Emotional Roller Coaster

That's the only way I can describe the past 7 days. 


On Sunday, October 4, 2009, my precious grandmother, Jop, went to be with the Lord.  We were all shocked and saddened by her sudden death, but we are so thankful that God was merciful and that she didn't suffer long.  At her funeral, her pastor read Proverbs 31 as a description of Jop and her life.  That meant so much to me and really showed me that I want to live my life like she did.  She had an incredible impact on my life and I will miss her more than words can express.   For those of you who don't know, Jop (and a couple other women from her church) was the matchmaker who introduced Robert and me.  That grandmother's intuition is always right on target!  I always loved the fact that Robert's parents and my grandparents were such close friends.  Jop had a front row view of Robert growing up and she has always been very special to Robert... almost like another grandmother...before she ever actually became his grandmother-in-law!


Thank you, Jop, for...

• Your hysterical wit and sense of humor.  Your one liners were priceless.
• Your compassion towards everyone.  You treated everyone you met with kindness and love.  
• Your unconditional love towards your family.  You gave us all you had and expected nothing in return.
• Your quiet, but powerful faith.  We all knew how much you loved God by your actions, not by your words.
• Your incredible example of how to be a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, sister, and friend.  

Here are a few pictures of Jop from the past few years...

Thankfully, we had something to look forward to after Jop's funeral...Dwight and Kristy's wedding!!!!!!  


On Friday, we all headed to Austin for the rehearsal dinner and wedding.  We were all so excited to celebrate Dwight and Kristy's big day!  The rehearsal dinner was on the patio at the Iron Cactus.  Even though it was colder than expected, everyone had a great time meeting and mingling.  


The wedding was scheduled to take place in the backyard of Kristy's grandparents' house, but because of all the rain the week before, they had to move it to a new location.  It ended up being beautiful!  It was still outdoors, but under a pavilion, surrounded by beautiful gardens.  There were even a few deer looking in on the festivities!  The biggest surprise of the evening was how C-O-L-D it was!  The wind chill was in the low 50's and no one was prepared for the weather.  But, everyone had a blast nonetheless!  The food was delicious...my favorite part was that there were 2 whole tables of desserts!  Most of them were homemade by someone in Kristy's family.  Yuuuuuuuum!  My brother LOVES buttermilk pie and chose to have that as his "groom's cake".  My sweet Uncle Gene and dear family friend Drew drove all the way to Fredericksburg and back on Saturday morning to pick up the pies.  Kristy looked beautiful and Dwight was happy as a lark.  It was a perfect night.


Here's the only picture I have...and to be truthful, it wasn't even take at the wedding!  But, it was the "dress rehearsal" for JD to make sure all of his fancy clothes fit okay.  He was so proud in his tie!  Hopefully I will have some pictures soon...

I am very thankful to be back home and looking forward to getting back in our normal routine.  Whatever that is...