May Happenings

May has been a very busy month! I have no idea where the month has gone. As you can tell it's been over 2 weeks since my last journal on this blog. Life has been busy.

School is almost over. 2 more weeks and Tiff will be finished with middle school and Abby & Jadyn will be finished with preschool. They are all very excited about the new schools they will be going to in the fall.

We are so proud of Jadyn. She has learned how to ride her 2 wheeler bike with no training wheels. Abby is still nervous and will try but would rather not try. Jadyn took the challenge and after a few tries, she took off. This is a video of one of the first times she took off with no help.

Tiffani had her final middle school band concert last week. Tiff has been saying for months how she's "done with middle school". Well, the reality that it's almost done is hitting her. She & some of her friends cried a little when the concert was over. I have no idea how the last day of school will go for her. LOL Here are 2 photos from that night. In one, she's with her band teacher. We've been friends with her & her family since we moved here in 2001. Tiff & Her daughter were BFF for a while (they still are friends today).



May is also the month where Bring Me Hope does their annual Night Walk. This year we walked as a family. We waited as long as we could to walk. The walk starts at 7 PM PST (10 PM our time). Well our girls are usually in bed by 7:30. We walked a little around 8:30 and took photos. Abby brought along her little class pet Cricket. We had fun. Unfortunately we did not call in to the "walk call". And I found out that Billy was on that call. I was very upset that I did not get to hear his voice. Maybe it was better that I did not hear it. My emotions are still very raw over him. I still get upset at the thought of losing him. Hopefully I'll be able to hear a recording of the call. I just need to know that he's okay. Sarah saw him this weekend and I'm anxiously waiting to hear from her.


We are almost finished with our adoption paperwork. You can read more updates on the adoption blog.

The next 2 weeks will be busy. Not sure when I'll be able to post again. But I promise I'll do my best to post soon.

Until next time......

Daughters of Christ

Last night, the youth at our church held a spaghetti dinner fundraiser for youth camp. During dinner, some of the youth performed for us. Tiffs group, Daughters of Christ was one of the groups performing. They sang an old hymn. My brother Daniel actually emailed me this song and said he thought Tiffs group would do great singing it. So they have been practicing and performed He Leadeth Me last night. They did great! They practiced all on their own. No adult help. They did great! We're so proud of the girls.

Enjoy the video.

Animal Kingdom

Today we drove to Animal Kingdom for Tiffs birthday. The weather was beautiful. Not too hot. A nice breeze. We got to the park before 9, when we walked in a lady asked if we would like priority seating for The Lion King. (She informed me this was free LOL). So we accepted. That was for 11 AM. We walked over to Asia and Tiff & Bill did Everest. Tiff loves this ride. Jadyn so badly wants to ride it. She loves roller coasters. We were not sure if she was tall enough. (We learned later she is and she got to ride it-story later in the post).

After Everest we walked over to the Safari. Fun ride. Then it was The Lion King time. We were seated right behind the handicap seats, but there was nobody in front of us. Once the show started it was fun. One of the cast members came up to the girls during a song and asked for a high five. Then later in the show, they came to Abby & Jadyn and asked if they wanted to come and be in the show. They got to shake an instrument and walk around the room with other kids & cast members. I loved it. I took video. I was shocked that Jadyn did it. And shocked that they left us without even looking and saying bye. :-) They had fun.

After the show was lunch. Then we walked to Dinoland and Tiff & Bill did Primevil Whirl and the girls & I did Triceratops Spin. Abby loves this ride. She got to ride in the front all by herself. A big deal for her. Jadyn was upset because she wants to ride Prime Evil Whirl. But she's too short (see photos).

Well, Jadyn kept saying "I want to ride the roller coaster". So we walked back to Everest. She is tall enough. The wait was 55 minutes so I took Abby back to Dinoland to "dig" for bones. Well we were there maybe 5 minutes and Bill called asking where we were. He said that a cast member came up to them to check her height. Saw she was good and then said "Do you want to take advantage of a million dream gift?" Bill said "Of course". So the guy took Tiff, Bill & Jadyn and they skipped the whole line and walked right on to the ride. It was great. Bill said Jadyn LOVED it. And she said she wants to do it again next time.

Our day was fun. We're exhausted. I hope you enjoy the photos & video.

Until next time......

Saying Goodbye

Saying Goodbye is always hard. Today was no different. We said goodbye to Granny. We know that she is happier now. No more pain. No more discomfort. Walking with Jesus and her hubby who she has not seen in almost 30 years. We know she is rejoicing. And we sure hope she was looking down at us today, smiling really big.

The funeral service was nice. We sang some old songs, heard some people speak, the grandchildren all wrote a special memory they had of her. It was fun to hear. After the funeral, we went to the cemetery where we released doves. They were beautiful. I took a little video of it. I hope it turned out. Then we had lunch together at the church. What a fun time to just relax and remember. It was nice seeing my cousins again. It's been too long. We laughed at things we did as kids. We laughed a lot.

I will miss you Granny. I love you. You are a very special woman to me. I know one day I will see you again.

Here are some photos and (hopefully) some video of our day.
Thanks to all the emails I've received. I truly appreciate it.
Love, Debbie

Happy Birthday Princess Tiffani

14 years ago today, at 11:09 AM, I became a mommy for the very first time. It's so hard to believe it's been 14 years already. Tiffani has grown into such a wonderful, beautiful girl. Her heart is so loving and caring. Her desire is pure. I'm so proud to call her my daughter.
Tiffani, I love you very much. I hope you have a wonderful day today. I'm so thankful that you are my daughter.
Love you always,
Mom

My Granny, Betty Gunter

GUNTER, Betty Ruth Tinny 85, of St. Petersburg, went home to be with the Lord, Sunday, April 19, 2009. She is survived by 1 daughter, Dorothy "Dottie" (Bill) Morrison of Seminole; twin sons, Dean (Ellie) Gunter of Seminole, Dale (Dolly) Gunter of St. Petersburg; 1 brother, Donald (Jeri) Tinny of Clearwater; 14 grandchildren; and 11 great- grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband of 32 years, Earnest W. "Ernie," 2 brothers, and 5 sisters. The family will receive friends 4-7 pm Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at the E. Dale Gunter Funeral Home 4100 16th St. N. Funeral services will be 11 am Thursday at the Fifth Ave. Baptist Church 4901 5th Ave. N, with Dr. Mike Ramage and Dr. Mike Wetzel officiating. Entombment will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery. Full obituary and online guest book at www.gunterfuneralhome.com E. Dale Gunter Funeral Home St. Petersburg 727-528-2880

Adoption blog

I've decided to start a new blog for the adoption. All updates will be made on the new blog. http://anotherblessingontheway.blogspot.com/ Be sure to check it out. Hopefully I'll be able to update it frequently.

Until next time.......