Photo Friday!

Happy Friday to everyone, and Happy Birthday to Karli Marie!! ❤

This = the first time we hung out outside of Lifegroup - May 21, 2011 - Jimmy John's with Chet, Bobbi, Michael, and Amanda!

We became FB friends the next day, so yay for a "522" friendiversary! ;-)

Important updates:  JoBug is recovering well and feeling better today, set to be released from the hospital tomorrow afternoon - thankful for that!  Kristen is staying strong spiritually and feeling determined to choose life in every way she can - we had a mutually encouraging talk on Wednesday night.  Praying for a strong and healthy mind, body, soul, and spirit for both of them! ❤

Our Thursday fam dinner was also a graduation party for Jace! =)

Mom got him an expensive Transformer and we made him a wood panel of his Facetime call with Paul Cuffaro - he was pretty thrilled about both! lol

Triston and I had a good talk whilst J&K swam... this = Kyndal "surfing" on Jace's back! lol

I cannot even with this "smoking smarties" trend. lol  I looked over to say something to Rach and saw this out of the corner of my eye, then had to make a gif photo.

Jace:  "YES, I look like Snoop Dogg - I just need sunglasses and braids!" lolol

Cute new table Rach painted for Mom - nice and subtle, as per usual for us. ;-)

When Rach came out to her car, Jace had buckled Optimus in for their ride home. lolol "Safety first!"

He FaceTimed me later that night to show me how he'd set up the Transformers and the Paul pic in his room... here, he's diving dramatically to demonstrate the Transformers scene he's planning to recreate with his toys. lol Mess.  He's a funny one!!

The Jesus flag made me happy during my morning worship-walk today!

I had an encouraging interview at 9:30 with Integrated Therapy Solutions - loved the vibe, very flexible in all the right ways - I'm likely to start my candidacy working nights and weekends there!  HUZZAH!!

Then I had a meet and greet tour of the Federal courthouse in Muskogee... and everything I learned there was also encouraging and promising, so yay God and yay hope - good things are in store, and we shall see which doors He chooses to open!

Resume suggestions from Rach! lol

After all that, I swung by the Peach Barn for some baked pies, then went to the Wilsons for a tiny minute to bring a table for the flower bar tomorrow... here they are making me a Block Party t-shirt - fun!! =)

And my final stop for the day was CHA Graduation from 6:30-8:45ish!  Long ceremony, but I was happy to see Abby and give her the monogram necklace and card!

This made me laugh harder than it should have. lol

Last pic for today = Alan, Dad, Bill W, and Rick at a golf tournament last week... love it!!

It's been a long but productive and happy Friday!  I hope the same is true for you, and hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend ahead!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Last Day Celebration!

Our morning prelims decided to waive, so I was able to attend the CHA Awards Assembly at 11:30! 

Rach brought these confetti poppers and somehow got permission at the last minute for Jace and his 5 best friends to do them at the very end of the elementary assembly (after their whole class sang a cutesy farewell song).  Considering they had zero practice and just decided to throw this in today, it went very well and was super festive and fun, and totally unexpected for CHA!!

This = awesomesauce teacher gifts Rach made for Mrs. Husted (5th grade) and Mrs. Garcia (6th)!

He got a lot of compliments yesterday and decided to wear the purple suit again for the last day of school so everyone could see it. lol  We were all pleasantly surprised to see Jace get the character plaque for "Determination: Do Hard Things!"  The teachers each choose two students from their class to receive an award, and Mrs. Garcia chose Jace and Lindsey. ❤

Mom and Rach told me Jace was getting something, but Rach figured it was a paper award, not a character plaque.  He's never gotten one of those before, so I love that it happened on his last day of elementary!

Individual pics with our award winner! ❤

And now we can remind him of this quality whenever he wants to give up on something difficult! ;-)

Huzzah!  Soooo much confetti!!

Their deal was that the boys had to stay after and clean it all up, so kudos to Axel, TJ, Jaceman, Asher, Jace, and Gideon (who's not pictured here) for being an awesome clean-up crew! #worthit

Kyndal Faith with Colin and Eva.  Not sure what this hand signal in the left pic means, but I'll find out at our next fam dinner!  Before the school-wide assembly, she was recognized for Individuality in her class today, which feels appropriate! =)

Now K is having a few friends over for an End-of-Year swim party at Mom and Dad's, and Jace is working out with Neal!  Congrats to them on their character awards, and HAPPY SUMMER to all the CHA students!!

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In other news, yay for these new shadow-box frames at home!  I've gotta work on pinning the cap straight, but when I get that right, it'll be fantastic! =)

Potentially the most ridiculous thing in my entire home, but it was $2 and it makes me laugh!  #johnnylawrencefanclub #allvalleychamp

Finally, I taped some new photos over my existing wood panels at work!!  It was time for an update - the only one that's not new today is the one from Dad's 40-year SF party in 2022!

And on a more serious note, please be in prayer for JoBug, my fun-loving aunt, who went in for major surgery on an celiac arterial aneurysm this morning!  She'll be in the hospital for at least four days as she begins to recover.  Also be praying for my friend, Kristen, who is in the midst of a rough journey battling leukemia - currently diagnosed with pneumonia and seeking a white-blood-cell donor for a life-saving blood transfusion! 

Praying for good doctors, full healing, all the support they need, and for extra peace and strength for both of them and their families!!

That's all I've got for you today.

Happy Wednesday, friends and fam!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Movin' On Up!

Today marks Jace Michael's final day of elementary school, and last night was his long-awaited Sixth Grade Graduation ceremony!!  Purple suit for the win!

Pre-ceremony pic with Megan Elizabeth, there to see her niece, Afton, graduating!

Processional -- Pic with Grandpa -- Diploma moment -- Pic with his Mom!

Destiny and Gideon did a great job as their class speakers, and Josh Bullard gave a great mini-message on "Obedience brings liberty; disobedience brings bondage!"

Happy and proud of himself - yay!

Pics with Aunt Lindsey and the proud grandparents!

They had a long greeting line for everyone to congratulate all the kids... I was ready to capture a sweet moment, but here's the Miss K with a classic fakeout handshake! lol  #siblings

Pics with a few of his former teachers: Mrs. Champion, Mrs. Garner, Mrs. Gentry, and Mrs. Orr!

Pic with Josh and Emily, fist bump with Mr. Harpole, the Lorg family, and Mrs. Tinker and Mrs. Garcia.  The Jaceman is a social one!!

Pic with Sheriff Johnson (TJ's dad); pic with Marshall and Stonewall, his fav upperclassmen!

The boys! ❤

Baby pic cuteness; Jace and Gideon!

Parking lot pic with Mamaw!

We liked this lighting better! lol

Believing Jace doesn't care deeply for long, sentimental letters, I kept this one short and to the point! lol


Yesteryear:  There was no official ceremony due to Covid, but here's my post from our Sixth Grade Graduation Party for Triston... This summer of 2020 pic with the women and children of our fam tells me A LOT has changed over the past five years!!  P.S.  I love Kyndal's baby tooth smile and her feet not yet touching the ground here. lol

By the next summer, Rach and the kids were five months into a high-conflict divorce/custody battle, and Dad was in the hospital recovering from a potentially-fatal bout with septic pneumonia... I'm thankful the rest of us made it to CHA for the ceremony for Carter's Sixth Grade Graduation!  In God's kindness, we had no idea how dramatically things would shift that summer - by August, he was living with the Deppen family and no longer a regular part of our lives.  We love and miss him - we've all settled into a new normal at this point, but that awkward and gradual loss is another good example of ambiguous grief, to be honest.  I'm grateful for lots of good memories and some level of continuing connection, and I'm praying for God's hand of protection and blessing over my niece and all three of my nephews!! ❤

Speaking of yesteryear, here's a real throwback to me and Rach on our Sixth Grade Graduation day... me and Jenny Womble 1996, Rach and Megan Smith 1997!

Congrats again to Jace Michael - now a teenager moving into Junior High School!  May he continue to grow in maturity and move through life with contagious joy and confidence!! ❤

That's three down, one to go - I'm sure the elementary side will miss Rachael's awesome decorating help and teacher gifts when next year comes to a close!  This year, we had me and Jaceman graduating... and next year, we will have Kyndal Faith's Sixth Grade Graduation and Triston Michael's CHA Senior Graduation - get excited!!

❤ ❤ ❤

Thunder Up!!

Thanks to Dad's generosity and tickets being available yesterday, Rach and I went to the Thunder game this afternoon!!  (Game 7, OKC Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets in the Playoffs)

Cool staircase when you enter the Paycom Center!

This game was at 2:30, which was perfect for us!  I didn't realize we would get free t-shirts and fan-bammers (dumb name, but it's actually what the noisemaker fans are called), so that was all a fun surprise! =)

The crowd energy was Bedlam-level electric -- just what I was hoping for! lol

It brings me joy that one of the starters on this team is named Chet, and that he happens to be #7!  He shot several free throws, and there was a crazy loud guy on our row who cheered for him repeatedly:  "You got this, Chet... C'MON, CHET!!"  I tried and failed to get a video to send to Chettles. lol

Rumble isn't my fav mascot, but I love the gigantic flag! =)

Yes, please!!  It was intense and fantastic - meriting multiple "loud atmosphere" warnings from my Apple Watch. lol

Much to Rachael's dismay, I made us stay for all of it, then I called her over to get this one last pic on our way out! lol

They were behind through the first quarter, but the Thunder found their stride and ended up winning by 32 points (125 to 93), so they're advancing to the Western Conference Finals!  It made me laugh that the crowd was still chanting "OKC!  OKC!!" on our walk back to the car. lol (We parked by Harkins, and traffic wasn't too bad getting home.)

Rach and I had fun and a had a good talk on the drives, then we had an impromptu family dinner at Mom and Dad's, where the kids had been swimming that afternoon.  We kept an eye on the tornado warnings and talked about their coming last week of school while Kyndal made bracelets and Jace tried on his suit for us.

All in all, it's been a fun weekend with the fam, and I feel very grateful!!

❤ ❤ ❤