Thanks Dad!!!

As we celebrate Memorial Day, I wanted to take the time to thank my sweet Dad for his service to our country during World War 2. My Dad was in the Navy. He is so proud of his time spent in the Navy and I love to hear his war stories! This is a picture of me with my Mom and Dad. Daddy will celebrate his 89th birthday on June 10th.
Here is my Dad with our cat, Sassy and our dog, Holly. In case you can't tell, they adore my Dad and they fight to see who can get the most attention from him.

Our local Rotary Club sponsors flights to Washington, DC for Veterans to go up as a group and see the memorials. The Veterans are given the royal treatment and have the time of their life together as a group. They take 6 flights a year. 3 in the fall and 3 in the spring. And the trips are free to the Veterans. Our family nominated my Father to go, but he will not be able to go until this coming fall, due to a long waiting list.

When they go each year, the news coverage is so touching. To see all these older Veterans getting onto that plane and the smiles on their faces is priceless and will bring a tear to your eyes. I can't wait for my Dad to go. It will be a trip of a lifetime for him.

As we reflect on Memorial Day, let us remember all the men and women who have made such great sacrifices for all of us to be able to live in a free country and to worship a God who dearly loves us. We are so fortunate and we owe so much to these men and women! Thanks Dad, for your service during World War 2. I love you!

My New Baby!

This is my new baby, Sunny!!! A yellow canary! Isn't he/she/it sweet? I don't know the sex yet, but I think it may be a male, since it chirps and chatters a lot. I hope it is, because male canaries sing and have the prettiest voices. From here on out, I will just refer to Sunny as a male.
My Bible study leader has 2 canaries and they had 4 babies on March 6th. I had always loved Nancy's birds and when she offered me one of the babies, I was thrilled. Growing up I never had a bird, so I was not sure how it would be taking care of a bird, but I have loved it!
Sunny's cage sits on a bookcase between my computer desk and a window and I enjoy watching Sunny when I am in my office on the computer. Sunny recognizes me when I come in and comes to sit on his perch in the corner of the cage closest to the computer. Sunny will look at me and cock his head and chatter at me. It is so cute!! I can talk to Sunny and he will listen just like he knows what I am saying.

I have had Sunny for a week, but have grown attached to him already. It is very easy to take care of for all the joy that I have gotten from having him. Sunny loves to take a bath, so several times a week, I put a dish of water in the cage and Sunny has the best time bathing. It is so much fun to watch Sunny having a good time in the water!

Since my girls are out of the nest, I now have my little animals to keep me company. We have our chihuahua named Holly, our cat named Sassy and our little canary named Sunny!! Life is good!

Memorial Day Giveaway!

My blogger friend Sarah, over at Monogram Chick is hosting a wonderful giveaway for Memorial Day weekend and I want all of you to have a chance to win! She is giving away a really nice spa wrap and cosmetic bag. Aren't they cute?

Check out her blog and sign up, but be sure to let her know that Melinda sent you over to register. If you win, then I win too.

You see, I posted about Sarah's Market basket giveaway last year and my blogger friend, Nancy, at Bacardi Mama won. We both got awesome monogrammed market baskets!!! I have loved my market basket. Sarah does a beautiful job with her monogramming and my item was packaged so pretty when it arrived.

Remember you may want to check out her site for graduation and wedding gifts or just something special for yourself. The drawing will be on Tuesday morning, so hurry over and sign up.

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Graduation Weekend & Anniversary Celebrations!!!!

On Saturday, May 15th, Tom and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary and we also celebrated my sweet son-in-law, Thomas' graduation from college. We went to visit Lauren and Thomas for the weekend and had the most fun being together. I got my pictures loaded in backwards, but what else is new? We will start with pictures from Saturday night and go back to Friday. Sorry!
Here is my delicious dinner that night after graduation. I had filet medallions with mashed potatoes and we also ordered lots of other yummy sides to share, but I forgot to take pictures of those.
Adelaide and Lauren were looking as beautiful as ever! I am so proud of my two girls. They are the joy of my life!!!
Heading into the restaurant. Lauren, Adelaide, Tom(my husband in the pink shirt), Brent(Thomas' brother in the blue shirt).
Del Frisco's is the restaurant where we ate after graduation and it was so good!!! The service was excellent and we had a wonderful time celebrating Thomas! After dinner us gals dashed over to Belk to take advantage of a Lilly sale and we all got some new Lilly clothes for summer. We only had about 40 minutes to shop, but we didn't let that stop us from doing some damage. We all managed to pick out some great new outfits! What fun!!!
My sweet family. Us girls all wore our Lilly dresses for the graduation. In case you haven't noticed by now... we love Lilly.
Lauren and Adelaide!
Lauren and Thomas. Don't they make a cute couple? They just recently celebrated their 3 year wedding anniversary on May 5th! I can't believe that they have already been married for 3 years.
Another shot of us with Thomas. We are so proud of him. He worked full time and finished his college education.
Thomas with his parents. Mom (Cindy), Dad (Mike) and brother (Brent).
Thomas is so thrilled to be finished!
Lauren giving Thomas a big hug after graduating! Way to go Thomas!!! We are so proud of you!
That is Thomas shaking the chancellor's hand on the screen.
I just had to include this picture. On the morning of graduation, Lauren and I got up and took our showers to get ready to leave and we both came out wearing the same Lilly dress. It was so funny!!! Since I did not bring many clothes, Lauren changed and I wore the blue dress to graduation.
Our family loves sweets, so needless to say, we had to have a special cake for our special guy, Thomas, for his graduation . This cake had fresh strawberries in the buttercream icing between the layers and it was delicious!!!!
On Friday night we celebrated at another great restaurant called Firebirds. It is Lauren and Thomas' favorite restaurant for hamburgers. We had to wait at the bar until our table was ready. I can't believe it, but Adelaide is now 21 and can join us at the bar.
Cheers!
The happy couple... Lauren and Thomas!
Thomas, Lauren, Tom and Adelaide. I am so blessed to have such a great family. Love you guys!!!
Isn't this neat? This is a huge glass jar of pineapple slices at the bar. They soak these in liquor for 21 days and put the slices in drinks that people order. It looked so pretty sitting on the end of the bar.

I did not get pictures on Sunday morning, since most of us were still in our pajamas, but Lauren and Thomas treated everyone to a delicious breakfast at their house. They fixed eggs benedict and Lauren made her famous Hollandaise sauce, which was awesome!!! I had gotten fresh strawberries at the farmer's market, so we had those too. It was sooooooo good!!!

As you can see, we had the best time being together last weekend and celebrating our anniversary, as well as Thomas' graduation from college. I love my time with my family and making memories together.

Beach Music!!!

When the Beach Music Festival starts each year, it really feels like summer has arrived!!! It is held each Thursday night (for 7 weeks) in the city where I live in North Carolina. It is a fundraiser for the Children's Home Society in our town, which is an organization that handles adoptions. For those of you not from the South, beach music is HUGE in the South and most Southerners love to Shag to beach music.

The group playing tonight was called Legends of Beach and the lead singer was Jackie Gore. The saxophone player in this picture could really play that sax! You can see some of the people dancing on the wooden dance floor in front of the stage. There is another dance floor further back for others to dance on. A lot of the folks just enjoy listening to the music sitting in their lawn chairs on the grass.
Here is a view of part of the crowd. As you can see, it is very well attended. Beach music is held downtown in a nice park- type area. Lots of room for people to spread out and enjoy talking and visiting with each other. There are also local restaurants who have free food to share with those in attendance. They also sell beer and soft drinks.
Here is another view of the dance floor by the stage with folks Shagging! There is a varied crowd, both young and old. I saw lots of people I knew and enjoyed not only listening to the music, but visiting as well. You all know me, I love to talk!
These little guys were on the back stage and everybody cleared off to let them dance. You can't tell from this picture, but they were really dancing up a storm!! They were so precious!!!

It was a fun evening! I had a great time. Adelaide (my daughter) was also there with her friends. They were going out afterwards to celebrate her friend, Sarah's 21st birthday!

In June, some of the more famous beach music groups are going to play. The Embers, Chairman of the Board and the Band of Oz will be playing. I can't wait!!! For $7, it is a fun evening with friends and the money goes to a great cause. Don't you just love all the fun things there are to do in the summer?

Graduation Weekend!

My sweet son-in-law Thomas is graduating from college this weekend and we are so excited to be celebrating with him! We are going to their home for the weekend to attend the graduation on Saturday and to take part in the celebration. We are so proud of Thomas! He has been working full-time and going to college. He is like the son that we never had and he is so good to my daughter. Thomas is a wonderful husband!!!

On Saturday night we are eating out at an awesome restaurant and Thomas' parents and brother are joining us too. It will be a fun weekend of making Thomas feel so special and loved!

Oh, and one last thing to celebrate. Tom and I will be having our 34th wedding anniversary on Saturday. We met in high school when we were 15 years old, so I feel like we have grown up together. We don't want to take away from Thomas, so our celebration will be low key.

Prayers and blessings to my blogger friend, Kat, whose daughter Bree is getting married on Saturday in Florida. I wish them all the best! Congratulations and best wishes to Bree and Jay. And Kat, you are going to be the prettiest Mother-of -the-bride ever!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Congratulations Mom!!!

I talked to my sister tonight and she said that my Mom won at church today for the oldest Mom in attendance. Mom is 86 years old and still going strong. She still drives, takes care of her home and cooks. I hope I am doing that well at 86!

Mom also won for the Mother who has been married the longest. She and my Dad will celebrate 68 years of marriage this fall. Isn't that great?

As I stated in my last post, I am so proud of my Mom! She is the greatest, and has been such a great example and inspiration to me. Congratulations Mom and I love you!

I hope all of you had a nice Mother's Day, doing exactly what you wanted to do and spending it with those you love.

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Happy Mother's Day!!!

A Happy Mother's Day to all my blogger friends who are Moms! I hope you all have a very special day and that your family celebrates wonderful you today. And for all those who still have Moms who are living, I hope you have a wonderful day with your Mom.

Being a Mom is the hardest, but most rewarding job a woman can ever have. I would not trade it for anything!!! I have 2 beautiful daughters that I am very proud of and being their Mom has been such a blessing to me. I love you girls!!!

My sweet Mom has been an amazing example to me of what a Godly Mother should be. She raised me in a Christian home, took me to church from the time I was born, loved me unconditionally, taught me how to be a loving wife and Mother by setting a great example for me and taught me how to be a wonderful cook and homemaker.

Most importantly, she taught me about the importance of FAMILY. Of always being there for each other and for loving one another through the good and the bad. We are a very close family and have done so many fun things together over my lifetime and have made so many wonderful memories.

Mom writes and sends lots of cards and letters to friends and family on a daily basis and has passed that love on to me. Mom is an amazing cook and her ministry has always been spoiling us with her great meals. She loves nothing more than fixing a wonderful sweet treat to have at the end of one of her meals. That is where I got my love of sweets!

I am so blessed to still have my Mother in my life and to enjoy her company so much. We are Mother and daughter, as well as best friends. We have always loved doing things with each other. Thanks Mom for all the great times we have shared together and also for the love you have showered on my own girls, as well.

My Mom just turned 86, but I hope I have many more Mother's Day celebrations to share with her. I love you Mom!!! I am blessed to be your daughter.


Since I seem to always be the one taking the pictures, I could not find a picture of me with Mom when I was doing this post. These pictures are of my youngest daughter, Adelaide with Mom and Dad on 2 occasions.

Mountain Getaway!

I came up after work on Thursday to help my parents get settled into their mountain house for the summer. Now that they are older, it is a very stressful move for them to leave their regular home and come here for the summer. They always dread moving, but once they are here and settled, they love it. It is so much cooler here and they can enjoy being outside. Plus, my sister, brother-in-law and niece live here too, so Mom and Dad like being with them.


I pray that this summer will be a good one for them. As they are getting older, each fall when they leave, I know they wonder if they will be back the next summer. I am so thrilled that their health is good and that they could come back this summer. The house they live in is the one that my father lived in as a child.


I will help Adelaide get her things loaded at college and bring her home for the summer. I am so excited to have her come home for almost 4 months.


I hope all of you have a wonderful weeekend. Get outside and enjoy this pretty weather.

May 5th, A Day of Celebration!!! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LAUREN & THOMAS!

May 5th is a special day in our household! Three years ago today, my oldest daughter, Lauren, married the love of her life, Thomas. They were high school sweethearts (like my husband and I) and had dated 8 years before they got married. I have posted this picture before, but it is a favorite one of mine, so I am going to post it again. That was one of the happiest days of my life... the wedding of Lauren and Thomas. Lauren was a beautiful bride and we were so proud to be welcoming Thomas into our family to be our son-in-law! He is a very special young man and we love him just like a son!

Lauren got married while in graduate school, but completed her Master's degree and got a wonderful job with a large accounting firm. I am so proud of her accomplishments and I know that she will go far in her field!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, LAUREN & THOMAS!!!
I hope you have a wonderful day, celebrating your 3 year anniversary and that you have many, many more happy years of marriage!

May 5th is also the 4 year anniversary of my youngest daughter, Adelaide's, thyroid cancer surgery. I praise God for both of these precious young ladies and the joy they bring to my life!!! They mean the world to me and I am so happy to celebrate with them both today! God has blessed all of our lives and I am so proud of my girls!
Adelaide just finished up her junior year in college on Tuesday and will begin an internship this coming Monday at a local children's hospital for 5 weeks. Adelaide is studying to be a Child Life Specialist. After her internship, she will work as a Nanny the rest of the summer.
Adelaide and her little dog, Holly.

I feel so blessed to have such sweet daughters, who have not only been my daughters, but are like my best friends. We enjoy spending time with each other and making memories together! It is a joy to celebrate with each of my girls today. I wish we could be with each other today, but I hope to see you both soon. Praying for you both on this joyous day!

God's Beauty!

Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf! Psalm 66:5

These are just a few of the spring pictures I took this year. I love spring time and the beautiful flowers that bloom all around us. God's paintbrush on the earth is incredible and I marvel at His beauty around me! I hope you have enjoyed the spring colors in your area of the country as much as I have enjoyed them here in North Carolina.

I found this saying in one of my books and thought it was sweet...

A true friend is one who ignores your broken down gate and admires your garden!

Have a blessed day and a wonderful week ahead! Enjoy this gorgeous weather and God's beauty around you.