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Dear Daddy

 

Today would have been your 79th birthday.  Not a day goes by that I don’t think about you.

A lot has happened in the 24 years you’ve been gone.

Sydney was born shortly after you left.  You didn’t get to meet her, but I know you would love her.  She looks so much like Gina.

Now you have seven grandchildren.

They have all graduated from high-school.  Some have gone on to graduate from college…with the highest distinction.

You would be very proud.

~

Recently Kyle added some wedding excitement to the family when he married Christella.

This photo shows how loving and protective Kyle has been.

All your grandsons have been very protective of Mama.

Clay has been true to his word.  He takes good care of his Mema.  He has a manner about him that is remarkably familiar.  I always think of you when I see him.

Clay married Chynna; now they have a little boy and three little girls.

Richard had a hard time after you left; we spent many nights consoling him.  He had just turned 11.

You would be so proud of him today.

He is a preacher.  Richard married Emily… and now they have two little girls and a little boy.

Lydia is Richard’s oldest; she looks a lot like her mama.

And this one looks like her Glammy.

Can you believe I’m a Glammy???

Richard Ezekiel is namesake #2.  We call him Zeke.

Zeke and Glammy

 

You might find it hard to believe, but all your grandchildren remember you vividly;  And your great-grandchildren know you from the many photos they’ve seen.  They know you as “Granddaddy Richard”

You have 7 Great Grand-babies!

I know you would enjoy seeing photos of them too:

Lydia, Levi & Thea

Lydia & Rory

Adrian, Thea & Levi

Rory
Levi

They Are So Sweet

Mama is crazy about them…

you would be too!

Rory, Eden, Lydia, Thea, Adrian Levi
Levi & Zeke
Eden, Rory, Adrian, Zeke, Thea, Lydia & Levi
Eden, Thea, Lydia, Levi, Adrian & Rory

~

 

Although our family has continued to grow, many loved ones have left us since you’ve been gone.

Just this week we were heartbroken to learn that your cousin, Robbie has passed away.  The news made me think of the stories you told about when you were kids; you and Robbie were both so adventurous.

I came across this 1970’s photo of the two of you. Robbie told me many times how much he loved and missed you.

My simple mind likes to imagine that you were standing nearby to welcome him when he came your way.  Maybe that isn’t exactly how things work, but since no one really knows specific details, I’ll think what I want.

I hope you’ll be waiting to welcome me someday.

~

You would be HAPPY to know that Mama is doing well. 

And we are all fine.

You are missed more than you know.

We know that we will see you again Daddy, and thank you for showing us The Way.

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

 

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites have been Few and Far between (don’t you just love alliteration?).  With that, I’m here to share a few recent faves…

Favorite # ONE

CAKES

I’ve been busy making cakes in 2025.

Mama’s Birthday Cake,

Mississippi Mud Cake requested by my girls,

German Chocolate cake for LB’s birthday,

Rory’s Chocolate Stitch cake.

Speaking of Rory…

Favorite # TWO

Rory!

Happy Birthday to my favorite little 7 year old!

You’ve come a long way baby!

~

Favorite # THREE

SHOES

Monday was a delightful day off work, so LB and I went shopping for a pair of shoes I had been eyeing.  Sadly, they were not available at my local Target, but happily, I found these and liked them even more

~

Favorite # FOUR

EGGS

When you can’t find organic eggs, they quickly become a favorite!  This carton from Vital Farms was purchased from a store that we never visit… Publix in Avondale.  $11.  SMH.

~

Favorite # FIVE

Only 20 more workdays until shutdown!

Along with a photo of my team celebrating Christmas, I mentioned in this post that “it may be the last one”.  I didn’t elaborate, but I wasn’t talking about Christmas and I wasn’t talking about “this post” being the last one.  I’ll now share that we were called into a MS TEAMS meeting on December 13th to hear the announcement that our company has chosen to close our office.  We have all been impacted by a surplus.  Once the date of separation takes place, I’m sure I’ll have plenty to share about what we as a group have endured 😇

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

It has been so long that I don’t know if I remember how to do this.

Hopefully its easier than riding a bike.

~

We celebrated my middle child’s birthday on Monday evening.

Favorite # ONE

AMANDA

I’ve published several posts featuring Amanda.  Some of my favorites are here and here.

All three of my children were born in the fall, so while the rest of the world is anticipating Thanksgiving, for my family, starting November 1st the celebrating begins.  November 1st is Stephanie’s birthday.  While she didn’t specifically request it, her birthday dinner was a fish fry.

It was EPIC.

Richard’s birthday is November 9th.  Amanda thought it would be a good idea to have a low country boil for Richard’s birthday dinner.  Since he didn’t object, that is what we did.

It was also EPIC.

Amanda asked for an appetizer/Hors d’oeuvres “dinner”, which isn’t really a dinner, but very fun and filling.

She also asked for a slab pie in lieu of a birthday cake, and so…

Favorite # TWO

SLAB PIE

A slab pie is baked in a sheet pan and is designed to feed a crowd.  For Amanda’s pie I used my pâte brisée recipe and canned pie filling: apple, blueberry, cherry, and mixed berry.  The pie turned out pretty good.  Either that or no one was brave enough to tell me the truth.

With Amanda’s birthday past, on Wednesday LB began setting up the Christmas trees.  We have two and they are both special.

Favorite # THREE

THE PURPLE TREE

This was our first Christmas tree with baby Elvis, which makes it 15 years old.

These days he doesn’t have the impulse to climb the purple tree, but he still likes it.

Putting it up was a bit difficult this year because LB had to strip the lights and add new ones.

Now I get to decorate.

~

This year my team at work decided to have seafood for Christmas dinner

Favorite # FOUR

BONEFISH GRILL

and my Team

Most of us went out on Thursday night for our Christmas dinner together.  It may be the last one.

More on that later.

~

Favorite # FIVE

this little tree

that lives in my front yard.

This fall his leaves turned yellow.

Now I call him Arnold

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Bon Voyage Barbie

Birthday Barbie was my sister’s genius idea to surprise me for my birthday.  She and my daughters and brother-in-law brought her to me on the Sunday before Memorial Day.

I wish I had a video of them marching into my house to present their creation.

They were so excited and apparently had a lot of fun putting Barbie into the cake and covering her with sprinkles.

LB had made last minute plans to take me on a cruise to celebrate my old age aka birthday.

So… since I would be away on the actual day, someone decided that we would celebrate my birthday early.

We enjoyed the Barbie dress for dessert at the Memorial Day Pool party.

It was 3 layers: white, strawberry, and lemon.  Very tasty.

I can’t remember who had the great idea that Barbie should come along on the cruise to help document the event.

But Barbie was all in… she even helped me pack…

When we left Wednesday morning for Miami, she called “shot gun”, but I outranked her.

We made it safely to the port in Miami and found our living quarters.  Here’s Barbie enjoying a seat in the living area of the cruise cabin.  Birthday Barbie became Bon Voyage Barbie.

And on the balcony just before we sailed…

Barbie enjoying a chocolate chip muffin for breakfast on the balcony

[Yes, that is a choc chip muffin she’s holding].

~

Barbie in Key West

Our first stop was Key West where we WALKED for miles (it seemed) to reach the

SOUTHERNMOST POINT

OF THE CONTINENTAL U.S.A.

It was SO hot in Key West that Barbie broke a sweat.

Before we made it back to the ship, we stopped at Margaritaville and let Barbie indulge…

 

Stop #2 was in Bimini Bahamas.

Barbie on the beach

 

 

Did I feel like an idiot carrying a Barbie doll around?

You bet.

But it was still a great time!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

 

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Happy Birthday Gina!

My sister Gina is four years younger than me.  I was a surprise to my Mama and Daddy, but Gina was planned.  I consider her to be their gift to me.

Her name is Georgina Grace.  She is one of my favorite people.Given that, I dedicated this post to her a few years ago.

~

At the beginning of the month, my brother-in-law, Stuart posted this in our family group text:

“Today is August 1st and it’s the first day of the birth month of my beautiful Gina! I plan on celebrating her everyday this month! I love you Gina!”

Stuart shared some of his August celebration in honor of Gina with our whole family.

He started with this then and now photo:

~

On August 2nd Stuart shared this fun photo with the caption:

“Today’s memory of Gina!  I love her so!”

~

The following week Stuart shared this tidbit:

In Greek mythology, Georgina is associated with the goddess of agriculture and fertility, Demeter.  Georgina was on of Demeter’s many epithets, and it was used to refer to her as the goddess of the earth.  In this context, Georgina is often associated with growth, abundance, and prosperity.

~

Then he shared this interesting information about Gina’s birthstone…

 

Later he would share more about the peridot/chrysolite from Revelation 21:19-20:

19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.

~

Stuart also shared the “how do I love thee” [sonnet 43] written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning…

It is obvious that he loves her dearly.

I do too.

Happy Birthday Gina!

🎂

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Summer Vacation 2022

My vacation began on Friday May 28th as soon as I logged out of my company pc.  If I am off work, I feel like I am in vacation mode.  However, this one would be special because I wouldn’t be returning to work for 10 days.

LB and I had an appointment on Saturday afternoon, and a graduation event to attend on Sunday afternoon.  On Monday, May 30th, the kids came over to enjoy hamburgers and pool time.  It was a beautiful, sunny day!Summer has begun!

Then on Tuesday afternoon, LB and I kissed Elvis goodbye and headed to St. Petersburg

Treasure Island

by the time we arrived it was raining and we were starving.

It is typical for us to look for a Mexican restaurant when we are out of town.  We found Grand Hacienda Mexican Cuisine not far from our hotel.  After fasting all day, it was a much needed treat!

On

Wednesday, June 1st

I was awakened to the sound of Ronnie Milsap singing “Happy Happy Birthday Baby” on LB’s iPhone.  LB had put together a ‘Kimberly’s Birthday Playlist’ to serenade me while he presented birthday gifts.

The favorite had to be

The Green Purse

I’m spoiled.

We spent the entire day at the beach.

There were occasional grey clouds, but overall the weather was perfect.  The water was a beautiful jade green which is why I like the ocean on the west coast of Florida.  It is much prettier than the brown ocean on the east coast.  We stayed under the umbrella for the most part, and used sunscreen, but still managed to get a slight sunburn.

After a day at the beach, LB wanted to go out for a nice dinner.  We went to the Middle Grounds Grill.

I can’t recommend this place enough.  If you are in St. Petersburg, go to the Middle Grounds Grill!

Dinner was unbelievable!

We packed up to head home on Thursday, but stopped in Live Oak to check out some property for sale.  As it turned out, the land was great, but the surroundings not so much.  Lesson: never buy ANYTHING sight unseen!

On Thursday night, LB had made plans for us to attend the Happy Together Tour at the Florida Theater.

We had a great time!And there’s still 3 more days of vacation to go!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

 

 

A February To Remember

February 2022 is developing into a February to remember!

The weekend before Valentine’s Day was especially memorable.

On Saturday we celebrated Rory’s 4th birthday.  She is the sweetest little thing you ever did see.

I was privileged to meet her on the day she was born. 

And I’ve been privileged to make each of her 4 birthday cakes.

For her 1st birthday, Emily aka Rory’s Mama, requested a Valentine [conversation candy/heart-shaped] cake.

When she turned 2, Rory was very much into “Toy Stoy” and Emily requested the Forky cupcakes, which were a hit.  For her 3rd birthday I attempted to make a Sleeping Beauty/Briar Rose cake, but I wasn’t sure how to make it look like it was being held up by a broomstick.  It wasn’t an exact replica, but Rory liked it anyway.

This year Rory is loving Paw Patrol.

Her Mama called it “the cake of Rory’s dreams”. 

And it was pretty cute!

While I’d love to take credit for the “artwork” I cannot.  I ordered the “frosting sheet” from CAKES FOR CURES and simply placed it on top of my beautifully constructed pink and white cake.

~

While the family sat together in the living room chatting, Mama took the opportunity to read us a story.  She had written the story herself and did a very good job.  It was well-written, entertaining, and mind-blowing.  I won’t be able to share it myself, but will leave that to her.  Maybe she will let me include it in my “Mary’s Musings” section of this blog

… some day.

~

Sunday was Super Bowl 56.  While I am not a follower of football, LB and I will get together with 2 other couples and watch while we parttake of the best tailgate food you can imagine.  This year there was just 4 of us, but the goodies were still plenteous

Not pictured are the ribs, wings, and pizza rolls. Mmmm Mmmm

We were hoping to see a victory for the Bengals, but it wasn’t meant to be.

~

Since it is typically a late night, LB and I usually take the day off after Super Bowl.  This year that day happened to be Valentine’s Day.

We spent our Valentine’s Day together running errands, but later that evening went out to celebrate!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

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