Throwback Thursday #11

Family Vacation Pictorial From August 2015

Last year the kids went together and gave Jim and I our favorite kind of gift -- 

time together with the family.  

Here are our memories in pictures.

There was a giant moon while we were staying at the Sargent house and the way it's light pierced through the clouds onto the water and cast the silhouette of the palm trees on our first night there was eerily beautiful.

I just love this picture of Brian in his pink flamingo shirt.
Such a contrast to that bearded face!

The grands enjoyed long days in the kiddy pool that we set up on the deck.

The house the kids rented was named Pelican Point and the pelicans did not disappoint.
They flew by in groups of three to nearly twenty all day long.

Will and Derrick were Davin's net men for crabbing.
He had two to three crab strings baited with chicken thighs out most of the weekend.
He would run from one to the other yelling, 'net, net, net!'

The sunset over Caney Creek

Brian and Deborah trying a little fishing.

The house had a telescope and this was the best picture that Deborah and I could snap of the moon through it's lens.

Will caught an eel!

Auntie and Dayton enjoying the water

Diva fishing -- and she must be working hard at it.
Look at that tongue.

Maddux, Brooke and Davin as we celebrated Davin's 8th birthday with cake and ice cream.

Our Family

My Hero spent the majority of the trip sitting in this chair with his fishing pole at hand.

The Gang's all here!

Kelli, Matt and the family were only able to make it out for one afternoon and we got family pics while we could!

Throwback Thursday #5

This week's Throwback goes all the way back to the spring of 2015.  We Goode's love our holidays and one of my favorites is:

Easter 2015

at The Goode Life

 

Our Little Piggies!  Kelli, Ellie, Maddux, Brooke, Matt and Weston

Aren't they just GRAND?!?!
Front row: Ellie, Weston, & Delayne
Back Row: Maddux, Brooke, Dayton & Davin

Our Royal Family (because Poppy nicknamed Meagan 'The Princess' )
Derrick, Delayne, Davin, Meagan & Dayton 

Our A Team:
Josh & Bri

The Goody-Goode's:
Jim, Fonda and Will
Look at all that hair!!!!

 

We had such a wonderful day filled with food, laughter, egg hunts and candy -- lots of candy!  It was a beautiful spring afternoon and though we missed Brian -- it was a blessing to have most of the family together for a (semi) quiet day at the Goode Life.

Well, Hello World. How've You Been? Good to See You, My Old Friend.

I love that song by Lady Antebellum and it is striking a chord in my heart as I opened the blog page today.  It's been a long, long, LONG time...and I've missed you.

I've been meaning to update here since January.  But one day becomes a week, which becomes a month, and before you know it I have posted only once in nearly year.

I think mourning does that to you though. 

Don't get me wrong, I haven't been in a deep depression with no light in sight.  (Thank You, Lord, for Your great mercy.)  But I know that the loss of my dad last February has cast a pallor over my heart and I have had a hard time expressing myself.  I am beginning to get my voice back now though and wanted to check in with whoever is still out there reading this little piece of me. (I know of at least two of you!!!)

Just to let you know how we have been, everyone is doing well in the Goode family.

• Meagan and family are all settled in to the country life. They are homeschooling and involved in Boy Scouts. Derrick is working in a neighborhood in Katy and enjoying his new zero turn mower. (Those are the things that excite you when you get to a certain age. AHEM!) Davin has taken a huge interest in sports cars thanks to a ride in the Corvette and Fast & Furious 7. Delayne is growing like a weed and can talk you under the table.  She is loving all things Ariel at the moment. (If we've watched Little Mermaid once, we've watched it 50 times.) Dayton is still one of the happiest children I have ever seen -- always smiling.  Well, unless you tell him that he can't go outside. He is happiest just sitting in the Polaris pretending to drive. Meagan has been raving about the new online grocery shopping service that Wal-mart now provides.  I cannot even imagine...but I do know that if that had been an option back when I had to coax five children in and out the car I probably would have been gushing over it too.
• Kelli and family are nearly finished with their massive remodel project of Matt's childhood home.  The house was very nice to begin with but Kelli has turned it into a beautiful display of her distinct personality. They, too, are homeschooling.  Matt promoted to Sargent last fall.  We are so proud of him and his dedication.  Brooke has grown into such a compassionate and responsible young lady. She loves to read. (Which makes me VERY happy!) Maddux is losing those little boy features and growing into a handsome young man.  He played football last fall and enjoyed it...but his love is still all things Lego's.  Ellie is hitting a growth spurt in which she may just catch up to Weston.  But we're not holding our breath. She loves her Pappaw...and dogs.  (No connection implied. Ha!) And as I said, Weston is a linebacker-to-be.  He's a chunk and cute as can be.  Which is good, because he can be a bull in a china shop so I'm sure the Lord made him cute so his mom wouldn't kill him.
• Brianne and family are also doing well. She and Josh are adjusting to this thing called parenting.  As most of us know, you cannot fully explain it to anyone until it happens...and then you just have to figure it out.  They are doing a great job though.  Josh is home at the moment and that little girl of his just adores him.  Bri is over the moon in love with our sweet Bailey Rae...and it shows in their relationship.  That girl wants no one except her momma, especially when daddy is off shore.  Bailey looks just like Josh, has Bri's super blonde hair but has a temperament all her own. When she gets mad -- she's mad all over. And when she stops crying she sniffs and sighs for the longest time so that you don't forget how mad you made her.  Bri and Josh just hosted their annual crawfish boil on Saturday and did an outstanding job once again.  The food was delicious and the company even better.
• Brian is still in San Marcos and working at the resort.  He is thinking of moving back to the Houston area in the fall and perhaps going into drafting.  He and Deborah were able to make it in for the crawfish boil and it was good to see them.  I don't hear a lot from him...so there's not a lot to report.  But he does make it home for every family event possible, and for that I am thankful. 
• Will is still in Tomball, living with friends and working for us.  We see him about as often as we see Brian...but he seems to be doing well too.  The big news for him is that he got his hair cut this past week.  This was him at Christmas: 
  

          and this is him now: 

As for Jim and I, we have been busy getting things done around the house.  He had his shop erected last year but we just completed the finishing touches on  the game room build-out earlier this spring.  (We love it! It is now the favorite family hangout.)  He has been working hard at clearing the back of the house, making us a backyard and pathways.  We hired someone to come in and clear out the underbrush in front of the house.  Now we just need to have some trees cut.  (We have lots of pine.)  We also have someone installing the rock around the sides of the house. All of these were things we have been planning since the house went in.  We just got a bit burned out last year and decided to give ourselves a break from all of the construction. 

We hosted our annual Custom Fire Protection crawfish boil out at 'The Barn' a few weekends ago.  That prompted us to get some of these things taken care of.  It turned out great.  I estimate we had about 80 people in and out throughout the afternoon.  We had lots of room and the Lord blessed us with the perfect weather.

Okay, enough about us.

How have you been? 

Have I mentioned how much I've missed you?!?!

His Kind of Party

Due to an unforeseen stomach virus hitting our house weekend before last...we had to reschedule Will's birthday lunch with the family to this past Sunday.  It was a great, sunny afternoon.  Nearly the whole family made it.  (Josh is currently offshore, so we don't count it against him since he doesn't have his own personal helicopter.  LOL!)  The guys gathered on the back deck to fry fish, French fries and boudin balls while watching the playoff games. (Jim is loving that Joey from Dish that allows him to watch television anywhere!) Us girls met in the kitchen as I cooked up a big batch of seafood gumbo with French bread and coleslaw.  Brian and Deborah even made it in for the day.

Happy 20th birthday Will!

William and Taylor

Hope you had a great birthday lunch, Will!  We love you!

Happy 20th Birthday, William!

Dearest William,
I'm sorry we are missing your birthday party today. This stomach virus is kicking my rear. But know that we love you and are praying God's absolute best for you in the year to come. Sweet potato pie to follow as soon as I'm feeling better. Hope you are having a wonderful day!
Love,
Mom

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A Few More Easter Pics

Proof positive that William was at our Easter gathering!

Davin (6 1/2) with Parker showing off the lizard he caught in the backyard.

Brooke (6 1/2) found the most eggs.  That basket was overflowing.

Maddux (5) --  it is so hard to get a picture of this boy looking at you.

Elliot (1 1/2) dragging her princess basket behind her.
I just love this sweet smiling face!

Delayne (1 1/2) -- Miss Attitude looks like she's posing for some Baby Gap ad or something.  It was our first time seeing her in pigtails.

Weston (6 months) and Pappaw -- I love that look on his face.
 Like him and Pappaw are intently deciding on how to do something!

Now, is it just me or aren't they all just 'GRAND'???

Happy 19th Birthday, Will!

Somewhere along the way you went from this...

...to this....

...and now it is more often this.

But no matter what, you will always be our 'baby' boy.  Thanks for choosing to spend your birthday with us.  We love you and are so very proud of you.

Hugs,
Mom and Dad

Posting a day late because we celebrated until nearly 2 am with most of the family. (We missed you, Josh!)  It was a wonderfully LOUD night.

Flashback Friday: O Say Can You See

Today's flashback goes WAY BACK...all the way back to last Thursday! LOL!

I've been meaning to post pictures from our 4th of July celebration all week.  And since it occurred over a week ago, I figured it could technically count as a Flashback!

Last Thursday, the family gathered at our house for a Independence Day celebration unlike the ones we have grown accustomed to since having grandchildren.  This is usually our Family Vacation week.  But due to unforeseen circumstances, the Lake House that we normally rent is no longer available.  When we searched for an alternate vacation rental, we just couldn't find one that both (a) fit all 15 of us and (b) had a private swimming pool, which is where the women and children spend most of their time.

So instead, we:

...took pictures in our patriotic attire...

Delayne all decked out for her first 4th of July picnic

...went swimming in the wading pool with our favorite cousin...

Brooke and Davin getting ready to jump in the pool

...checked out boxes and boxes of fireworks, discussing who would get to shoot what...

Brooke, Maddux and Davin studying Uncle Josh's fireworks

...took pictures of all the special people visiting around our kitchen table...

Elliot, fresh from a nap, with Kelli

Chelsea listening to Brooke's story

Brian waiting on dessert

Bri, our birthday girl

...turned our favorite cousin into our personal pony ride...

Maddux, Davin and Delayne

...opened birthday presents galore (there are four birthdays to celebrate each July -- not counting Davin, who gets his own party later in the month)...

My new crossbow from my honey, perfume from my grandchildren, and crossbow accessories from my children.

Be afraid!  Be very afraid!  (The bandanna is actually Will's not mine.  Jim just thought this would be a funny photo.)

...and enjoyed to fireworks.

Brian, Will, Derrick, Bri, Josh and Davin
Our own personal arsonists...I mean pyrotechnicians.

Fireworks illuminating the sky.

Is there any better way to spend the 4th?  I think not.

Flashback Friday: 18 And Counting

This flashback is from January 11, 2013...when our 'baby' turned 18.

For his birthday, he wanted to gather with the family at Pappadeaux's for some oysters on the half shell and some good Cajun seafood.

These three call him 'Duck-Duck' and are his biggest fans!  Can you tell which two have the last name 'Ham'?  They love a camera!

The whole Goode clan.  Such a rarity.  A big thank you to the total stranger who offered to take the picture with me in it too.  William had a wonderful birthday, just the way he wanted it...surrounded by family.