A celebration weekend!

This morning in the wee hours of the morning my "little" cousin became a Dad.  I was privileged to be the officiant at his wedding this last summer, which was strange enough, but now to call him a Dad...yeah, it's pretty awesome.

Baby A has been highly anticipated for the last few weeks.  Her Mom was ready for her to be born a couple of weeks ago but she took her time.  I know my "little" cousin will be a spectacular Dad.  He's going to love this little girl, spoil her completely and cherish her for life.  I'm so proud of all of them!

It does seem like a celebration weekend.  Tomorrow I officiate at wedding number 4.  Woo-hoo!!!  My precious friend Meg and her love are getting married in a beautiful vineyard.  The rehearsal just happened and there was much laughter and joy.  I predict more laughter and lots and lots of tears tomorrow. 

Meg is one of the most ah-maz-ing women I know.  She is quiet, keeps most of her feelings close to her heart and her face gives.away.nothing.  If you are lucky to be one of the people whom she has adopted into her world, she will do just about anything for you, be your number one champion and passionately fight for your cause.  I have been blessed by her friendship in so many ways over the years and have been blessed to stand behind her and cheer her on as she has gone toe-to-toe with life.  I can't think of anyone who deserves happiness more than Meg and I am praying, as she begins this new life chapter, that God will shower her with love, will keep drama from her doorstep for a long time and for her and her man to be partners in all ways for life. 

Tomorrow, about this time, I will be pronouncing them husband and wife...and the party will begin!  It's a good celebration weekend.

The week that was and the weeks to come

Last week I decided was going to be vacation week for me. I've been at the church for so long (10 years!) that I've accrued extra vacation time in addition to the days that I haven't taken in years past. Vacation time it was!

Monday, G.G. and I decided to head north and visit the newest member of the family, Little T as well as his cousins Bubba and Curious Guy. I played trucks with Bubba, cuddled Little T and flirted with Curious Guy...oh yeah and enjoyed the time with my cousins and aunt and uncle. Wednesday G.G. and I made the trek to Tahoe for Thanksgiving with the family. Snow had made it's arrival, leaving a couple of feet of around the house. I woke up on Thanksgiving Day thinking "it would be so much fun to make a sled run by the house". And then I remembered that I didn't really want to do that. Instead I hung out with Little Miss P. We took our picture together again. I'll have to find it and post it for the world to see!

Saturday G.G. and I went home, through the snow and the rain. As we were driving home, it occurred to me that besides the conversation in the car with G.G. about work, I hadn't really thought about work all week. I didn't pick up a single book that had to do with work. I even avoided the computer, only checking things a couple of times in the week. I didn't stress out about all the stuff going down and worry about how I'm going to make it come January if all the financial stuff goes the way it's looking like it's gonna go. I just entered into the moments and let the rest of life go by. It was lovely.

Of course, now that I'm back home, back at work, that reality is looming. But before all of that goes down, there's this trip to Mississippi** that is coming. And Christmas. And Train Guy's birthday. I started a list today of all that needs to be done between now and the 16th...it's a lot of stuff which will just continue to grow until that moment I get on a plane bound for Mississippi...which reminds me I need to add rides to the airport to that list.

Add to it, today I woke up and found that for the first time in over a year I'm getting a cold. Raw throat, semi-stuffy nose. Loveliness. Guess all that rest and non-stress isn't good for my body...or maybe it was hanging out with all those kidd0's! Oh well, not gonna let it get me down. On with the show!

**For those that are curious, I'm $180 away from my goal for the Mississippi trip. If you can throw a couple of dollars into the hat, it would be greatly appreciated!

Just stuff

There is much going on in life lately. Much of it, I'm just not ready to share about yet. My brain keeps spinning and spinning and spinning but the words just don't want to come out here. Sorry.

I am, however, getting anxious about the upcoming trip to Mississippi. It's been such a huge part of my life for the last 5 years, that the reality of this being the last hurrah is weighing on my heart. And lest you think that I jest about this being the last trip, I'm already exploring other opportunities for the youth for spring or summer. I'm that serious. The other day I started to write about the trips, just because I couldn't stop thinking about them. One memory sparks another and another and another. It's good but overwhelming at the same time.

My anxiety is also tied to financing for the trip as well. I've got $400 to raise still. Aack! It's doable, just stressful. If you're willing to help out go here www.ca2ms.blogspot.com for details on how to help. You can also read about past trips.

Before all that, though, it's family time. G.G. and I are taking a quick jaunt to visit the Redding part of the family before heading to Tahoe for Thanksgiving. Which means I am going to be surrounded by family and babies for the next week...so excited!

It's a boy!

Cousin V had a big weekend. Meet Talan. 8lbs 5oz born on Saturday morning. G.G. reports he's got a full head of dark brown hair. He's a keeper!

Congrats Cousin V and Josh! And Thanks Cousin D for the pics! :)

One year

It's hard to believe it but Little Miss P is One today. Upon our first meeting, I decided that we were going to take our picture together, one of those hold the camera as far out as possible and get your faces close together things. It's just a fun reminder of how she's growing and a fun way to be Auntie B!

She's been pretty good about looking at the camera...until this weekend. And then we got this...
And this...
And this...Oh well, it's still a picture together!

I think Little Miss P is pretty sweet...so do a lot of others including G.G. and Cousin Anthony.Happy 1st Birthday Little Miss P! You are loved!

I've been remiss

I got so busy in DC that I completely forgot to introduce my blogger friends to the newest addition to my family.

Blogger friends meet my 2nd cousin Little Miss Lucy.
Lucy was born around the same time that I was sitting in the Gala Dinner in DC...kept checking my phone through the whole thing. Not sure if I what I was more anxious for, news on Lucy's birth or waiting to hear if my name was going to be called. :)

Welcome to the World Lucy! You are loved.

If I had Twitter...

this is what I would have posted today.

7:30am--little birds outside my window, if i had a b.b. gun, you would be gone.

10am--Star$'s really, really needs to be open today.

10:15am--Payten just left me a voicemail...yes a 3 month old can talk...Auntie B in tears.

10:30am--Star$'s open! Hallelujah! Everyone who sees me today will be grateful.

11:30am--Next best thing to seeing Payten, seeing Sammy.

2pm--Local store open too. Good thing. 1 pumpkin pie to bake and 3 really outdated cans of evaporated milk at home. Gross.

3:30pm--Just ran over something in Aunt & Uncles driveway...pretty sure it was the paper...don't really want to check.

4:15pm--Turkey good injected with lots o butter good. Really, really good. So is sparkling wine.

4:45pm--I love stuffing. And mashed potatoes. And sweet potatoes.

6pm--Blessed to have a family that loves to laugh.

6:30pm--Pumpkin cake w/cream cheese filling and chocolate ganache oh so yummy.

7:30pm--Is it bedtime yet?

Happy Turkey Day!

Dots of things I forgot...

• Payten came to visit (brought her parents along too) last month. We had some good Auntie B and Baby P bonding time (still working on a blog name for her) and took our self-portraits again. She got to meet cousin Anthony and they bonded at the beach. Aren't they cute? We also went pumpkin huntin'...Payten was not impressed.

• Adventure Boy turned 3 (three!) at the beginning of October. I couldn't help myself and made him a cake. Word on the street is that he liked his airplane cake.
• K, Meg and I went to a Vince Gill concert in October...that man can sing! But has terrible taste in shirts. No kidding, it was painful to look at. Anyway we took a pact, at that concert, that there were certain things we would never do. #1. Have perfect hair. #2. Overload on perfume or powder (the fumes just about did us in!). #3. No Aqua Net (see #2). #4. Will not wear clothes that have been bedazzled. #5. No side-shaved haircuts. My #6. would be never to let the men in our lives wear shirts that were obnoxious...wish I could find a picture of it!
  
• Last week at High School group our sole 9th grade boy came early to youth group. Another young lady came in soon after and both were enjoying their dinner of Nachos from Taq V (the place to eat in town) and talking about life. I can't remember the conversation but at one point 9th grade boy clapped his hands three times. His next comment was "but that word only has three syllables." It took me a moment and then I burst out laughing. I love that he had to say the word in his head and clap his hands to figure out how many syllables were in the word. To all you teachers out there, students are paying attention!
• This one happened tonight so it's not really something that I forgot to tell you but something I had forgotten just the same...middle school boys squeal just as much as middle school girls. The game of tag tonight was pierced with squealing/screaming and I was getting after the girls to be quieter when Pastor's Son ran past me, wait for it, wait for it...squealing. :)
  

Visitors

A fireman and a dinosaur just stopped by my house...thought y'all would like to see! They've been taking a lot of pictures and weren't excited about taking more...but they are having fun!
Edited to add: No sooner had I hit publish and the following picture showed up in my e-mail inbox. Jailbird Payten...hee-hee!

35

Where to begin...

• G.G. and I began Baby Tour 2009 on Thursday morning. We started with Payten, catching up with Aunt C and Uncle K as well. Lil Bro and New Sis surprised me with a birthday cake, complete with candles. I don't have any pictures of that but it was cool. Payten was the youngest and skinniest of the babies on this tour, 4 weeks old and weighing in at 7lbs. She's got really long feet though. It's as long as my thumb!
• Baby Tour 2009 headed to Colby's house next. G.G. and I had fun trying to get there. We found many places in CA without traffic! Though our blood pressure was rising quickly when the guy in the big truck refused to pull over even though he was going much slower than the rest of the cars on the road. Argh. Colby and I had a great time bonding, he's got a great smile, though I never caught it on camera. Colby's 11lbs and 7 weeks old. Colby's Brother, Brody, was a lot of fun too. Such adorable guys...the picture I would show you is not cooperating right now. Sorry.
  
• Baby Tour 2009 continued for me with Sammy. Another young man with a great smile not caught on camera by me. He is a charmer and the oldest on the tour coming in at 11 weeks and weighing 16lbs. I had a fabulous time reuniting with Sammy and his parents. Why is it that the ones that live the closest are the ones I don't see enough?
• This morning I turned on my cell phone and found this picture. It was a great way to start the day. Nat, the one on the right, also made a card/book... and wrote a song, reminding me that I'm getting older everyday but that Jesus loves me so, so, so, so, so, so, so MUCH. Love her.
• At lunch with G.G. and B. Young, these two photos appeared on my phone with the captions.
  

Happy Birthday :)

• And tonight Super Sarah and R-Girl treated me to dinner and made me cry. They spent a lot of time putting together a scrapbook of our many youth activities and had people write in the book as well. It just about did me in. I am blessed by them.
• Overall a good way to end my 34th year and begin my 35th. All day I've been at a heightened level of awareness of the goodness of God...I have great friends, kids to love (and hand back to their parents) and family. Life may not look like what I thought it would look like at this point in time but I have nothing to complain about and God has reminded me of that all day long. God is good, life is good and it's been a great day.
  

Evading a rant...

I can feel a church rant coming on. It's brewing, my mind is whirling, stomach churning and I'm trying to think happy thoughts but, grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

In other news, in a week I will be hugging this little one.And in a week and a day I'll be hugging this other little one.
I'm gonna focus on that today.

Baby recap

So, as far as I am aware, baby craze 2009 has come to an end. They have all made their arrivals and are doing well. Thanks to the tiny little SD card I bought today, I can now show you all the pictures I've gotten of the precious ones without having to text them to Meg who would then email to me. Such a process to get pics off the phone but no more! Woo-hoo! Here's the recap:

This is Kylie, she was the first. I'm hoping that we get to meet face to face sometime but she has this trip to Hawaii with her parents and grandparents coming up and her social calendar is pretty full. She's a cutie!

Sammy came second. Such a great picture, such a happy guy! Sammy and I spent some time together a few days after he was born, which was lovely. I'm hoping that we can reconnect sometime later this month...if he's available. M & L, I'll be calling!

Colby was the third arrival, stubbornly waiting until after I had to go home to make his way into the world. (Yes, it's all about me, clearly!) If you can't tell by this picture, big brother Brody is pretty protective and happy he's here.Payten was the last one and probably the one you will see most around here. She gave us a little scare this week but has rebounded. She's looking pretty serious in this picture. Her Auntie B is having a little bit of a problem living so far away but pictures help!

Dots on a Wednesday

• G.G. and I enjoyed our time with Payten and fam. We also enjoyed our car ride together. We didn't enjoy the people in the hotel who woke us up three times in one night but the price was right!
• Something has died underneath the deck outside my window. It's really, really smelly. I thought about writing a poem to the dead thing under the deck but my funny side is hiding right now. Sorry, I know you all would have enjoyed it.
• I dropped my cellphone today...again. Beginning to think I should have gotten the warranty on it.
• I cannot get this out of my head. It's almost as bad as Meg's Get Frosty obsession. Almost.
• A couple weeks ago the router was upgraded at the church. The goal was to get the wireless signal a little better in my office. Wouldn't you know the day that I have a bunch of Internet work to do, the darn thing kept dropping the signal. I was thisclose to throwing a huge fit. That would have been a sight to see!
• I had something else that I was going to say but Papa Bear just interrupted the flow of my brain, so I'll leave you with these last two pictures of Payten, because I know you just have to see more! She wasn't so happy in this one. I love the little dimple in her chin. She was much more content here. (G.G. also had fun editing this pic.)

First meetings

G.G. and I made our way to Payten-land yesterday. First meetings are good.

She's got skinny, long feet and long fingers. I couldn't stop myself from taking this one. Lil Bro gave me a bad time about it but just look at that foot!Meg, this pic is just for you. What a face!

From Yo Momma aka New Grandma

My parents aren't excited about being grandparents at all (insert heavy sarcasm). Here's what Yo Momma has to report from the front lines.

"M(aka New Sis) brought Payten out and handed her to me. Yipee, I thought. Then I walked out into the living room and guess who says, don't I get to hold her? So much for me getting to have her."
"I figured out how to get her back. I told grandpa that his dinner was ready and he gave her right up. So Payten and I went upstairs to read mystery books together. She slept through the whole thing. J (aka Lil Bro) thought she should wake up and be fed, so he took her away. Just really can't get a real good grandma fix when people keep taking her away."
Only two more days til G.G. and I get to meet her. Yippee!

Pictures

Papa Bear finally got around to sending me some pictures, so I'll share them with you.
Yo Momma and her first grandchild by blood. She's got 4 grandchildren of the heart!

Lil Bro (New Sis is in the background). His comment to me yesterday was that he had a hard time sleeping on Tuesday night. He kept listening to make sure Payten was breathing and so far she's a quiet sleeper.
Payten. Full confession time, I saw this picture and burst into tears. My favorite teacher, Mrs. C. loved to tell the story of my Aunt C. who, when I was born, burst into Mrs. C.'s classroom and danced around saying "I'm an aunt, I'm an aunt, I'm an aunt." Consider this blog my burst.

Oh, this waiting to meet her thing is really, really hard.

Side note to Cathie Mc.: I fell hard and it's just a picture :)

Dear Payten,

Welcome to the world. Today you have rocked the world of your Mom and Dad, changing their names, made your grandparents legit and changed my name as well. We couldn't be happier.

Your appearance in the world hasn't gone unnoticed by those in my life who changed my name too. Train Guy is a little concerned that you will usurp the time I have for him. He doesn't realize that he will see me probably more than you. That makes me sad but that's what happens when we live so far apart. Adventure Boy wanted to see a picture of you immediately. I hope you get to meet them someday.

G.G. and I celebrated your arrival in style. We had pink frosted cookies, chocolates in wrapped in pink foil and pink sparkling wine. We were silly but happy. Uncle R joined in the fray, eating the cookies and laughing at us. Speaking of Uncle R., I need to tell you a secret. He likes to give people a bad time, teasing them and stuff. He doesn't mean anything by it, that's his way. Just give him a smile and a big hug and he will melt. Works like a charm.

There's much more that I have to say but I'm finding the words hard to form, so I'll just say this; Welcome to the world, Payten. You are loved.

~Love Auntie B

Payten Janet Ann, 7lbs 1 oz, August 18, 2009