Death

My 'Uncle' Jerry died yesterday. On July 4th.

He finally married my Great Grandma Williams a few years ago, after they had been living together for over 15 years. :0) So technically he was my step Great Grandpa, but that is just weird calling him that after so many years of knowing him as Great Grandma's boyfriend.

He has had many many health problems over the years. With the latest thing being a fake heart that was powered by batteries. He was one in 17 people that has this new invention. We have all known that he would die long before my Great Grandma. Now that it has finally happened, I just feel numb.

Jerry has always been there with his goofy sounding laugh or his harsh teasing. I am sad that I will no longer be able to talk to him. I am sad that he wasn't able to come to my wedding. I am sad that my children will never know 'Uncle Jerry'.

I am also sad that my dad is in Haiti and is not here with his family. Great Grandma is very close to my dad. She leans on him for support and his advice in every aspect of her life. And the time when she needs him the most - he is out of the country and unreachable.

He did want to fly back for the funeral, but my mom talked him out of it. The church has funded this trip and it would be wasting lots of mission money plus cost a lot of money to fly back. And Great Grandma a will need him more in the coming days and months after everyone else has left.

I don't know if Jerry went to heaven or not. I don't think anyone knows. This has me upset the most. I should have tried harder about making sure that he believed that Jesus loved him enough to die for ALL of his sins. And I didn't. I always thought that it was my dad's job to do that. Jerry and I would have discussions about what I believed and why he didn't. But that is as far as it ever went. I do believe that Jerry knew 'right' from 'wrong' and that he knew what he needed to do if he truly believed. But if he did or not . . .

Going up to Ohio on Tuesday for visitation and some family time. Funeral is on Wednesday.

Jerry Smyers - last July

5 Months

I have been married 5 months already. It seems alot longer than that. And I don't mean that in a bad way, just that I feel like Rick and I have been married for a very long time. I love being married to Rick. I hated our long distance dating. I never got to see him as much as I wanted and when we were together, it always felt rushed. And now I get to see him every day and spend all the time I want with him!

Cindy's baby shower went well. She got lots of nice gifts and a ton of clothes!

Sunday was a very busy day for us all. I woke up real early with the worst migraine that I have had in years. I really wanted to make it to church so I took lots of drugs and drank some Mt. Dew. This was the Sunday that Cooper as being dedicated and plus I hadn't been to KWCC in over 4 weeks. By the time I made it to church, I was pretty shaky and not quite sure what all was going on. I think I over-dosed - big time.
After church lots of people came over for a cookout and ice cream sundaes. The surprise party wasn't supposed to start until 3, but our first guests showed up 10 till. The cake wasn't there, so we just told Charlie and Kerri what was happening. They seemed surprise and very happy. The cake finally showed up, we had people sign their wedding picture and some people brought gifts or cards. We had about 25 people there total. And it was way to hot outside so every one was inside.


Charlie and Kerri with the cake




Their anniversary present from Mikey, Cindy, Rick and I


Me with my nephew Cooper


Cooper with his First Bible









Last weekend was a very relaxed and slow weekend. We had nothing pre-planned! My fist free weekend in months! We ended up going to magic Island to watch 'Marlee and Me' with of bunch of people from church.



On Saturday, Rick and I worked on his room some more. It is such a small room for both mine and Rick's junk! That afternoon, Rick went golfing and I went and layed out by the pool. I got so hot that I ended up in the pool twice! That evening we went and watched my brother play some baseball. It is the first game that we made it to all season! I love watching my brother play. It is something he truly enjoys and it makes him so happy!

He plays outfield


He has really improved on his batting skills!


The score - we won!


After the game, Rebecca and Jacob came over to the house. We ate dinner and and watched some tv. Rebecca thinned out my hair for me. It feels so much better!



On Sunday we did the whole church thing. Even teaching kid's church. Then we went to Mama's for the afternoon. I took some benadryl for my allergies - which knocked me out for 2 hours! That night we went to another of Jacob's games. This was the All-Star's tournament. It started over an hour late! Rick didn't stay for the whole game cause he had to go home and finish packing and shower. But I stayed. I am so happy that I did cause Jaob hit the ball 350 feet! Only 5 feet away form having a home run! That is the best hit he has EVER had! He was pumped! They won by 5 runs.





They had another game on Monday - which they 10 run ruled the other team. Even though they qualified to make it to the State tournament, they don't have enough players to play next weekend. So sadly that was their last game of the season.

Cooper's Baby Shower

Here are some pictures from the baby shower. It went very well and everyone loved Cooper. he also got lots of clothes, books and some stuff for his nursery.





The cute cake


The one of the present tables


One of the games we played - get the baby bottle out of the ice - without touching it!


The turtle shirt I bought for Cooper in Cozumel


Looking for the presents


The Taylor Family


Cooper's dedication on Sunday

As Promised

Here is the blog that I really wanted to do yesterday. And by the way - the towel hunters never came!

Two weeks ago - on a Monday after Rick got off of work, we drove to the Virginia Beach. We stopped at an outlet mall on the way and spent way more time there than what we planned. We made it to the beach as the sun was setting. We just parked the car and started walking along the boardwalk. Finally I convencied Rick to walk on the sand for a while. The water was a little nippy, but it didn't stop me from walking it it. :0)

The Boardwalk


The sky is so cool in this picture


The Ferris Wheel


Yummy


Us



Rick and I got to spend the next weekend in Richmond. It felt super nice no to pack up the car and travel, do crazy stuff all weekend and pack back up and travel back to Richmond. We just relaxed, called about 75 different apartment buildings, finally found one - just one - went and talked with them, and then walked around in Carytown for the evening. We found a really neat little shop that we both fell in love with.
it is called 'Ten Thousand Villages'. We already have a few items that we want to buy for our future house. That night for dinner we ate a place called Havena 59. They had amazing food - rice and beans and fried plantain! And plus it was just a cool atmosphere to be in. On Sunday we went to Charlottesville for church at April and Randy's church. We ate lunch with them and then went back to their house and took naps and then just hung out. April cooked us dinner - real home cooked food! and then after Kes was put down for bed, we all played Mario Kart on the Wii. It was such a relaxing day, we both really enjoyed out time with April and Randy. And can you believe it - I didn't take one single picture!

During the week, I went up to Quantico to help Elizabeth pack up. It is starting to hit me that she is really leaving. I just keep thinking that Donna will be 4 years old before I get to see her again! Rick and I just had a good week being a normal married couple. I love just spending time with Rick - even if it is shopping at Marshall's. :0) I will have to write about our big find this past week later.

I will this lengthy post with some pictures of Spunkette and Cooper

I love this smile that Rick has


Whatta a cutie!


She likes popcorn. :0)


Here is the first picture I have taken of my nephew Cooper

Highlights

I have wanted to blog all week and I haven't had the time! I have so much to share and I still don't have the time right now. I am trying to get ready and packed up before the towel people come knocking on my door like they do every Friday morning. So, I will just give a few quick highlights and sign off. Maybe I will have some extra time over the weekend.

~ Had a super great week with Rick. Not that we did anything extra special, it was juts nice getting to spend so much time with him.

~ Went up to Quantico twice this week to help Elizabeth with her sorting through stuff and keeping the baby out of the way.

~Get to finally meet my nephew Cooper tonight! I feel like I am the last person on earth to meet him, but I guess that's ok. I couldn't do anything to change that.

~ Saturday is Cindy's baby shower, then dinner at Karen and Terri's.

~ Sunday is the SURPRISE anniversary party for my in-laws. So hoping that people show up!

That is all the time I have for now. Maybe next time will be real stories with some pictures!

Wisconsin Day Nine

We got up early, ate breakfast, packed the van up and drove a couple more hours to Louisville KY for church. We attend Southeast Christian Church. We have been there a handful of times and I always enjoy there services. We pated ways with Sarah and Joe – it was there one year anniversary and they planned on hanging around Louisville for the day. We ate lunch at a buffet and then hit the road for the final stretch home. I was still not a happy person to be around. We made it to WV by 6pm and boy was I glad to be out of the van!

It was good trip. I saw lots of people that week, go to show off my wedding pictures, did some shopping, spent time with my family, and threw my allergies for a loop. But it was hard at the same time. I really feel like this was a good bye trip for me. I am not sad anymore that we don’t live up there. I have a new life in WV and I am starting to finally make friends. It was also a hard week for me because I had to spend all that time with my family. I love all of them but sometimes it is hard for me to like them. We all are different people and we all know how to get on each others last nerve. :0) I did miss Rick that week, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. I think I missed my solitaire quiet life that Rick and I have during the week in Richmond. :0)

Wisconsin Day Eight

We got up early and went to the Funk farm for the Dairy Breakfast. I was supposed to work, but they ended up having enough help, so I walked around and took pictures. :0) It was a little chilly that morning and the wind was blowing. We brought the little girls with us and they loved seeing all the animals! Pam Johnson came up for it so that she could visit with us some more. We also saw a few more people that we all knew. We ate breakfast –pancakes, ham, cheese sticks, yogurt and all the milk you can drink. Plus ice cream sundaes. They had a huge corn pit for the kids to play in, a petting zoo, live music, craft booths, milking contest and lots of people. We heard there was a little over 4,000 people that came out that day.

We left the breakfast and went back to the Roth house to pack up and head on out. We drove past Indianapolis and spent the night. We got a huge room and Sarah and Joe stayed with us. They went swimming and then we all ate at Steak and Shake. I was really grouchy and fed up with people in general but also a little worn out from my family. It was not an enjoyable evening for me