We have been dying to get back to the beach all year and my in-laws couldn't wait to go themselves, so we decided to go together. It was fabulous!! I always thought I was a lake person and not a beach person, but after living in Florida for three years, I don't mind the sand one little bit. I hate to say that I only have photos from my phone because though I packed my camera, I never even pulled it out. Sorry to those who love great pics, you will never see them on here. In case you haven't noticed, you are lucky to even get a post from me! (All 8 of you who read this.)

We loaded up and left on a Friday afternoon. The plan? To get to Lulu's in time for dinner. If you have never been to Lulu's I want to tell you that you are seriously missing out on the greatest restaurant of all time. They have the BEST friend shrimp you will ever put in your mouth and an entire acre (yes, it is an acre) of sand right next to the tables for the kids to play in while you wait and/or eat. Our waitress said they actually had a groups come in and complain because they didn't have paper and crayons for the kids to color with. She said she just turned around and looked at the massive pile of sand, buckets and shovels everywhere, and turned around and looked at them speechless. You want a meal AND adult conversation, but can't find a sitter? Go here. And let go of the fact your child will be covered in sand when you leave. Sorry, they have live music too, but that's mostly in the evening. We ate way too much friend food, the kids barely ate, and then we headed to buy groceries and then off to the condo. It was 10:00 when we finally went to bed.

The next morning we couldn't wait to head to the beach. We loaded up, packed our lunches and hung out for a couple hours. It was really windy and the waves were pretty rough, not to mention the tide that would pull you out there in a heartbeat, so after we had lunch (and the adults were exhausted) we headed back to the pool. Our condo was on the bottom floor, right by the pool. It was awesome!!!

Last week a friend of mine passed away. She was my best friend Erin's big sister. She felt like my big sister. She was the kind of person everyone loved because she loved everyone. I don't ever remember her getting angry or mad or acting like she was too busy for me or anyone else. She was the perfect example of a Godly wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and stranger. She always had a smile on her face and made you feel like you were the most important person in the room.

Elliot was diagnosed with Stage 1 ovarian cancer back in September. Three weeks later it was Stage 4. She started chemo and saw numerous doctors. She smiled through the whole thing because she knew the whole time that God had His hands in all of it. For many months it looked like she was going to be just fine. She would have a few moments that looked tough, but would bounce back. Then about a month and a half ago things took a turn for the worse and never got better.

I've been trying to figure out how to even post about this because I can't just let it go. I can't not say anything about her. We may have lost touch over the years, but when we did see each other it was like we hadn't missed a day.

I remember spending the night with Erin and she would fall asleep before me so I would go into Elliot's room, climb in the bed with her and talk until it was way too late. I remember my brother passing away right before school started in 9th grade and she filled a void that I thought could never be filled (they had been in the same class since kindergarten). I remember finding out I had made the cheerleading squad (Erin did too) and running down the bleachers and jumping into Elliot's arms because we were so excited to get to cheer together the next year. I remember when she and her husband started dating. I remember going with her family to visit her at college. I remember her wedding day. I remember running into Erin and Elliot in Target randomly one day and finding out Elliot was going to have a baby. I remember going to her house for lunch when I was pregnant with my first child and seeing her for the first time as a wife and mom. I remember finding out she was going to have another baby, a little girl, and hoping she would be just as beautiful as her mommy. I remember seeing her at her nephew's birthday party, after she had started chemo,  being around her whole family for the first time in years and how happy everyone was and leaving with my own kids and breaking down because I missed all those great times we had growing up and knowing what could potentially happen to her. It was more than I could bear.

Elliot passed away a week ago today. I thought I had prepared myself for this kind of news. Things had been bad for a while. I'd suffered tragedy before. You still can't prepare for things like this. You can try, but it still hurts. I have cried off and on all week. On Thursday afternoon, Elliot's family had a Celebration Service for her. My mom and another best friend of mine went. We got there early. People were sitting in the choir loft and they had an overflow room for those who couldn't fit into the sanctuary. (The visitation the night before went on for 4 hours, and they still didn't get to visit with everyone that came, if that gives you any kind of hint as to how many lives she touched.) I held it together the best I could, but I want to just sob and not even care. I remember being her family and how children should never experience the pain of losing a loved one, whether a brother or a mommy. They had two of her best friend speak. Her dad spoke. I have no idea how he did it. Her pastor spoke.

I remember wishing that I could write all of everything that was said down so that I wouldn't forget it. But I couldn't think that clearly. But I found someone who did. And she did it beautifully. I asked for her permission to share it with you and she said sure. I beg you to read it. She also went to school with us. I did not know her nearly as well because we were in different grades, but knew of each other. Her blog will move you and challenge you. Here is her post about Elliot. She wrote several other posts about Elliot and I wish I could write like she does.

My two favorite things that were said about Elliot, by her friends that spoke were that Elliot was the perfect example of every one of the fruits of the Spirit. She most definitely was. My other favorite? Everyone needs to have an Elliot in their life. Yes they do.

Thank you Elliot for being exactly who God planned for you to be. Thank you for being my friend. I can't wait to see you again one day and to never have to say goodbye again!!

The kids played in their last soccer game a couple weekends ago. It was so miserably hot that the kids on both teams wanted to sit in the shade instead of play, so we were glad it was the last one. It has been a fun season having the 4 rascals on the same team and I told Burt he is getting extra points in Heaven for coaching all of them... again. It was fun to see Christopher and Nicholas get more competitive with each other at practice and during games. Sophie and Joshua, well, they did touch the ball and kick it. Most of the time it was from the sidelines when they had to throw/kick it in, but it was their first time playing and I think they both got a little shy once they were out there for all to see. I'm sure they will be more involved in the following seasons now that they have the "shock" out of their system. The older brothers were sort of the same way their first season. I didn't have a whole lot of photos from the season unfortunately, but mostly because we were busy either doing drinks/snacks (boy, those kids can eat!!) for whomever wasn't playing or yelling at the ones who were playing to go, go go!! But here are some pics from after the last game.

We have spent the last two weekends at the lake. I think we will be spending at least half of our summer there. The other half will be spent with my in-laws and our best friends, the Khans. We are ready. We have 1 1/2 weeks of school left and then we will be carefree!! Oh how I can't wait! I'm sure about 2 weeks in I will be begging for a place to take my kids and leave them so I won't have to listen to them fight all the time, but I do love having them around and no schedule to be followed. (Ok, I never go completely schedule free, but no homework and being asked "why are we going to bed when the sun is still out?" is going to be nice.)

A couple weeks ago my sister texted me and said, "What are you doing next weekend? I'm going to the lake and wondered if you wanted to come." I'm not sure I typed back "YES!!!!!!" fast enough. We both have such fond memories of summers and weekends spent at the lake with our family and love to go any chance we get. My parents were going to be out of town and she was keeping their dogs, but we didn't care if they were there or not, we just needed to get away. The kids all had plans Saturday morning, but as soon as they were done we were texting "I'm on my way now!! See you soon!!" and hit the road. Suits were put on and the rest of the day was spent in the water. The weather was perfect! A little chilly to be wet, but it didn't slow the kids down. We brought little food, figured PB&J and a box of cereal was plenty. We planned to go out to eat at the local Mexican restaurant for supper and when 4:35 rolled around we were loading up to go eat. That's one thing I love about other moms, they are just as ready to get supper going as I am! Y'all, it was the most well behaved our kids have EVER been at a restaurant! I think they were so hungry that they were more focused on eating chips and salsa and cheese dip than acting up. After putting the kids to bed around 8:00, we watched one tv show, just because we felt like we should, and then we were off to bed. 

The next morning we played and actually, it seemed to drag on f.o..r...e....v.....e......r!! It was only 9:00 and we were looking at each other saying, "How is it NOT lunchtime yet?" We finally went outside and the played for a little while and then eventually it was time for lunch. Her kids went down for a nap and mine played in the water some more. That afternoon they had to head home for a party and we picked up a little, packed up our stuff and headed home. It was so nice to get away and have some relaxing time with my sister. We never get to away together like that and it was wonderful! We plan on hanging out there more this summer, especially when it's time for the Olympics! My family is BIG about watching Olympics. We've already told my mom that she can pretty much expect us to be moving in for most of those 2 weeks.