Beach Vaca: Day 1

We're vacationing this week with my in-laws. This is Rhyan's first BIG vacation, so i dont want to forget it.

I was nervous about our drive here. Rhyan has just learned in this past week to get herself to standing w/o holding onto anything and is very eager to practice. She's also become a huge fan of her walking toy and wants to play with that as well. So to confine her to a car for 6 hours... well, i wasnt looking forward to it. She doesnt even like riding for more than about 20 minutes... so....

We left the house at 8:15am Friday morning. Our plan? Play it by ear. See how Rhyan does and follow her cues. What did we think that would look like? Probably stopping every hour. ha.
Well, what happened? I gave her some cherio's for a snack at about 8:45 to try to get her to last and not need breakfast just yet. She fell asleep around 9am and slept till 10. We stopped for breakfast about 10:15 at chick-fil-a in Opelika, Ala. Rhyan was quite a hit, btw... all the workers loved her. Side note: i flippin LOVE the plastic placemat's that attach to the table. I "stole" a few for vaca (after i asked, of course). She ate great and then we let her play on the playground for a bit. She is wanting so badly to climb lately, so being the nice mommy that i am, i hauled my fat butt in the kids area and helped her climb and play all in that thing. Little did we know, she was multi-tasking; playing AND pooping. So as we waited for her to finish (both) we hoped this would be our only stop... but knew better. Finally, she was finished so we got cleaned up and headed on.

She did well for another 2 hours and fell asleep. She and I were sleeping so well when we were both shook awake by the loudest noise. Wondering what had happened, i looked at jeff who apparently was the culpruit of the noise... he sneezed. Fyi, Jeff has the loudest sneezes. Ever. Slightly annoying. So for the last hour of the drive, she was off and on cranky, but overall she did GREAT! We did only stop the one time for a late breakfast and made it here (orange beach, ala) in just over 6 hours :-) The view of the pool from our condo!

So for the last hour of the drive, she was off and on cranky, but overall she did GREAT! We did only stop the one time for a late breakfast and made it here (orange beach, ala) in just over 6 hours :-)

We unpacked and headed down to the pool. There's not many people here (b/c of the oil spill, i guess... although the beaches look fine, for now. swimmings off limits in the ocean, though). She LOVES, and i do mean loves, the water. Jeff dunked her under and she did great. We dunked her 2 more times before the day was over. She acts like she wants to swim. I think we have a fish on our hands :-)

Rhyan with Grandad and Gran in the pool

Dinner at Live Bait was great. There was an outdoor area with a swampy area full of turtles and alligators! We took in the sights and then back to the condo to hang for a bit and hit the sack a little early. But not before we had to do an impromptu diaper change in the trunk! Rhyan was once again multitasking at dinner... eating and making room for more! haha.

At Live Bait, out on the dock

The three of us... rhyan couldnt stop staring at the turtles!

Rhyan and Grandad

Gran, Rhyan and Grandad

"The" diaper change :-)

We had a full day of travel and pool. I think this is going to be a great vaca :-)

Wordless Wednesday: Trying out the Big Pool

Wordless Wednesday: a Favorite Hiding Place

A way to minister...

For Rachael, Greg and their families, the ending of the memorial service of Tripp is only the beginning. After all of the chaos of making arrangements and loving on out of town visitors is over, it is their home which will feel empty. Their hearts that will continue to be broken. And as much as my heart aches for them, the continuation of our lives is very different. It seems so hollow to tell them that I'm praying for them... when truly, i know this is the most powerful thing I can do. But i also know that God meets my needs in real, practical ways. And i would love nothing more than to be Christ-like in my response to the needs of the Copponex family. I know that in the coming days, months and years, the hurt will soften... that they will continue to remember and be grateful for the time they had to spend with their precious son, but that it will also hurt as they continue to heal and see so many others who cried with them and hurt with them seemingly move on. Yes, we will all move on... but even when we do not speak of it, I believe that the loss of Tripp has affected so many people. This day is one that Rachael and Greg will remember for their lifetimes and it is one that I do not want to ever forget. To see a mom and dad take the most horrifying situation and find a way to give God all the glory and honor in it simply amazes me. Their faith, Tripps life and the promise of an eternity with our Savior is something to celebrate. So I would like to do just that. I'd like to find a way to continue to remember, and to let the Copponex's know that we are continuing to celebrate Tripps life.

For anyone who is interested, someone (not me) has set up a calender for those who have been moved by the loss of baby Tripp and would like to minister to the Copponex family in some way. The idea is to have people sign up to minister to them on the calendar so that they will know that they are loved and continually prayed for long after they think that people have moved on. Some ideas on how to love on them would be to take food (or send it), send flowers, give them a phone call or a visit (if you know them well enough to do such as this) or even just send a card or a gift card for them to go to the movies or out to eat or for groceries! I would be happy to get their address if any of you who have kept up with Rachael and her family through my blog would like to join in on this. If it is something you'd like to do, please click this link and click on a DATE (the actual number) and it will link you to a page where you can put your name on the date and even set up an email reminder (at the bottom of the page). I'd like to encourage people who may not "know" Rachael and Greg in "real life" to still consider ministering to this family. They have been so encouraged by the kindness of strangers and have felt the love of Jesus pouring out through people who have taken the time to write them a word of encouragement. Please consider joining us as we love on this family over the coming months and please, continue to pray for healing.

Copponex Calendar

Thank you
Kelly

PLEASE Pray

Please pray for my sweet blog friend, Rachael, and her husband, Greg. Their baby, Tripp, went home to be with Jesus yesterday. I dont know details... but i know they need the love of Jesus. Please take time to pray for their family.

Wordless Wednesday: Rhyan's Snarl

Jason and Liz: Wedding Day

I'll let the (beautiful) pictures tell the story of the day... it was elegant to say the least!

The theme of the day were Jason and Liz's initials

The entrance foyer

The "F" on the front door

The menue

Party Favors... casino themed lottery tickets

Jason and Liz's "official" drinks for the reception

Setup for the ceremony... to the left in the background is a beautiful lake!

Past Ford and Poole weddings... so sweet!

Jeff doing his best man duties: holding the sweat rag, flowers and water :-)

Mother/Son dance

Liz, who comes from a BIG game cock family, showed her love for her UGA husband on their wedding night by hiring "Hairy Dawg" to make an appearance at the reception!

The Cake (notice the "F" on top)

Grooms Cake... omg.

All the girls in our locker room, waiting for the ceremony to begin!

Sisters-In-Law

Jeff and I, pre-ceremony

My man :-)

Some of the boys hanging out in the bar before the ceremony

Mr. and Mrs. Jason Ford!!!

... and they lived happily ever after!