May the road rise up to meet you.....

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand...

May 2011 ...(yeah I realize its ALREADY September!!)

This time of year is always busy in our family, and this year was no exception. May (14) is my niece Brianna’s birthday, Randy & my anniversary (17), the anniversary of my Maw-maw’s passing (26), and now it will also mark the anniversary of my sweet Paw-paw’s passing(25), OH and the Memorial Day holiday is tossed in for good measure, I guess God knew we needed an extra day of rest to recover. I thought I would share a few photos of these celebrations and gatherings, and a few cherished memories.

First I would like to remember those who have served our Country, so that we have the freedoms we enjoy everyday. God Bless You!

On to Brianna’s birthday, we had her party at Fairhope beach, the kids had a great time swimming in the surf and digging in the sand. It’s hard to believe little Brie is 12; she has turned into a beautiful young lady, from a tiny little baby (4lbs 12oz).

Randy and I also celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on a for-real date at Guido’s (thanks Jessica & Ms. Merrill for playing with the kids). Dinner was nice, it was hard to talk about things other than the kids etc., at first, we really haven’t had much time away since the kids were born, and so to travel back in time to what we ever did before them seemed like a stretch. We really need to get away more often.



PawPaw Mr. Mardi Gras



The passing of my Grandfather brought me back to the year we were married, we lost my Maw-maw that next week (on Memorial Day). So I was at odds with which to write about first...I just went with the most recent.  My Paw-paw was a great man. He and my Nanny raised 9 children in the 60s-70s, all of whom were educated in Catholic schools, all were married in the Church, had families of their own, and became strong productive people. This is no small feat in my mind, these days  as I am now a parent, and I think back about how really unbelievable an achievement that is, so many teens in that generation were caught up in the hippy, anti-whatever movements, drugs etc. I only fractionally realize how difficult it is to parent 2 kids (much less 9) to be successful adults. I asked him once how they were able to raise so many kids, and he told me my Nanny did all that, he just went to work. Well, my Nanny was a great woman, but I know she didn’t do it alone, they prayed the rosary together every night, most nights as a family. And I am confident they spent their fair share of nights on their knees asking God for guidance and direction. There is also no doubt in my mind why he was ready to go to Heaven to be with her since the day she left this world 9 years ago. I know those two are in Heaven today celebrating their own wedding anniversary, this year together, hand in hand.



MawMaw Coheley



My maw-maw was a great lady as well, she was my favorite person, and I think I was her favorite grandchild. (Because she told everyone and anyone who asked her, that I was) She was a hard lady to handle some times, and had lived a hard life. Not that we ever really talked about her life much, in fact I never knew much about her other than from a grandchild’s view. She raised 3 kids in Crighton/Saraland, with my grandfather, whom died while my dad was in the Navy. She was a force to be rekon’d with, always contrary, to everyone else. To me she was Maw-maw, the best southern cook ever, tough as nails, tell-it-like-it-is, country-to the bone, honest, and loyal. I think we are a lot alike ;-) And I miss her so much.

On to Memorial Day which was spent at the beach with Randy and the kids. We decided Monday morning, that we had nothing better to do than sit on the beach with our toes in the sand and play with the kids. This was a perfect ending to a very busy month.