Uncle Chris's Wedding

Mike's brother, Chris, got married this past summer.  He and his then fiance asked Mike to be a member of Chris's wedding party.  Mike agreed to do this and we were all excited about Carrie and her little boy Chason to become part of our family.

About 2 weeks or so before the wedding, we found out that Mike had an aortic aneurism and needed to have an operation.  He was released from the hospital, from having his open heart surgery to get the aneurism, the day before the wedding.  It was not possible for him to go.  We knew he would be in too much pain and told Chris and Carrie the bad news.  They then asked Ryan if he would stand up in place of his dad.  Ryan was beyond excited about wearing a tuxedo in this wedding.  His Uncle Jeremy, Mike's other brother, took Ryan under his wing and made sure Ryan was where he needed to be at the right times.  Jeremy indicated that Ryan really realized what he was supposed to do without the help of Jeremy.  During the introductions at the reception, Ryan was introduced and an explanation was made as to why the name Michael Washington was printed in the bulletin.  The sound that everyone made in their awe of how sweet this was, was so great!

The Washington's who were part of the wedding party.  L to R-Chris, Savannah, Jeremy and Ryan







                             




                                                  Chris and Carrie

Happy Holidays!

Our time leading up to Christmas Day is always chocked full of fun family events! If you have not already picked up on this, my family--immediate and extended--is quite important to me! We visited with Nanny and Pap; Jeremy, Destiny, Nathan and Savannah; Aunt Mary Ann; Connie and Earl; Paul, Allison and Adella; My parents; Grandma; Uncle Bill, Vida; Sandra, Tammy, Shane and Brittany. It is always such a special time when we get to see all of them!

On Christmas Eve we went to Nanny and Pap's house. Nanny and Pap are Mike's grandparents. When Mike was younger, he lived with Nanny and Pap for a short time. They are very special to him and over the years have become very special to me as well. Ryan, Lydia and Emily LOVE going to Nanny and Pap's!! All rules are omitted from their lives just by walking in the house:). Nanny and Pap had two children, Connie (Mike's birth mother) and Mary Ann. Mike's brother, Jeremy and his family, came to Nanny and Pap's on Christmas Eve with us. In addition, Connie and her husband Earl and Mary Ann were there for a yummy lunch of Nanny's famous Veggie Soup and some wonderful ham and turkey rolls! Unfortunately, Mike was not able to make it to Nanny and Pap's Christmas Eve while we were there. He had to work during the day that day, but visited with Nanny and Pap Friday (today) afternoon.

On Christmas Eve night we met up with Mike at my parents house. We celebrated Christmas with my parents and my brother and his family. Our big gift to my parents was a picture of all four grandchildren. We had a picture of Ryan, Lydia, Emily and Adella taken professionally. Mom and Dad were very surprised and happy! Ryan, Lydia and Emily walked out of the house with more stuff than they know what to do with:). They are in seventh heaven!

Christmas Day was spent at my parents house with my Mom's family. It was a terrific day of family together time! Ryan, Lydia and Emily were so excited about opening presents and attempting to figure out what they could open next:). It was such a great holiday! Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas!

Happy Birthday

Well, Ryan has now turned 5 and Lydia and Emily are 3. It is absolutely amazing to me how quickly time goes after you have children and how completely shocking it is when your son tells you “I am 5!” and your daughters, that you just brought home from the hospital, tell you “I am 3 now.” We had our annual backyard cookout for their group birthday party on August 31. Our close family and friends were there—it was a great time! Lydia and Emily dressed in princess dresses that we borrowed from our friend, Frances. They were so excited to wear these dresses and were quite sad to return them, but Uncle Paul, Aunt Allison and Adella gave them princess dresses of their own for their birthday. Ryan actually turned 5 on September 2 and Lydia and Emily while we were at the beach on September 9. Ryan’s teacher allowed Ryan to bring cupcakes to celebrate his birthday at school and his classmates all drew him birthday pictures and made a littlebook out of it. Very neat! Lydia and Emily took cupcakes to preschool on Thursday before we left for the beach on Friday. Was not quite as exciting as Ryan’s experience, but kids don’t really care when they get to eat cupcakes. It was a really great party and a great day! Thank you to everyone that came! You are all very special to our family and we love you very much!

A Day to Remember

After much deliberation we decided to leave on Friday instead of Saturday and drive our family into the definite threat of Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hannah. The weather predictions were not life threatening and we felt that things would clear up by Saturday afternoon. As it turns out, things cleared up by 7:00 am on Saturday morning. Mike and I came to Myrtle Beach with my family. My parents, who are the greatest, reserved a large condo for the five of us, my brother, his wife and daughter Adella and my parents. This vacationing as a large family is something that we do every other year--then every other year we do vacations on our own.

With Hannah out of the way yesterday morning, the kids were up, we had some breakfast and we took them out on the beach to collect "sheshells." In our walk down the beach, we were not sure how the kids would do with the ocean. Keep in mind, last summer Mike and I took the kids to the beach in June and Ryan would not go within 10 feet of the ocean. Lydia and Emily did go in the ocean and seemed to enjoy it, but they went with us and really did not have an option.

This time things were different . . . the kids ran into the surf, jumped over the small breakers that washed up and laughed hysterically when the water would rush back out making them feel as if they were moving. "I am skating!" Ryan shouted while in a surfer stance in the surf. Emily fell down in the surf while running. This scared her a little bit, but we made sure she continued to walk in the water to keep her from being scared of the ocean completely. While jumping and "skating" Ryan fell into the water and Mike and I held our breath thinking this was going to be it. He would be out this year again, but NO . . . he got up laughing. He was a little afraid I would be upset that his clothes were wet, but when I said "It is just water." he asked if he could do it again. They spent the next hour running and playing in the surf in their clothes. Laughing at each other and talking to each other with each new discovery they encountered in this awesome thrill ride we call the ocean.

Several years ago, when our niece, Savannah, was 6 years old (she is now 12) I had the pleasure of being present when Savannah saw the ocean for the first time. She stood in the surf and continued to exclaim "I feel like I am moving!!" I felt that this was kind of like Ryan "seeing" the ocean for the first time--though he has been to the beach three other times, this experience was something so new. He was so different than last year and was so excited. Lydia and Emily really followed suit.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this wonderful moment we shared with our children, but I have a mental picture of their faces and hearing their laughter that I will never forget. As I have said in previous posts, I have such wonderful memories of my childhood. I continue to hope that one day my children can say the same thing about theirs. I feel like maybe this day will be one of their earliest memories when they are adults.