whatnot

some of my beautiful family.

this pict was taken sunday night after the funeral. most everyone had left at this point, but the few insane ones stayed up a little later to help papaw thru his evening.

front row: sitting is sam his and his lovely pregnant wife heather is kneeling next to him.
second row: is me and i am holding alyssa moses my second cousin mer is holding her sister makenna.
third row(ish) is papaw the most amazing person on earth. behind him is grant and his wife (my cousin) deborah. then lydia then angie then rebecca then aunt carla then mommy and then aunt marita.
the last row is daddy and stephen and kevin (angie is his wife) we don't like him cause he is divorcing angie. angie and kevin are makenna and alyssas parents. deborah, lydia, rebecca and sam are all brothers and sisters and aunt marita is their mother. so those are a few of my wonderful family members. i love them to death and miss them so much more.

i would draw a family tree, but it would be too complicated and big....maybe i could get someone to take a picture of a tree i draw! that would be fun!!

guess and win!

now is your opportunity to play a little game. find me in both pictures (gwen you can't play) and win a wonderful prize! the time is limited and the prize is...well...wonderful!

thoughts in a jumble.

ohio.
black dirt.
glorious sunsets (i saw my first one since we moved...amazing)
the smell of ohio at this time of year. alfalfa cut, wet dirt just nice ohio-y smell.
the sounds here...the sound of locust (only ohio locust sound THIS good!)
the sound of a good thunder storm.
the sight of a rolling soybean field.
the sight of 9 foot high corn still green and amazingly beautiful. it has been dry here so the leaves are curly and pointing straight up, but it is beautiful none the less.
family family family. i saw all my mom's side of the family at the funeral today. The Farm was full again with happy voices. 5 kids 20 grandkids and 6 greatgrandkids. heather, sam's wife, is pregnant and has the wonderful mother glow about her face. deborah just got married not too long ago and has the beautiful i'm-just-married-and-so-in-love look. lydia is happily married for two years and looks beautiful. angie and kevin aren't doing too well, but their girls makenna and alyssa are dolls. they are 7 and 5 and promised to be pen palls with mer and i. aunt carla and aunt doris are leaving for scotland tomorrow, flying out of detroit (arrrrrrrrrg!). uncle ronnie is still driving his little debbie truck and you can really tell! =) luke and cindy's baby hannah jo is the most adorably independent little girl you will ever meet...and only eight months! carrie and bryan have a new daughter lilly, she is three weeks old and the most beautiful baby you would ever hope to see! their son blane started crying when i held him today at the reception at the church...how embarrassing! carl and mindy's baby maddison is adorably happy all the time. she laughed in my face today twice. i couldn't decide if it was gas or i had something stuck in my teeth. she is nine months old. quite wonderful. uncle rick is doing well. he got a new tractor and loves it so much. oh luke got a new toy too. a brand new four wheeler that does amazing things! he said next time i am up he would let me drive it around...the last time we did that we met with unfortunate events! (such as wet cow pie all up the back of us!!) luke and cindy's new house is done. they live in between uncle rick and aunt doris. it is a beautiful log cabin type thing with a huge front porch. sabra was there, and i got to talk to her some. she is still nice, but hard to get close to. nathan has been working out and is HUGE! he works now at a penitentiary and is a football coach. i love him to pieces. jared is in samolia and aaron is in sandiago,ca with his new girlfriend autunm and both are fabulous. (side note...jared is in the NAVY) ben is still in germany and loving it there. ruth is visiting aaron in sandiago and called tonight to say hello to all of us. we miss her. micah is running around the country somewhere and is doing great. deborah's husband grant is nice and fits well into the family. i like him. papa is exhausted but doesn't want to sleep cause he is afraid of sleeping without mama. he keeps drinking coffee so he will stay awake. mom is staying with him tonight and was very afraid that the night will go rough. we did a recording session of papa playing his guitar and telling stories. he is famous for his stories. (my grandpa hoagland is in the room below me and is talking in his sleep...never heard that one before!)

it was hard at the funeral today. i did well until it came time for papa to say goodbye to mama. he kissed her twice and was talking to her for some time. i didn't hear what he said, but it was heartbreaking to see him. his eyes are so lost. it hurts me that i see him like that and can't take any of his pain away. he gave me a hug after the service today before they took mama into the hearse and said "you need to come back soon because i just want to be with mama. i want to see her again and want to be with her. i can't be by myself, so come see me more often." i thought i had cried all my tears out, but more came. i got to see my cousin mark's grave today...kind of. it was right next to mama's. he died back in '98 and was such a sweetheart. i miss him.

my daddy preached the sermon today and the gospel went out clear as a bell. which that was good cause there was some unsaved family there to hear. especially daddy's brother, uncle jim and his wife aunt marge. they both heard and it was very clear.

now i think i am rambling. i think the whole thing is rambling, but i wanted to get some of this off my mind before i went to sleep. we drive back to sc tomorrow. mom on wednesday. i know i will be doing most of the driving and my back is killing me. pray i make it in safe. it is hard to be physically drained as well as emotionally drained.

love to you all.

amazing grace

yesterday afternoon was the viewing for MaMa. the family arrived around 4:00. i think it was the hardest thing i have ever done. forcing myself to walk to the front of the room and look at my MaMa's shell. it took me about an hour to screw up the courage to do it, but i was so glad i did. she was beautiful. she no longer had congestive heart failure, diabetes, parkensens, dementia, penumonia, or anything else. she was in heaven in her glorified body with no pain or no restrictions. it was a slightly confusing situation though. seeing all the family there together (which we all haven't been together since my cousin mark's funeral in '98) i was so happy, but so sad at the same time. but the joy was there. the joy that MaMa was at peace at last. it was amazing to watch Christians greve when they saw her, but then smile and rejoice after the short period of tears. today we head into the funeral. i don't think it will be easy. PaPa looked so lost yesterday. he said to me, "I married my sister, my best friend, and my cousin! You can't get any closer than that!" he is from West Virginia. =) pray for my PaPa. he has spent the last 20 years taking care of MaMa, and i don't know how he will manage. as soon as i can, i want to put pictures of them up...but until then, look at MaMa's obituary...quite a tribute to an amazingly wonderful woman. she is the second woman. Corda Irene Perry. I love you MaMa and will miss you so much.

grace needed...

August 5, 2005 my beautiful MaMa Perry went to her Jesus. I am torn right now trying to be so happy that she is out of pain and safely in the arms of her Savior...but at the same time trying not to ask God why he would take her from our family.

MaMa was born in 1925. She was 80 years old when she died yesterday. On August 5, 1940 she married my PaPa at the age of 15. Yesterday was their 65 wedding anniversary. Being married 65 years they were connected in so many ways. I can't imagine being 65 years old, let alone being married for that long. It was God's grace that they stayed together for so long, and that their love was so much greater than before. I am so thankful for their example of a Godly marriage.

The viewing (i hate that term) is today at 4:00. The funeral is tomorrow at 1:00. Pray for my mom, she is struggling. Pray for Daddy, he is preaching the funeral service. Pray for Drew, he is flying in from Mexico from a missions trip tonight at ten, then leaving again at four in the morning to fly here to Columbus, Ohio for the funeral. Pray for my family...Aunt Carla, Luke, Cindy, Sabra, Uncle Doug, Aunt Marita, Ben, Sam, Lydia, Ruth, Deborah, Rebekah, Micah, Jesse, Uncle Rick, Aaron, Nathan, Jared, Aunt Doris, Uncle Ronnie, Angie, Carrie, Bryan, Carl, Mindy, Stephen. MaMa was a great grandma seven times over. We are tired and it is going to be an emotional day tomorrow.

Love to you all and thank you for your encouraging words.