FAMILY FUN

Saturday morning I woke up early. I was planning on an early morning trip to the grocery store. Well, look who was also awake! What are four teenage boys doing awake at 8 am on a Saturday? That is Austin laying in the floor there. Sandy came down wondering why it was so loud for a Saturday morning so Billy was hushing everyone. Now that Billy works 1st shift, his body is used to getting up early and he just can not sleep in. I still don't know why the others are up, but good for me because they were all ready to carry all the groceries in when I got home.Late Saturday night we all went 'Glow Bowling'. There is a real small bowling alley in one of the nearby towns and it was only $25 dollars total for all of us to bowl. That is much cheaper than the $60+ that the two other alleys were charging. I love the way everything just glows. It is so fun!


Here is Wes. He did not do very well.
Here is Billy. He was very competitive. I smoked everyone in the first game with 4 strikes and 4 spares. However, by game three my arm and hand were tired and I ended up losing.
They were all tired. Maybe because they all got up so early. Billy says he is just getting old and can't go like he used to! LOL! 21 is so old. We were all a little sore the next day, except for Austin. We had a real great time and it was good to get out and do something together.
Once again, sorry for the bad pics. These were from my cell phone. Although the pics from my last post were from my phone too and they were not to bad. I was suprised. I am still looking for a new camera and hope to have one before all the holidays arrive.
Off to work I go......Ya'll have a good week.

Today I had to take the kids to school because Austin had an orthodontist appointment. I usually do not have to take this road.....but today I did. As I approached to area, tears filled my eyes. I could just see the two of them walking down the road, hand in hand. So many times we passed them and waved. But no more..... The paint on the road is still visible. The crosses in the yard still stand. We felt that if the kids wanted to express their emotions by painting the road that it would be ok. A local police officer felt the same and he stayed to stop traffic for awhile.
Aaron wrote "Happy Cupcake Lori" because it was also Lori's birthday. Lori was the youngest daughter who had downs syndrome and also leukemia. She passed away when she was 13. She never said it was her 'birthday'. She said it was her 'cupcake'. The day of the accident we found a birthday card they had gotten to take to Lori's grave. Every year their grandfather said he wanted to spend Lori's birthday with her......Well, this year he did.



As I was driving by, it just broke my heart that they would never know if their grandson was accepted into Clemson. Of course a Clemson tiger paw and a # 3 for Dale was painted in the road. He was the biggest Clemson fan around and was laid to rest in his bright orange suit coat.

It also came to mind that they would never have the joy of seeing a great grandchild being born as my mom and dad soon will. I asked God- how will they know? How will they know that their grandchildren have done well in life? How will they know that their grandchildren were successful and happy? I would like to think that they can look down on us and know these things, but if that is true then they could also look down and see our big mistakes or downfalls. And since there is no grief in heaven then that would not be possible. So many questions.........but we do not question God......for his plan is perfect...........he makes no mistakes.................
Later as I sat in the orthodontist I looked around at all the people . It was if I was expecting everyone to know our pain, our grief , and understand. I guess it is because most people do know who were are or recognize our names from all the news stories. But as I looked around I realized that all these people have their own sorrows and sad stories. We are not unique. Life is hard. Life is sad. Everyone has a story. Yet, we must move forward. We must find joy and happiness.........

THOUGHT

I haven't really felt like blogging much. I have been having many disturbing dreams. Aaron has been dealing with some serious sadness. He stays in his bed a lot and is just not wanting to do much of anything. Wesley is not dealing well at all, but in a different sort of way. Things seem to be changing in our lives. I can't really explain it all. I know that things will get better and I don't want to sound all depressed. It's just that some days are blah. Today is one of those for me. Too much on my mind.......Not enough energy to do anything........just blah...............haven't done anything really except go to church...............most everyone was napping this afternoon.............I think we are all just.....dealing....the best way we know how.


'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

GUESS WHAT?!!?

Remember this? My niece got married early this summer. She is so happy now and we can all just see the change in her. And now.........



We will be seeing even more changes.....................
Bridgette is pregnant! Yeah! She was very anxious to start a family. Jeremy was really wanting to wait a while, but he is happy too. I think he is just worried about money but I know he will take good care of them. :)
I am so happy. I am going to be "The Greatest Aunt". Remember that Bridgette--not just Great Aunt--GREATEST. Please, please, please let it be a girl
The funny thing is- a few weeks ago I had a dream that she was and I told them that it was a very real dream. They were all just laughing at me.......see I know what I am talking about.

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

So, once again we all got together for our October birthdays. My sisters was the 2nd, mine was the 8th and my mom's was the 10th. We decided to go to this local park in our downtown area. When I arrived some of the kids were already there. Wes, Austin and Jeremy were swinging and Tyler was watching them. Don't they look like they are having fun- those big kids!




This park has a free putt-putt course. All you have to do is bring your own putters and balls. It is a beautiful park with streams and bridges. Unfortunately my camera is still broken and my mom forgot to bring hers. So these pictures are from my cell phone. Here is Austin ready to go.
There was 15 of us and we had a ball playing but it took so long! We ended up playing way into dark time. See dad putting in the dark. Not everyone played but Sandy ended up winning and I came in third. Dad usually always wins but not this time.

Sorry I have no more birthday pictures. I really must get a new camera!

GOOD NEWS MIXES WITH BAD

Well, do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first? LOL! I always hear people say that. To me that usually happens in a medical situation. "Well, sir the good news is that your heart is in great condition, but the bad news is........"
Ok, so my good and bad are in no way related. The bad, or actually sad news for us is that Holly made bond yesterday and is now free to be with her children and family. Of course we hope this is temporary but how sad that her children can hug her neck when these children will never get another hug. I did not sleep well last night thinking about it.
ONWARD to the GOOD news. My wonderful husband has been offered a promotion and a raise at his work. He will now be the 'big man in charge'! He has been doing the job for many months while they have been interviewing people to replace his old boss. I really don't know why it took them so long to figure out he was the best man for the job!!! He deserves it and of course we can really use the money. I know it will be stressful for him, but I am confindent that he will be successful at it.
Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Welcome to my job

Oh, look at this nice car lot! They have great used cars. Here are some more. LOL! We actually do have one of the largest Buy Here Pay Here lots in the area. Of course I was not going to photograph the whole thing.

This is a main attraction in our lobby. People just love the old gas pump and of course alway comment on the gas price.... 29 cents a gallon. We wish................
What car lot do you know that has a drive up window? You can just drive on in and make your payment. Some days it is like Burger King around here and the line just extends out in the road.

The real reason that we have a drive thru is because this building used to be a bank. See the vault. Pretty cool.
This is my desk. Yes, I know I need to clean it off. I had some cute little candy dishes and stuff but it all just got in the way. I need to spice it up a little.
Here are two of our advertising cars. We also use them to loan out to customers when we are having work done on their car. Even though all cars we sell are "As is, no warranty" we do try to help out if the car is in need of repair. Aren't we nice?

Here is our payment counter. This is original from the old bank too.

Here is Dixie. She comes to work everyday. She is our greeter. All we have to do is say, "Dixie go do your job" and she will go out and greet the customers. She has her own car- the Dixie car- with her picture on it. And she has this golf cart. She love going for rides in the golf cart. Here she is with her birthday hat!
I really love my new job. It is such a change from what I have been doing for so many years. I work for the most wonderful people. I also meet the most interesting people on a daily basis. As they say- it takes all kinds to make the world go round! LOL!