If I Could Turn Back Time- Volume 1

 In an effort to marginally cover the missing years of the blog, I will do a handful of installments based on 4-6 months at a time... starting with...

2021- September to December 

One thing that will be lacking in these installments is my obvious wit and all the laborious details.  This is a skim the surface remembrance.

SEPTEMBER:  

Queenie and I were able to go up to Charlotte to meet my newest niece, Maggie.  All that dark hair turned into bouncing curls!

OCTOBER:  

Hunter is the starting kicker on the varsity football team and is doing great... he goes on to earn 1st Team All Region.

Ashton celebrates 14!

Bennett's team wins their soccer tournament.  They went to PKs and Bennett was thrown into the goal and came up with the final save to win.  His brothers were so excited for him- it was just rec, but you would have thought he won something much bigger!

NOVEMBER:

Ashton takes his second year with robotics- Shepherd can't wait until he is old enough to participate.  He doesn't like it but we have many funny memories and stories from the robotics seasons.  This season's highlight was me and his teammates dad arguing with the ref about a call and being asked to step out to the side.  Not my best moment but it becomes obvious where Ashton gets his vibrant personality.

H, A, Q and I go to a Clemson playoff game!  Clemson gets the W!

Shep hits 12!  and gets to hold Mags for the 1st time.

All of M and Q's grandkids and grand dogs after Thanksgiving dinner.

DECEMBER

Hunter is 16!

The whole crew headed up to H and P's house to practice shooting guns.  Mantis was in his element.

2021 was a good one.  Everything started to settle from the "C".  

November is off to a Thankful Start

So, its been awhile... like, years. One of the boys has mentioned a couple times that I never should have stopped blogging. And, I have to agree. The blog, though maybe outdated, is definitley my favorite way to capture moments. The more social media explodes, the less I like it. This is my journal- one that I might "privatize" eventually but for now, I will try to capture the mundane for my kids to always be able to look back and remember. November 5th turned out to be a day for thanksgiving. I was able to go down and hang out with the parents at the beach for our long weekend. H and A were able to join as well. The weather was uncharateristically warm. They headed back home Sunday evening for H's classes and A's basketball try-outs. S and B were with an area's youth group on their way to Dollywood.

I left Nov 5 to head home. The big presidential election was definitely on my mind. On the way, I got it a pretty good little accident on the interstate. It's funny how leaving the island I prayed for God's protection over the trip. Maybe next time, I will specify that I would prefer no accidents. :) My sweet car, Toby, met his end protecting me fully. In short, 2- 18 wheelers clipped each other in front of me. This caused both of the trucks to stop in the left lane. I was behind the 2nd truck and stopped a pretty good distance behind him. A white truck stopped behind me. The other cars were able to avoid stopping by merging to the right lane. However, about 40 seconds later, I guess the 2nd white truck didn't notice that stopped cars- the stopped white truck saw him coming and tried to move out of the way. I look in my rearview mirror and notice the movement, see the 2nd white truck approaching quickly and know that I am about to get hit. And, I do. To my complete surprise, I didn't even cuss! I just braced for impact knowing that there was no place to go unless I wanted to find myself under the 18 wheeler. Somehow, a van also got caught up in the accident. It shut I26 down for aobut 90 minutes.

Chad drove the 2+ hours to get me, they towed Toby away, and we made it home safely. Three of the boys hugged me extra long when I got home. The other said he was glad was ok. The Lord is so good to provide moments of perspective. It is easy to dragged into the daily grind of it all. He further answered prayers by keeping His hands over our country. Though I know this nest 4 years will not be perfect, I am hopeful that Trump and those he surrounds himself with be able to fix some of the damage to the ol US. As my kids move into adulthood, it becomes much more real. 

My goal is post a little more frequently... with the updates that are worth remembering and maybe some of the ones that are not!   

All's Grace.