Summer 2011

I can't believe today is the last day of summer. This summer had many joys and a couple of sorrows. My summer 2011 blog is dedicated to my Poppa, Willie Paterson who passed away on

July 19, 2011. Poppa was a wonderful man and he will truly be missed. Our Oak Ridge trips won't be the same without him. I am very grateful to God for the time that my kids and I had with my grandfather. Those memories will forever be in our hearts.

Approximately 3 weeks after the death of my Poppa my Grandma was given the diagnosis of acute leukemia. That diagnosis totally took me by surprise. I had a melt down at home in front of the kids and they were totally there for me. They were both hugging me so tight and telling me that it was okay to cry. That night at prayer time their prayers were very comforting.

I want to take this time to thank everyone who has called, sent a text/email/card and said a prayer for my family. I learned a little about myself during the death of Poppa and the diagnosis of my Grandma. I learned that I always want to be there for people when they are going through things, but I make it difficult for people to be there for me when I am going through situations. I am really trying to work on that because God has truly blessed me with awesome friends and coworkers like you guys to help me during difficult times. I am also grateful for the AMAZING husband that God has blessed me with. He is always there for me during difficult times holding my hand. Okay, let me give you an update on my Grandma so we can talk about our family summer. Grandma is currently receiving treatments at MD Anderson, and her only complaint a couple of days ago was feeling very tired. Her exact words were, "I don't feel sick, I am just tired". So I am asking that you continue to pray for my Grandma Rosie as she continues her treatments and our family

Well we didn't take a family vacation this year because we are saving for our Disney 2012 trip (YEAH!!!). We did however take several (about 4) weekend trips to Louisiana and one weekend trip to Houston. We also had several visitors this summer. My nephews came the first week of August, Elijah's parents came for the 4th of July and Elijah's niece and grand niece came in July also. Although we didn't go on vacation, we had a pretty good summer just hanging out in our home. Of course you guys know that there is NEVER a dull moment in our household. :-) Enjoy the pictures :-)

Alyssa's 6th Birthday Party

Well Alyssa's birthday party was a success. I was worried no one would come, but boy was I surprised because 14 girls came to celebrate with us. Well, on the way home from her party Ms. Alyssa started planning her 7th birthday party. Each year she gets bigger. We are definitely putting her on a party budget next year. :-)

Soccer!!!!!!!

This post is for my mother, Mary Daniel. She thinks that I show favoritism towards Alyssa on my blog. She told me that my next blog should be all about Daniel. She actually asked him if he would let me take pictures of him to post on the blog and he agreed.

Well, we have added another activity to our already busy schedule. Daniel came to us earlier this year and asked if he could play soccer. We were so happy that he was showing an interest in something so we signed him up immediately.

Daniel is really excited about soccer. Elijah took him to the first practice and it went really well. His first game was quite hilarious. Daniel's team is a newly formed team of 4 year olds that have never played with a new coach. The other team consisted of seasoned four year old soccer stars that played together last year. They seriously had a four year old David Beckham on their team. Needless to say our team, Little Kickers lost. The score was like 30 to 1. One of our guys scored at the very end of the game and we were ecstatic. Well, I will definitely keep you guys posted on Daniel and the Little Kickers. Hopefully we will get at a couple of wins in this season.