They Grow Up So Fast

Every once in a while I come across a picture and it makes me stop dead in my tracks and think, "Oh my, when did my children get so big???" I think that seeing them everyday and being around them more than I am not around them I kind of hold in my mind a picture of my babies and they don't really grow or change, but when I look through pictures it hits me like a ton of bricks that my babies aren't babies anymore!

This picture did just that when I saw how big Shelby is. She is growing up in every aspect. Her sweet little legs don't even carry a trace of baby fat any more and the sad thing to me is that I am not sure I remember when that happened...a few days ago, weeks ago, months ago, years ago?? I just don't know.

This picture was taken Sunday, on Father's day. We had a great time at the lake with the family. Shelby and JP really, really love the water. JP's favorite thing to do is splash you and also jump off the back of the boat. Shelby loves to jump off the back of the boat and go underwater to find sticks, shells, snails, or whatever else is under there. This is a new trick that her daddy taught her on Sunday and the first time she came back up with a stick you should have seen the look in her eye! She was so proud of herself and amazed at what she had done. I just loved watching it!!!

Cruisin'

Wow!! What a great and adventurous vacation we had!! I really don't know where to start, so I will start from the beginning.....

Monday morning we got up early to finish getting everything ready for our trip and got the children ready for their crazy day of babysitter swap day. Promptly at 8:15 Liz showed up to take over and I found myself unexpectedly sad to be leaving my children who just the day before were driving me crazy!!! Anyway, they were so excited to be playing with Liz that I had to chase them down to get a hug and kiss good-bye. We made it to the airport, checked our bags and found out that our flight was delayed, but thankfully Delta had already booked us on another flight out of Atlanta since we were going to miss our first flight. After a bit of rushing through airports and whatnot we made it to Ft. Lauderdale. As we waited and waited, hope that our luggage made it began to diminish when I looked around and noticed that it was just us and a very few other people still standing their waiting for bags. After talking to a Delta agent we found out that they were on their way on the next flight and would be arriving at 3:40pm so we left them instructions to please deliver them to the boat asap and left. As excited that I was to be on vacation with Pratt, I have to admit that I was a little pouty and worried about our luggage. We made the most of the first day on our ship, ate lunch, walked around, went to our room, and when dinner time came we went to dinner. Trying to stay optimistic I just knew that when we turned the corner to the hall where our room was we would see our luggage sitting in the hall waiting for us.....but, it wasn't!!! They missed the boat and the next place we would be able to get them was a day and a half away!!! Oh, I was so sad! Not because I needed this or that but because I was excited to show Pratt my new swimsuits. Anyway, we spoke to the guest relations on the boat and they were very helpful. I am sure that this isn't the first time something like that had happened, but they made us feel so special and accommodated us in the most wonderful way! Jan, the girl we worked with, was the best and when I felt like I could cry she was very calm and reassuring. Of course, Pratt was wonderful in how he stayed upbeat through the whole thing and stayed positive and calm the whole time!!! Thankfully on Wednesday around 4:30pm we got our luggage and the first thing we did was put on our workout clothes and head to the gym to work off all that food and drink we had consumed. If you are ever considering a cruise, I would highly recommend Royal Caribbean. Based on our experience, everyone was so friendly and helpful. All the staff were kind to us and helpful in many ways from free tux rental to discounts at the spa to a little extra splash in our drinks.

Anyway, that was the worst of the worst and we had a wonderful time. This is a picture when we got on the boat before we knew for sure that our bags didn't make it.

Because our bags didn't make it we didn't have anything to wear for formal night. Thankfully Jan took care of us and arranged for Pratt to have a free tux rental and gave me a dress and some shoes to wear. The tux and my shoes were a little big, but we had a great night!!!

We did two excursions while out and about. The first stop was Grand Cayman and we did a Jeep 4x4 tour of the island. We drove through all these little neighborhoods...kind of got the chamber of commerce tour, visited a national park, went to Hell (seriously, that was the name of the place), visited a Rum Cake factory which was wonderful (we had free samples of rum cake and let me tell you, it was the best cake I have ever had and am kind of wishing right now that we had bought more than we did), and ended up at a little beach bar for lunch and to hang. Unfortunately at this point we didn't have our bathing suits so we elected to had back early to the boat and see if anyone knew anything about our bags. And much to my great joy and relief we were able to find out that our bags were there and we would be getting them sometime that afternoon!!!!

The next day we were in Cozumel. Our excursion for that day took us over to Cancun, on a 45 minute bus ride (without air conditioner), a 5 minute trolley ride and we finally arrived at the Tulum Mayan Ruins. It was pretty neat to see the remains of this ancient civilization and learn a little bit about them. Turns out that unfortunately not much is known because some archbishop destroyed most of the records by fire. Anyway, one thing I could figure out is that these people know how to pick a place with a view. On one side of the wall it was blazing hot and nearly unbearable, but on the other side of the wall, in the city there was a nice cool ocean breeze and breath taking views of the ocean. After we were done there we went to a little beach hut to have lunch and swim for a bit in the ocean. After being so incredibly hot, that ocean was so refreshing and I really didn't want to get out to get back on a hot bus, but it was either do that or be stuck without my luggage again:)

This is a picture at the Mayan Ruins. Isn't that view just wonderful!?!?!?!?

Here is a picture of our boat. We took this on the tender in Grand Cayman. While at port in Cozumel we were docked next to the Oasis of the Seas which is the largest cruise ship in the world. It made our boat look like a dingy it was so big!!!

One thing that was nice about not having our bags was that since we didn't get to wear our formal clothes on formal night we wore them on our anniversary night. It was fun to get all dressed up for that night since it was such a big night for us. We had wonderful table friends and am so glad that we got to meet them. They were very friendly and just fun people to be with.

It was a great trip and I am so thankful for the 10 years that Pratt and I have had together.

Oh wait, one more story....when we made it back to Savannah on Saturday we were tired and ready to go. I was dying to see the children and give them great big hugs; well, as our luck with our luggage would continue when we got off the plane a horrible storm came through. The power was knocked out at the airport, the firemen showed up, and of course in weather that bad no one in their right mind would be unloading bags from the plane. So we waited for an hour to get our bags. We were greatly relieved that we got them and the jury is out as to whether or not we will ever check bags again:)

No Ad Tanning Oil

It is funny how certain things trigger memories and then those memories trigger other memories and so on...Yesterday morning I was heading to the store to buy a birthday present and on the way I started taking a mental inventory of our sunscreen stock to make sure that if we needed some that I picked some up and while I was thinking about that I remembered about that brand of sunscreen called No Ad and thought to myself how clever that was because they don't advertise for their brand and then I started to wonder if it was really cheaper than a brand that is advertised for, which then made me think of the first time I had ever heard of No Ad which is where this story starts.....(wow, was that a run-on sentence or what?!?!?!)


So, lets go back to May of 1994 (just typing that makes it seem like 100 years ago...1994). It was the end of my freshman year at a new school and really, it was a great year. I experienced playing organized sports for the first time, made a lot of new friends and reconnected with some old friends. I also got asked to go to the prom. So, at the dinner they asked everyone to look under their chair and whoever had a little sticker won the door prize...and guess what?!?!? It was my chair!! And you guessed it, it was a bag with a beach towel and No Ad tanning oil...


As I was taking this walk down memory lane of my first prom, some other great memories started flooding my ming.......


Thinking about that No Ad tanning oil and prom made me remember my first dance every with Pratt. We didn't have school sponsored dances so the parents of the junior class would put together an after prom party with dancing for us to enjoy. This particular year the party was at Spanish Wells and I was not the dancing queen then that I am now. I shyed away from the dance floor and spent time talking with my prom date, Kris, and Pratt and his date happened to be sitting at the table with us. Now, I don't know if Pratt had this planned or not, but he eventually tricked me into dancing with him for the next slow dance. I think the song was "Lady in Red", but I was wearing green and I wouldn't let him get close to me at all. I firmly planted my forearms into his shoulders so that there was no way he could pull me in (I don't know if he intended to do that or not, but Iwasn't giving him the opportunity). Anyway, something happened during our time on the dance floor and by the end of the song I was kind of like, "what just happened here????" I mean, everything stopped, everyone faded away and it felt like it was just him and I alone in the room and that was the first time I thought that I might actually like this guy......


...the shocking thing about this to me at this point was prior to this, I really didn't like him one bit!!! I thought he was cocky, arrogant, mean, not serious about anything, loud; everything that was total opposite of me, I was quiet, didn't want to be noticed, studious......


Anyway, the dance ended and I kind of thought, well, he is too cool for me so that was nice but I better take my feelings and stuff it because there is no chance. Flash forward a week or so and as I was heading out for carpool he came running up to me and asked me if he could call me. I think I stuttered all bit before I came up with, "Okay." That night he called me and asked me if I would like to hang out with him on Saturday and I said, "Okay." We worked out when he would pick me up and then I waited. Saturday came and he must have thought I was mute because I don't think I said very much that whole day we were together and when he dropped me back off at home I thought, okay, that was nice but he won't call again....and you wouldn't believe, but he called again!!!!


So we hung out a lot on the weekends and on June 4, 1994 he officially asked me out (you remember, you weren't exclusively dating until you were "asked out"). I said yes and we spent nearly everyday together until he left for France. While he was away he had flowers delivered to me twice and that really impressed my mom and put me over the edge of being head over heels for him. I couldn't wait for him to come back!


The day came, he came home and that night as he was playing basketball he hurt himself really, really bad which led to him having to have surgery on his ankle. After that I didn't hear from him too much and the summer went on. School started again and to me it was a little awkward being around him because I really didn't know what was going on since I all the sudden he stopped calling and stuff.


Then came the high school retreat. We did all of our little activities and during some free time one night he asked me to take a walk with him....oh man, was my heart beating like mad!!! The only reason that I could come up with for him wanting to talk to me all the sudden was that he was going to tell me that he didn't want to date me anymore, but to my pleasant surprise we had a nice talk that night, he walked me back to my cabin and said good night and that was that. After that we started hanging out again.


Now, just so you know, up until this point we really didn't hold hands and we definitely didn't kiss (because you know, kissing gets you pregnant...hahahahha, jk!!!). A few weeks later he kissed me for the first time in the rain in my driveway and I don't know that I slept a wink that night........


The rest is history!!! Next week we will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he is the man that God had for me. There is no one else out there who would put up with me like he does, who would encourage me to step out of my comfort zone, who loves me when I am unlovable. He is my best friend, my one and only true love, my husband! Now don't get me wrong, everything isn't always all rosey over here. We have our moments when we don't really like each other very much and it seems nearly impossible that we will come to agreement on somethings, but we made a commitment in front of God and our families to love, honor and cherish one another through all the days of our lives; so when those times come we chose to love each other, we chose to work on things, and we chose to stick it out; and those are the times that we find our relationship grow and become stronger.

Pratt, I love you more than words can say! Thank you for encouraging me, loving me when I make it nearly impossible, for always standing by me, for listening to me rant and rave about whatever it is that I need to rant and rave about and then for letting me cry on your shoulder when I have run out of energy to rant and rave. I am so glad that we have shared so many years together and am excited to share the rest of my days with you!

A Little Bit of Catch Up

So, May was a very, very busy month in the Reed household. I know I say this alot, but I really have no idea where the time goes!! As I was looking back through the May pictures and remembering all that we did I was amazed at how much we did and then started to think about all the things we did that I didn't take pictures of and, well, it is almost overwhelming and could send many people into full out panic mode!!!

Anyway, it was an exciting month for us. Aunt Suzy, Uncle Patricio, and Sebastian (I am dropping the "baby" part because he isn't a baby anymore :( and I am sure as he gets older he won't appreciate being called "Baby Sebastian") came back for a visit!! We are so glad that they are here and love spending time with them. Sebastian is getting so big and Shelby and JP just love, love, love playing with him. JP and I wrapped up CBS in great style! I just love CBS and am so sad when summer break comes, but the good thing is that being away from something for a time makes you appreciate it that much more when it comes back around. Shelby and JP finished school. Next year Shelby is going to be in kindergarten and JP will be going 5 mornings a week!!! Whoa!!!!!!!! What am I going to do???? I think that I am already a little depressed over losing my babies:(

Uncle Matt's birthday falls on finals week every year so we always wait to celebrate his birthday in May when he is all finished. This year was extra special because he took an internship in Kentucky which means that we don't get to see him the whole summer. We had a great family time at Mom and Dad's. Uncle Matt had one of those M&M ice cream cakes you see in the grocery store for his cake and it was delicious!!! Shelby still points out those cakes when we walk through the grocery and says, "Look mom, just like Uncle Matt's cake!!!" It definitely made an impression on her.

Oh, how could I forget!!! We also celebrated Mother's day in May!! What a wonderful day it was. We spent some wonderful family time in the evening playing outside and enjoying the beautiful weather. I love my family sooo much and love our precious moments together! Sometimes I wish that I could video tape everything so that I could pause certain moments and live in them a little longer than they seem to last in real time. Shelby and JP, I love you both dearly and am so glad to be your mommy!!!

Pratt's birthday falls in May and as is tradition in our house, we celebrated on Pratt's birthday with some cake and ice cream!! This one was special because Suzy, Patricio and Sebastian got to celebrate with us. For Pratt's birthday, I made chocolate cake and then the children helped decorate it with M&Ms....hummmm, I think we have an M&M theme running for May birthday parties:)

At the end of the month we headed up to the NC mountains with our friends the Alberts. What a wonderful weekend of food, friends, fellowship, and gems! While we were up there we did so many different things...the dads took the children on a bear hunt, we ate alot, visited a fire station, dined and danced at the golf club, the guys played golf, we visited Little Switzerland for lunch, walked through a mine, went gem mining, etc.

There's gold in them there hills!!! Well, not exactly, but we did find some pretty rocks! It is hard to tell who had more fun, but one thing is for sure, we all had a lot of fun at the gem mine. Here are the four children with their spoils from the day. They were so proud of their find.

I just had to include this next picture because it is so cute to me. The last day we were there they guys played in a golf tournament so Leslie and I held down the fort. Unfortunately it was kind of rainy that day so we spent most of the morning inside, which after a while lead to cabin fever among the natives. So, in order to maintain sanity we decided to brave the weather and head out hoping with all hope that it wouldn't start pouring rain while we were out walking and thankfully it didn't!! Anyway, as we are walking along Shelby found a dead tree that had fallen over and decided that it made a great walking stick. She carried that thing for the entire walk and wanted to bring it home with her....unfortunately and thankfully we convinced her it wouldn't fit in the car. Her is a picture of her and her stick.

That is just a brief synopsis of May. We did so many things and had such a great time. Now that summer is in full swing it will probably be 2 months before I blog again, but maybe not....we will have to see.

Johnny Ussery

A dear family friend of ours was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. We had the honor of being with him and his family last night at a gathering of friends and family to pray over them and enjoy being in each others company before he made the trip to NY for the surgery which takes place tomorrow. It was a very sweet time of sharing and loving the Ussery family and we know that while Johnny is going to be in some of the best care in the country, the bestest care that he will be in is God's hands.

The following is a letter that he shared with us and I wanted to share with you.

If a doctor told you today that you have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and that 95% of patients don’t live past one year of being diagnosed, how would you respond?

People ask me, “Johnny how do you have such a positive attitude and peace about what you’re going through?”

The reality is that we all are going to die at some point, some earlier than others. The following is the most important question you will ever be asked…If you were to die tonight and stand before God and if he were to ask, “Why should I let you into my heaven?” What would you say?

Someone asked me that question about 33 years ago and I answered, “Well, I’ve tried to be an honest guy. I go to church. I try to do the right thing and be kind to people. I know I’ve sinned but compared to those around me I think I’m a pretty good guy. I like to think my good deeds have outweighed my bad deeds.

I was shocked when this person shared with me that none of those things have anything to do with getting into heaven! And God doesn’t grade on the curve!

He went on to say that heaven is a free gift and that I could not work or earn my way into heaven. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

He also shared that if I was trying to be “good enough” to get into heaven I would never measure up because God’s standard is perfection. “Be perfect, therefore, just as your father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) Obviously, no one is perfect. Everyone comes up short because we all have sinned. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

He showed me that, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

This person shared with me that the only way for me to get into heaven is to confess my sins, turn from them, and ask Jesus to come into my life. He paid the price for my sins when he came to earth as a man, and died on the cross as a substitute for my sins. And He is alive today and sits at the right hand of God the Father.

He went on to say that going to chuch or mass would not earn my way into heaven. Only a personal relationship with Christ would qualify. And this is the ONLY way into heaven. Christ said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

The reality is that life on this earth is just a whisper and eternity is forever. Every one of us will spend eternity in one of two places. We will either be in heaven with God, or we will spend eternity separated from Him.

People ask me how I am so relaxed in the face of this awful disease, knowing the low survival rate. And the answer is, I know I’m going to heaven when I die, and that I will spend eternity with God.

The greatest burden on my heart the last three weeks has not been a fear of death, but a real burden that all of my friends, associates, and family have that same security of where they will spend eternity.

I know where I’m going when I die, and the reason for this letter is that I want EACH OF YOU TO BE WITH ME for eternity whenever we each leave this earth!

If you are sincere and truly desire to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ you can pray a prayer similar to the following:

“Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner and in need of forgiveness. I do believe that you paid my penalty by Your death on the cross. So right now I ask you to become Savior and Lord of my life. Thank you for hearing my prayer, paying my debt, and bearing my punishment. I turn from my sins and receive you as Savior. Amen!”

If this is the desire of your heart, please email or call me and share this wonderful news with me. If just one of you accepts Christ and spends eternity with Him and me, it is worth this entire journey I am getting ready to go through! I hope to hear from you!

You can go to www.CarePages.com and search for “Ussery” and write me or you can email me at johnnyussery@gmail.com.

I am asking the Lord for a successful surgery and a full recovery. However, regardless of what happens on that operating table Wednesday, May 12th or in the months to follow, I want you to know that I am confident in God’s sovereignty and trust His plan for my life.

I am overwhelmed and deeply touched by all of you who have reached out to me and my family. I love each of you and want each of you to have the same peace that my relationship with Christ has brought to my daily life.
I love you!
Johnny
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!

Hallelujah! Christ is Risen!!! Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph over His foes!

What a great hope we have because Christ is our Risen Savior who has already defeated satan!! Remember there is great power for those who are His children and call on His name when you feel that he who is in the world is gaining ground in your life.

I just love Easter! It makes my heart soar when I think of how much God loves me, that He would send His only son to this earth to suffer and die a terrible death so that my sins could be washed away and I would be able to be counted worthy in His sight! Thank you Jesus!

Every year for the past three years we have gone to be the night before Easter Sunday with great ambitions of going to sunrise service and every year, whether because of weather or something else, we haven't made it; and finally this year we did!! If you have never experienced a sunrise service on Easter Sunday on the beach you definitely need to make it a priority. There is something so special about it and words can't describe that joy that comes as you watch the sunrise and know that Jesus is alive!

Well, as I said, we finally made it and just in time. Somehow we ended up about 5 minutes behind schedule that morning and once we finally arrived at the parking lot we raced to unload the children from the car and literally ran all the way down the boardwalk to the beach and just as we walked up to the small gathering of people who were there to worship the sun peaked its first ray over the horizon!! I am telling you, I still get chills thinking about how beautiful it was!

After sunrise service we came home and hung out around the house for a bit. Shelby and JP did a little egg hunt and then we got ready for church. After church we went to lunch with some family and took some pictures at the Lake. When I look at our family pictures over the years and think about how they have changed it just amazes me. I can't believe that we have two beautiful children and more than that I can't believe that I have such a wonderful husband who loves me, but more importantly who loves the Lord and leads our family in His Word.

We rounded out the day with our traditional dinner and egg hunt at Meme's house.

It was a super busy day, but a great day to be together as a family!

Strawberry Pickin'

So I have this friend who always knows what is going on and where things are happening and I am so thankful for her because she helps keep me doing fun and new adventures with the children. As some of you may know, we are in strawberry pickin' season...now, I have never done this before and was so excited to take the children to a real farm to pick their own strawberries and secretly I wanted to pick some strawberries too. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago my friend Heather and I headed to Georgia to this great little farm called Ottawa Farms. They really have a top notch operation there. When we pulled up there was a little area where they had some goats and some pigs and before I knew what was going on the children were off and running to see them. It took some coaxing, but we finally pulled them away from the goats and went into the little store to get buckets for strawberry pickin'. Since I was knew at all this an didn't want to appear to "eager beaverish" (this is what Pratt called me all the time in college because I had to get my books so many days before classes started and also map out and walk out how to get to all my classes) I followed Heather's lead. We tried to give some last minute instruction to the children as they were heading out, but I think that it probably fell on deaf ears because they were just too excited. Anyway, it was a beautiful day for picking strawberries and the fruit was beautiful (and once we got home and ate some realized how good it tasted). I kept thinking that I needed to get back over there to pick more before it was too late, but I haven't gone back yet. We will definitely go over there for some blueberry and blackberry picking!!!

Here is Shelby and Callie. Shelby really loves Callie and I think she secretly loves being able to be a pretend big sister to a little sister. Don't get me wrong she loves JP and all, but there is just something different about how she interacts with Callie and I just love watching it.


And then we have the partners in crime, JP and Wyatt. Oh boy did they have so much fun running around together. JP was laughing most of the time and who knows what things they were doing. For boys just being outside and being able to run is a highlight and they definitely enjoyed it. I think they both enjoyed the "guy time" as well.

Group shot!