God's Blessings never End

 This year has been pretty overwhelming to say the least.  Sometimes, I forget how incredibly in the pocket of the Lord we were all during Laynie's years.  Supported, blessed, redeemed, right in the pocket.

And then the world steps in and shakes you out of that pocket.  Turns you upside down and sideways and makes you question, "How did I ever stay in that pocket...with...this..that..or the other..going on around me?"

When Laynie was alive, the blessings piled on top of each other.  We couldn't even see the world, for the blessings.  Ya'll remember.  It was surreal, and amazing and an anointed time.  

Then she passed away, and the blessings got a little dimmer, because the world stepped back in.  Until the kids came, and then once again, the blessings overran and consumed us all.

The kids, Lacey met Tyler, Kip met Brandon, Hallie thrived in the army, the kids blessed at every turn, moving to the ranch, then attending OCS, and even moving to Shawnee, getting into Dale. Blessings, blessings, and more blessings.

However, when you are being so blessed, the enemy is always one step behind to try and derail all the things.   He has succeeded in one area of our lives, and I'm not going to talk about it on here, because it's personal and painful and I'm still working through all that.  I usually work through it best by writing, but it's not my story to tell and I will leave it at that.  

But in things I can talk about, Kip and Brandon will be the first to tell you that Dawson was a brilliant surprise.  God blessed them big with him, getting ready to start fertility treatments, and spontaneously ended up PG before they even started.   They went through a long year full of fertility treatments in 2022, to no avail, because they both had siblings and they really wanted Dawson to be able to have one as well.  He has cousins that are close as siblings and baby cousins that are brothers and his greatest wish, was to be a "Brudder".  So after a very hard 2022, full of month after month of disappointing news, they made the decision that they would just be grateful and thankful for Dawson, and Kip sold all her baby stuff and they started to make plans for her to go back to work when Dawson started school this fall, and allllll the traveling they could do with just one kid and got real ok with that.  

So fast forward to April of this year, and I am heading to Dawson's 5th birthday party, and have just pulled up in the driveway, when I get there Kip and Dawson are already standing outside, jumping up and down.  Now, I love this kind of greeting, this is totally my thing.  I have barely hugged Dawson and caught my breath when Kip throws out, "Mom, I totally tested positive".   Now, in the jet lagged, hangry, butt tired exhausted state that I landed in their home in, my brain only registers, "Positive".  Instead of the delighted cry she expected, I yelled at her, "WITH COVID?" and she starts rolling on the ground laughing.  Now, I am mad, because I don't want to get Covid and sit in a room by myself, so I don't think it's funny at all.   She leads me to her bathroom, where she shows me, not one, not two but an entire box of pregnancy tests that she has taken, and they are all gleaming POSITIVE at us.  I just sit there with my hand over my mouth, because WE HAVE PLANS THAT DON'T INCLUDE A BABY at this juncture, and I start to tear up and laugh with her.   

God.  Is.  Good.  

And has quite the sense of humor.  

Ok, now I have information I am unable to share until the beginning of July.  Everyone knows how that works out for me.  I am so very very happy to share on this site, that come the end of November, beginning of December, grandbaby #5 is heading to Redding.  

Kip didn't really want to share too much too soon, but after twisting her arm off her body, she decided to tell Dawson at his party (and everyone else) with a BIG BROTHER shirt and watching everyone's shocked reactions, it rated up there as one of my top 5 days of my life.  

There was screaming and tears and laughter and congratulations and so much joy.  

And now the last few months have been so precious with these little gems heading my way every few weeks.  

And then on Monday, the critical anatomy scan showing everything was perfecto and all a-ok.....

Proud big brother.  

This time of the year is tough for me, I love the 4th of July but it carries bittersweet memories of our Laynie's last few days of life, 13 years ago.  

13.  years.  ago.  

That last week of her life was one of the hardest things our family has ever been through.  And this year, even with the joy of the new baby looming, I felt the loss all through me.  I wasn't "choosing joy" at all.  

If everyone remembers the story, after Lacey found out about Laynie's condition, I was burying myself in scripture trying to find comfort, and Psalm 139 jumped out at me.  I called Lacey and read it to her, and we found so much peace in those words.  Over and over, we repeated that scripture to ourselves throughout her miraculous life.

So, this July 4th, as I drove over to Norman, to go get the gram, for a day of fun and sun, I was "faking it til I made it", feeling melancholy and off.  Couldn't see or find any joy to be had.  Truly wasn't choosing it at all.  

Mom sensed it, and we talked about Laynie a little and then she picked up her daily devotional calendar and just handed it to me, and said, "Look at this".

Yeah,  Look at this.  

It should have said   Dear Lolly,      Love, God   

Well slap my face and call me Shirley.  Blessings from our tiniest gift, once again.  And it woke me up and snapped me out of it, and today as I recalled this with a friend at work that is in the fight of her life with cancer.... God knew our plan before we were ever in existence.   God knew the number of hairs on our head.  God knows our ways, our lives.  He gives and takes away.  He is faithful.  He is constant.  He is never ending.  He is always there.  Even when you can't see Him, He is there.  All you have to do is look around and look up and remember.....

                        oh my goodness gracious.............. He  Is  Good.    All the Time.  

On an Angel's Birthday

 

Dear darling Laynie,

Thank you for bringing me to Jesus.  

Thank you for showing and teaching us that normal is just a setting on the dryer.   

You brought so much joy and love in your short time here

Mainly for your grandma.  You made me look at my walk with Jesus, and realize I wasn't living the life I needed to be living.  Because of you, I learned to pray without ceasing.  God is in the miracle business, and He sent us you to understand that.  

It's hard to make people understand the enormity of what your time here did.  Just because we didn't have you 90 years doesn't mean your time on earth wasn't significant, because it was, it is.  

Your mommy is still telling your story and changing lives everyday because of you.  I still share your story and change lives everyday.  You were a gift of the highest love from Jesus and you taught us all.

I rarely think about how old you would be, because we knew going in everyday was a gift.  I think if everyone thought this way, this world would be a different place.  

I hope people learned from you, If today was your last day, how would you want to spend it?  

That's Laynie's gift to you.  That's Laynie's gift to me.  

The grandma that kissed her one million times in 29 months.  The grandma that made her belly laugh because she knew exactly where to tickle/kiss her.  The grandma that prayed for her every minute of every day and never stopped believing that God's plan for her was perfect.  The grandma that misses her and thinks about her every day.  The grandma that longs for heaven and home to be reunited with her someday.  The grandma that fiercely loves Laynie's mom, and would do anything for her.  The grandma that sees Laynie in her little ornery brothers.  

The life that goes on, even though a piece of your heart is in heaven.  

Happy heavenly birthday, Laynie Hope.

Your Lolly loves you so.  

                                                    

                                                                                

A birthday for the Books- 60th edition

 This past week was two years in the making.  

After our last class reunion (40th!! say what!) the girls in my class decided that we would have a monthly BIRTHDAY BASH to celebrate classmates birthdays and get together at different restaurants and have a great time.   This got to happen exactly three times before the C word reared it's ugly head, but during those three events, we had discussed some big MAJOR plans for 2021, when we would all become the big 6-0.  

Even typing that, I am overwhelmed with emotion, because my dad lived almost one month into his 60th year before he passed away.  So 60 has been a victory and a worry for me for several years.  

As we hit the c-word, we didn't change our minds about the initial plans, a cruise (set for Sept 2021) because, hello the c-word would be over and done and figured out by then, right?  Right?  RIGHT?

Turns out, no.  So in February, 2021 we made the decision to can the floating boat of germs idea and hit a beach, and man, am I glad we did.

We initially had almost 20 girls signed up for the cruise, and when we switched the plan we slimmed down to 12 girls, but what a fun 12 we had.  

Many of us have been friends since childhood and all our memories gel together with warmth and history and color and fun and depth.  

Most of us flew out of OKC (Fonda Lemons Nixon, Lisa Grider White, Jill Self Perry, arriving at the airport at the ungodly hour of 3:00 am, with Lois Hill-Maldonado and Suzanne Stevens Maltos arriving shortly after, staying at a hotel close by since they had been at the OU football game)  Lisa Lipe Gillaspy arriving about 45 seconds before we started boarding, because we forgot to tell her that the flight had moved up half an hour, so it started with a small palpitation, and then of course, thudded to a halt,when the flight was delayed because the cab going to pick up our captain, drove to the wrong hotel to pick him up, so there's that) . Oh and another fun fact, because they oversold the flight, I got bumped to first class!  How does that ever happen?   We barely gulped our drinks down and we were in Houston, and here we picked up Kelli Lyday Stevens and Amber Kilburn Corjay and my roommate Melba (who flew in from August, GA to meet us there) and in two shakes of a leg and one delicious breakfast later, we were on our way to CANCUN!

I'm unclear of all the specifics, but it does deserve serious mentioning that due to Melba getting in a little later on her flight, she and I were NOT on the flight with the big crew into the first leg of Cancun, so I am going to have to rely on my bevy of sources from the parties involved and just share the first 12 hours of our trip.   One of our very angelic classmates happened to be carrying medicinal "weed" gummies, due to her inability to sleep and other things and a couple of other classmates thought it would be a superb idea for her to share said "Gummies" with them to help them "SLEEP ON THE PLANE".  Ok.  In the weed carrying classmates defense, she warned their butts that they were not used to them and they were pretty potent and tried to waylay their enthusiasm of partaking of said substance.  No avail.  Gulp.  Gulp,  and then they board and are whisked away.   I don't see them for almost 3 1/2 hrs and when Melba and I get to the resort, we walk in the find one of them basically passed out on the couch in the palatial lobby, just sawing zzzz's to the roof, and the other talking to a plant in the corner.   From what I gather from different conversations with the plane mates (and pictures to verify), the two classmates that decided that gangsta life was for them on the way to Mexico, slept like dead people all the way, and their roommates kept checking their pulses and holding mirrors in front of their mouths to make sure they were still breathing they were so out of it.   Oh, and then there is the fun CUSTOMS walk through, after arriving and trying to sober their dumb butts up, where all the classmates gathered around the drunken two and pretty much shoved them through, and then the most debilitated one of the two, HAD TO GO BACK WITHOUT AN ESCORT and no one was sure they would ever see her again.  But she made it, to the resort, where she was sleeping on the couch when I got there.  Those little suckers work, now.  The first 18 hours of the trip for her was an unconscious, sleepy haze and she does remember lying down eating the quesadilla we made her eat, even though she didn't sit up to eat it and strew crumbs all over her sleeping quarters.  HAWT.    The other gummy popping knucklehead managed to fall down when her luggage went askew walking to her room.  So within the first 5 hours of arriving in mexico we had had two falls (one at the airport, not gummy related, just maybe a touch of alcohol related and a whole bunch of uneven sidewalk related, and holy happiness I am glad it wasn't me this time), one fall on the hotel sidewalk approaching the rooms, and one very laid out, relaxed guest.  I'm sure the resort was SOOO glad to see this delightful crew.  

This was my first view!   When we got there we were joined by Leslie Terry Aziz and Val McCormick Jarner (flown in from Florida and Michigan) so the GANG WAS ALL THERE!

We had exhausted people all around us, so we all did separate dinner plans that night.  Several opting for room service and an early night.  What they missed though, was the most gorgeous full moon.

Absolutely incredible. 

It was fun getting up in the morning and seeing the beautiful sunrise (yep, Melba and I are early risers), and walking over to the buffet and every single morning, seeing Suzanne and Lois there (other early risers) and getting other people to make our food for us.   An omelette please.   Some potatoes please.  Why yes, some bacon too.   And could you bring me sweet tea?  and an OJ? and more water?   And people fall all over themselves to do your bidding.  We quickly became the "Birthday group" and waiters loved us because they knew they were in for a BIG tip if they took care of us!  

The pools were another level and we took over one pool (as it should be) and it was just so amazing.  

We spent about 10000 hours at that pool.  And used about 120 bottles of sunscreen between all of us.  There were some major sunburns and I think everyone's lips were burnt to bits at some point, but did it stop us?   

Like I said earlier, we made dinner plans pretty much every night.  Mexican was amazing (beef filets to die for and after a very skeptical first night decision "corn cake" became me and melba's favorite and     we ate it THREE times while we were there because.... yum.)  Another night we did Mediterranean and did our group "Birthday Party" (along with pink tiaras and sashes and birthday present dirty santa style) OMG we laughed our faces off that night, and it was soooo much fun.  

I want to add that Fonda usually did a selfie picture with all of us in it at almost every restaurant and it was epic.   One dude walked by and someone overheard his say "Look at this group of Karens" and I'm just saying that it's a good thing I'm deaf because I may have gone all Mr. T on him.  Most everyone at the resort knew who we were and what we were there for and really super gracious to us.  Except for the narcissist (and he was "over friendly" to a bunch of them, if you catch my drift), who after hanging with the group one evening with his wife, and all the girls giving her a good talking to about what to expect from a husband, and what NOT TO TAKE FROM A HUSBAND, pretty much saw us after that and walked a big circle around us.... lol  (don't mess with 60 year olds, yo)   and a super sarcastic comment "you guys go ENJOY THAT" as four of us carried food for 12 back to the group from the outside kitchen.  Yes it looked like we were walking up to the trough carrying that much food for the four of us, but come on man, don't be like that.  

Lisa told this iguana that if he knew what was good for him, that's as close as he better get.  

Breakfasts of champions....every morning....mimosa's for the win!  good times

Dancing, cavorting and general merriment at all times.  

Fonda's famous selfie of one our many dinners together

We loved our breakfast and our hats about equally.

Some loved the social distant statues a little too much after a few shots.  

But what a fun group... Valerie, Me, Lisa G, Lisa L, Amber, Jill

back row:  Kelli, Fonda, Melba, Suzanne, Lois and Leslie. 

Suzanne (always the planner) and I think Kelli had a pretty big role in making it happen too, chartered us a catamaran on Friday to go snorkel, dance, and general merriment.  I've never been a big snorkeler, always opting to lay on a floatee and stick my head in the water from the floatee, so this was a big deal for me, and I found out for Jill too, who wasn't a big water person either.  The water was so crystal clear, I felt like I would at least see the shark coming to eat me and give him plenty  of target practice as I was flailing my way back to the small boat that carried us to the reef  (the reef being the second largest in the world, if I'm lying I'm dying or maybe a bit deaf and didn't hear that right, but it's one of the biggest reefs) and be able to draw his attention away from the other girls, but thankfully none of that happened, though we did see a sting ray and 3 barracudas (though a few of us have been married to those so they didn't impress us much) and a cute little lobster and a beautiful conch shell.    Suzanne, Leslie and Lisa Lipe impressed us all with dives off the giant catamaran (at least 8 ft drop), and I'm convinced that Leslie is half mermaid because she swam the whole time without a life jacket to bob around in.  Lisa Lipe tried to show me how she actually sat in hers and was bobbing like a cork and while I basically held my legs out of the water so she could shove them through the arm holes, I got so much salt water up my nose I won't have to use a neti pot for about 18 months, she said to me,  "Well you made that look easy".  

 

about to get on the catamaran

The boat taking us to snorkel

I can't even begin to describe how much fun that was, and how much we all enjoyed the water, the company, the sun, the crew, the sprite shots (cough), and the general merriment.  

Just a marvelous marvelous day.

We ended our last evening at a hibachi show, after making friends with the waiters, they managed to get all 12 of us at a table, (WILLIAM shout out man, you were the bomb) and he put us on a show.  He liked Kelli more than the rest of us (pretty much the story of the week, lol) and the food was so delicious and so cool to watch him cook it and his funny dialogue  ( the chol-es-te-ral, to make it YUMMY) and the laughter and the fun.  

It's a very special class that can maintain friendships and truly, care and love each other like we do.  It's a miraculous thing these days, with the friction and the division in the world.  We are a diverse group, with very different lives, but one thread that holds us all together is our history.  We knew each other before we had boobs (most of us), and have stayed together over the last 40 years, planning reunions, many of them still travel together through the year all the time.   We decided that we were definitely going to have to do it again, and again, and again, that we wouldn't grow old gracefully, and I left that week feeling refreshed and feeling like a teenager again.  

Oh I forgot to shout out to Lisa Lipe, who decided to give a bunch of us "Blow outs" though due to my non-hearing I didn't get the memo we needed to have our hair WET when we hit her room so she could literally BLOW IT OUT, so mine was water patted down at the sink and blown out, and still looked good, but Jill, Leslie and Val looked like a zillion bucks.  Kudos to Lisa's Locks Shop and Bar.  What a fun time.  

I always love getting back together with my Melba, and hanging with her, we've been through so much together,  best woman at our first marriages, kids, terrible choices, Alaska, Barry Manilow, volleyball tournaments,  Knee replacements in the field of the volleyball tournaments,  (if yk, yk) and now Mexico.  I'm so glad she got to spend time with the rest of the girls and get to know them better, she was only a Shawnee Wolf for about 2 years before she got out of there, so I'm lucky we connected then, and are connected still.   Roomies forever, missy!    And she was so worried about me not being able to sleep because she says she snores, but  you couldn't prove it by me, I didn't hear a thing!  Bless!

A whole bunch of 60 year old babes right there now.  And as one of our classmates told us,  "You can't make old friends."   You either got em, or you don't.   How incredibly blessed we are that we have them.

We are good, we are fine, we are the Seniors of 79.   (catchy, huh?)