A Wonderful Lady

On Tuesday, July 1st 2014, we lost Richard's mom Libby (Elizabeth Gabriel), Lily's Mimi, and we miss her so much. Today would have been her 65th birthday. I don't know that I can say anything better than Richard did:

"On Tuesday, July 1st my mom passed away. She was surrounded by family and friends, her last days full of joy, and passed away peacefully.

Mom liked her Bible; while flipping through this stood out to me:

    'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?'

We love and miss her very much, however I find peace in knowing that she believed in the Resurrection and is resting peacefully in heaven with her Savior, victorious over death and pain free. The sun will shine a little brighter from now on!"

It's hard to imagine a life without her smile, her laugh and her generous spirit. It's hard to think that Lily won't have her there as she grows and this new baby girl won't get to meet her Mimi. It's hard to answer questions from Lily, whose little 4 yr old mind is trying to comprehend what happened and why she won't see her Mimi anymore. It's just hard. But we do find comfort in knowing that she's no longer in pain, she's in heaven and that we'll see her when we get there one day. 

We love you, Mimi. We miss you. 

John 11:25: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.'"

Summer fun!

Just some random summer fun pics :)

Field Trip!

In June, Lily's class took a field trip to Pullen Park. In general, this is one of our favorite activities to do around town as a family - there's tons of things to do and Lily always has a great time. And it's set in such a beautiful area - you can't tell you're basically right outside of State's campus and downtown. Plus it always wears Lily out and she's usually ready for a great nap by the time we leave!

This field trip was to celebrate the 4 year olds that are graduating preschool this year and heading to kindergarten next year. It's hard to believe that will be Lily soon!

My Best Friend's Wedding!

The first weekend in June, we headed down to Asheboro to celebrate my best friend Tracy getting married!! She was an absolutely gorgeous bride and her ceremony and reception were perfect. We had a lot of fun celebrating these two and it was really great to see some friends we haven't seen in such a long time and catch up with them, including my other bestie Sarah Beth :)

Family Beach Trip 2014

This year we decided to head to the beach over Memorial Day weekend. We've never been over that weekend so we weren't sure how crowded it might be, but it actually wasn't too bad at all. We went to Carolina beach this time - we all really like that beach. It's such a nice family breach and has tons of activities and good restaurants. We stayed at the Cabana Suites this time and so we were within walking distance of everything. I don't think we drove at all after the first night!

We spent every day on the beach and then after a nap/rest time, we would head out to grab some dinner dinner and wander around the boardwalk. It was SUCH a nice getaway for us.