said...

I have so many memories from that lake house. Taking the mule out with solon and chase and my sister we would go around the circle and pick the wild black/raspberry's. The floating dock, which I think is gone now? And the tails of the Gator.

erika said...

love it all. listened to the video the other night too, it is powerful. did you buy the book or check it out at library? if you bought i want to borrow.
love you sister!!
XO
mommasis

julie said...

what a fun weekend! know that if you ever want a "wine cruise" then I am only a phone call away, but erika might not let me leave! haha

Lindsey said...

what great pictures! love the ones of jm in the swing. we have that same swing on our back porch and i think grady would stay in it all day if i let him. actually we were swinging at 7 AM this morning?! love, love, love the lake too. grew up going to eufaula mostly but i think i might have even ventured down to silver a time or two in high school... i've been wanting a good book for my upcoming hospital stay and i think this might be it. glad you guys had a great weekend.

Kaysha Patel said...

So glad you had a great Memorial Day weekend, despite the rain. Thanks for blogging about it - I loved all the photos.
Also, I was just wondering if you were still planning on doing Round 3 of the Darby FAQs :)

Dena said...

Look how big the kids have gotten and of course y'all look GREAT!

alison giese Interiors said...

I LOVE the new header - fantastic!
What fun weekend, despite the weather.
Can't wait to get my hands on Same Kind of Different as Me - looked for it the other day at Tar-jay, but they were out of stock - boo! You're not the first person I've heard say it is life-changing. I'm looking forward to it.

Take Care!
alison g. (brazil)

Sarah Brady said...

Is Atlanta the "deep" Southeast? We tried to escape the gray last week on a week-long vacation in Tybee and it rained cats and dogs for all but one day! It felt like a psychology experiment - sitting inside all day watching the rain-soaked beach! We managed to have a blast indoors and it looks like you did too. I spent lots of time practicing with my new Rebel XSI - I wish I could take pictures like yours!

elizabeth said...

oh darby,
same kind of different as me, by far the best book i have EVER read!!! i told erika about it a few months ago! so glad to know it touched you too.

Shireen said...

Love the summary! Love the pics!

Rhys has been sick :( I had to take him to the doc this morning, so I've been MIA in email, blogging, etc! The long (but good!!) weekend and then travels on Tuesday to H'ville, then R being gone, and trying to catch up with everything socially and with the house here has taken a toll on my body, but I'm strong in our Lord, and I'm taking it one step at a time.

I love the Raiger's picture. Gosh, I could just kiss on her sweet cheeks right now! I'll have to ponder on my dreams. I do appreciate yours, however. We desire to go out west and go camping/backpacking for at least a week. Of course, the Stickler 'clan' :) is ALWAYS invited to visit and bunk with us! You know that.

Thank you guys for a very MEMORABLE weekend, or, actually, I praise our Lord for it! ;) I'm still planning to blog on it, and I was going to title the post, "A Weekend to Remember" or "A Memorable Weekend." :)

aedozier said...

Thank you for posting about Rachel Barkley. I listened today and needed every word she said!

Jessica Define said...

sounds like my kind of vacation-- I always end up eating every minute of vacation, so good food is a must. Then I'll need a good view to sit and look at while I regret eating 13 dinner rolls, which actually happened on my vacation last month. ps love the new header! and you got great pictures even in the stinky weather!

Tara said...

hi darby. i have been following your blog for quite awhile and thoroughly enjoy it - i guess i have been one of your 'quiet readers' - anyway, i am originally from marianna and know silver lake quite well. i am glad you enjoyed your stay, even if it did rain.

No.35style said...

sounds like a fabulous, fun weekend!

Amanda said...

I've been reading your blog for a while now (can't even remember how I found you!) and wanted to say hi!

One of my aunts passed along "Same Kind of Different As Me" and I also LOVED it. What an amazing read. I've lent my copy out several times now!

Keep posting - all the photos and fun commentary about daily mom life is great...makes me look forward to being one someday!