Monday, June 17, 2024

Weekend Jamboree

The weekend. It was a doozy y'all, and I mean that in a good way. It was my grandson's second birthday. It was anniversary #40 for the hubs and I. It was Father's Day. It was baby dedication day for Sugar at their church. 

It was food and fun and family. 



It was cards and presents and balloons. 

It was baby girl in her Daddy's baptismal gown and a sermon that highlighted marriage on the very day we married. 

It was men supervising the BBQ, the grill, and the smoker. 

It was also college baseball (GO VOLS!), heat, and naps in cribs and on couches. 

I could write a post about any one of those things, but I think I'll just dive in and see where we land. I will very likely write a separate post about our anniversary because someday I have to climb out of the shallow end of the blog pool and get back into deeper waters. There is much to be said about a long married life. Stay tuned. 

Back to the kiddie pool...we made the three hour drive to daughter2's house Friday morning, with a stop at her nearby Publix to pick up subs for lunch. When we walked in the door sweet baby J literally clapped his hands and jumped for joy at seeing our faces. There's not much in the world that can top that. 

We had lunch and both kiddies took naps before the in-law grandparents rolled in. We hung out on the porch and passed Sugar from grandparent to grandparent while little man played. There's a lot of watching the grands do whatever kids do when you're a grandparent. And you think it's all marvelous because it absolutely is. 

Daughter2 made spaghetti for dinner and we watched Tennessee baseball win in the last seconds of the game to beat Florida State and then we watched all the replays and then Saturday we watched the ending a few more times because it was so good. 

Unless you're a Seminole of course. 

Anyway, Saturday morning was the birthday party for sweet baby J. As an aside, I always write my grandchildren a letter on their birthdays and you can read his in the link here (Two-rrific). The birthday was small, really just family and the next door neighbors, but the size was perfect for someone turning two. 

There was a cute construction theme with vests for the guests, and bins of kinetic sand with lots of construction vehicles and assorted road works equipment tucked inside. There were chicken minis from Chick-fil-a, sausage balls, a fruit tray, pasta salad and a scrumptious homemade cake courtesy of his momma. 

Homemade and homestyle are my favorite kind of parties, and J had a ball leisurely opening presents and exclaiming WOW! upon seeing each and every gift unwrapped. Completely precious. Everyone rested, chatted, read, and/or napped that afternoon, then my son-in-law grilled hotdogs and burgers for dinner and then we all pretty much collapsed into bed at an early hour. 

Did I mention the heat? Whew! It was extreme all weekend long. 

Sunday morning I got up and took a walk around the neighborhood before the temperature went soaring, we had a quick breakfast, and the guys all opened their Father's Day cards and gifts. 

We don't really do gifts on Father's Day, but I bought all the men a jar of these pickles I spotted at the local farm stand the other day. They all like pickles and spicy food (these have a whole jalapeno in them, along with lots of garlic and onions) plus the name screamed Father's Day to me. 

We all changed and  loaded up the cars for the short ride to church. There were four babies being dedicated today and big brother was feeling like the freshly minted 2-year old he is up there grinning on the stage with his parents. His dad had one hand on his shirt collar most of the time, but sweet baby J enjoyed every minute lol. 

Sugar of course was just like her name. Sweet. She has the biggest, best smile y'all. It's like a full body smile and her whole adorable face lights up. 

After the dedication portion concluded the whole congregation sang Jesus Loves Me and it made me feel so teary. Getting toddlers and babies and yourselves to church on Sunday mornings is not for the faint of heart, but my daughter2's church is bursting at the seams with small children. Makes my heart so happy to know these young families are doing whatever it takes to get there each week. To raise their children in this upside down world to put their faith in the One who made it. 


The media loves to tell us every awful thing millennials and older Gen Z-ers are up to, but when I'm around my girls and their friends I see hard working, committed, faithful parents raising families and living with intention. These young adults don't make the news, but they are quietly going about the business of living full, productive lives, and the world is less depressing when we remember that. 

My son-in-law is a master griller and he smoked a delicious pork butt for Father's Day dinner. 

There was more college baseball afterwards (GO VOLS!) and it was the perfect way to end a perfect weekend. I think Sweet baby J would tell you that next to the balloons this was his favorite part-


So how did you spend your weekend? 

                              

Linking up with Holly and Sarah for their regular Hello Monday blog party...see you there! 


 

16 comments:

  1. First of all, I love that cake! Super creative. Second, I AM a Seminole but I was barely following the baseball story. Everyone here seemed very invested in it and I know folks were not happy come Saturday! Looks like a great weekend for you.

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  2. The shallow end of the blog pool- I love it and of course love reading that you plan to dive into deeper blog pool waters. I look forward to that because you are a good writer and I love to glean wisdom from everyday people- not ¨self help¨ gurus or best selling book writers- just from people who quietly live godly, wisdom filled though imperfect lives. Anyway, your weekend looks fantastic (and your daughter looks like you- I really saw it in one of the church pictures)- so full of the very best things in life. So many full circle moments, too!

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  3. So glad you enjoyed those beautiful babies! Looks like a perfect weekend!

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  4. Ahh...Sugar is so sweet and Baby J is adorable. What a packed weekend with so many special things to celebrate. Serendipitous to enjoy a sermon on Marriage on your anniversary. Happy everything to all of you!

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  5. I love it all... Happy Celebrations!!!! xx oo Carla

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  6. Hey Joyce,

    It looks like life is treating you well. I stopped by today because I got a broken link error for your site. Anyway, looks like there's nothing to worry about and you're still in Blogosphere. That birthday cake is so cute. I will have to share the idea with my DIL. My son and his wife have a little boy. He'll be a year old in September. Have a fun summer!

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  7. What a wonderful weekend you had. So many happy smiling faces! So much to celebrate.

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  8. That sounds like such a wonderful and FULL weekend of family fun. I feel the same way when I'm around my boys and their friends-- they all seem like such good, hardworking, sweet kids!

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  9. It certainly was a doozy! So many celebrations. Look at that face....she is absolutely precious. I enjoyed each and every photo you shared. Sounds like so much fun and yummy food. I love the pickle jars too! Happy Anniversary.....

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  10. A lot going on over at your place , bloody nice photos everyone looks happy, I like the birthday cake but I like cake, just saying. Sadly only one of my grandchildren has been christened.

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  11. My weekend included my grandchildren but was not as fun as yours!! How awesome to have so many celebrations connected in one very special weekend! I enjoyed all the photos and the stories!! Brilliant!! xo

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  12. Congratulations on 40 years...what an accomplishment! It looks like such a great weekend filled with those sweet grandchildren. I like and agree with your sentiments about the younger generation. When I look at my young gen-z kids and all their friends too, I have lots of hope for our future. There are lots of young people who are working hard and doing the right thing, they just don't get much attention in today's world.

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  13. What a fun and busy weekend. Great pics and everyone seems to be enjoying the time together. We'll be seeing our two youngest boys this weekend. Bridget is coming for a short visit. Clancy may fly in the first of Aug for a few days as he cannot come this time. They do grow up. Happy week!

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  14. Oh my goodness! Your heart must be bursting with all the sweetness that filled the past weekend! What blessings from above! I couldn't help but think of it all like a full circle moment - 40 years of loving and living have brought you to this legacy of faith and family that you and your hubby have created and built together!

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  15. Mark just walked through the kitchen and said, "who are those people?" I told him who you are and he said, "so we don't know them." I chuckled and said, "technically , we've never met but I feel like I know her. We've been blog friends for years." He just looked at me like I was crazy and walked off. I'm still chuckling.

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  16. What an amazing weekend! So much to celebrate.

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