2008-OCTOBER-NEW MEXICO-SANTA FE

I want to add a note in here, lest I forget. Judy and I had agreed when planning our trip that we'd make no room reservations ahead of time and find accommodations as we needed them. We'd been extremely lucky and each night had stayed in a Comfort Inn, some nicer than others. Each offered a free Continental breakfast, so we had that meal taken care of. Judy was very disciplined in her eating, as she was on a very successful Weight Watchers program and that was a big help to me. We ate good meals, but we ate when we were hungry and didn't overindulge. And we did lots of walking so we got exercise while we were on vacation! Woo-Hoo for us!

SANTA FE

The next day, which was Wednesday, the 8th, we hung around in Abiquiu long enough to visit the Farmer's Market and some local consignment shops and then headed out to our next destination, Santa Fe. It was only about an hour from Abiquiu, so we had almost the whole day to look around. Santa Fe is a pretty city, but the streets are extremely confusing and it's not an easy place to get around in. As long as we were on the main drag, we did OK, because we knew where our hotel was and we knew where the Plaza was. We headed straight for the Plaza and stayed there the rest of the day. There were many, many places to shop and we did our fair share. As far as I could tell that was about the only thing to do in Santa Fe. It seemed too commercialized and didn't have the simple charm of Abiquiu.

One place I've wanted to see for years, but forgot it was in Santa Fe, was the Loretto Chapel that holds the Miraculous Staircase. Mama and Daddy had been to see it and were impressed by it and then I saw a movie based on the story of the staircase and thought it was very compelling. I wish I had seen it.

We ate dinner on the balcony of a restaurant that overlooked some of the shops on the plaza. It was a very pretty, very artsy city, but we could have been in any of a hundred cities in the U.S. I just wasn't too impressed with Santa Fe.

The next day we got up fairly early and I went to find a car wash to wash the dirt of Abiquiu off my car. We were on our way to Albuquerque and would be upgrading our accommodations. I didn't want the valet to get his clothes dirty parking my car.

After the car wash I went back to the hotel, we packed up and left for Albuquerque.

2008 - OCTOBER - NEW MEXICO - MORE SITES

When we got back to the main road, we took a left instead of going back toward Abiquiu. We wanted to see the natural Amphitheater. It was just a few miles down the road. We parked in the parking lot and then had to walk and walk, or I should say climb and climb for about 10 minutes. The path that led to the rock wall or Echo Chamber, went steadily upward. We were so winded when we got there, we could hardly speak to hear the echo. But we did, then we left. It was pretty neat, but not one of the high points of our trip.

The Mexican/Hippy guy also told us about an Islamic Mosque somewhere around Abiquiu and I wanted to find it. We headed in the direction he had pointed and drove around in the hills for a while. We drove through several of what had to be dried up creek beds, but my trusty Navigator was up to the task and we bounced along. I did get a little concerned about my tires. I sure didn't want a flat out here in no man's land. We finally saw the sign!





We turned onto the road leading up another mountain. When we got to the top we saw a locked gate. There was no fence so I assumed they don't mind people coming up on foot, so I decided to go on in. Judy, being the wife of a long-time Federal Marshal, was a little uneasy about trespassing. Plus she'd had knee replacement and really didn't want to have run from anything. I, being the wife of Eden Martin who never let a little ole gate stop him, decided to go in just a little way.

I went around the gate and started up the drive. I got to the top of a hill and expected to see a building, but there was only more driveway leading up more hills. I really wanted to go further, but didn't want to get too far away from Judy and the car. So I turned around and went back.

We did a little exploring of the area around there, because the M/H guy said there was a spot near there where they had filmed a lot of Westerns. We found it and it sure looked like something out of a Western!




After that we headed back to town to find food. Abiquiu had a Casino so we ate dinner, played a few slots and headed back to the hotel.


TO BE CONTINUED . . .

2008 - OCTOBER - CHRIST IN THE DESERT

CHRIST IN THE DESERT MONASTERY

Our Mexican/Hippy friend (I wish I could remember his name) had told us about a Benedictine Monastery way out in the desert. He said the turn to get there was about a mile north of the Ghost Ranch Visitor Center and then it was thirteen miles from there to the monastery. No big deal, piece of cake. Little did we know that the "driveway" was a winding, steep, narrow, dirt and clay road. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, but I didn't dare take my eyes off the road, because sometimes the edge of the road was only 3 feet from a drop-off into a river and the sides of the road were big ditches.






We did meet a couple of cars, but one of us was able to find a spot to scoot over far enough for the other to get by. It took us about 45 minutes to drive 13 miles, but it was worth it.












The Cloister itself is a stucco building that is insulated with straw and while it is a fairly simple frame structure, there is lots of glass and in some ways it looks quite modern. It is nestled among the mountains, in the beautiful Chama Canyon and surrounded by miles of Government-protected wilderness. The electricity and water are solar powered. The men who serve there come from all over the world, but they all speak English. Most of the Cloister is off-limits to anyone but the Monks, but we were able to go into the Church and gift shop. There is a guest house for private retreats and guests are encouraged to take part in the Eucharist and the psalms, hymns and responses. We were able to see an example of the schedule in a pamphlet inside the entrance to the Church. All the items in the gift shop are crafted by the Monks. Theirs is strictly a life of work and prayer.

We looked around the Church and then went out onto the grounds. We took the path to the river we followed as we came in. We could only go so far til we came upon a sign that said Private Road Monks Only. I guess from there on, it was what you'd call "Holy Ground"? Plus, I think they kept their beehives down there and didn't want people messing with them.

There was a group of people there that had come over from the Ghost Ranch and we visited with some of them. One lady was from New Zealand and she is actually the one that took the picture that I'm using for my profile. I was sitting on a bench that had been nailed up between two trees and she walked up and said, "You must let me take your photo there!" So I handed her my camera and she did. Judy and I talked to her for some time as we walked and she was a delightful woman.

There was an on-site graveyard. Most of the graves belonged to Monks, but one was the grave of a guest of the Monastery that had wandered off alone to hike on the Mesa, had an accident and died. They don't allow that anymore. There is a series of hand made wooden Crosses that average about 5 feet tall, placed at certain points along the prayer path on the grounds. Being an Ashcraft or "craftsman under the Ash tree", I come from a long line of carpenters and craftsmen. The way each Cross was uniquely carved and crafted was particularly fascinating to me.

We spent a good bit of time and money in the gift shop. The Monks working in the shop were very friendly. Initially I was afraid to make eye contact, much less try and talk to one of them, but some were downright chatty. It was very quiet chatter of course. While Judy was still exploring the gift shop, I wanted to make one more visit to the church alone, just to take it all in. I went in and sat there for a while. In a few minutes, a tiny Asian Monk came in and went busily about doing something. I spoke to him and he gave me a very stern look. I guess I broke one of their rules and decided I'd better get going before I broke another one. I accidentally slammed the screen door behind me as I went out, so I took off into a power walk until I was out of sight.

It was a beautiful day and we could have stayed and stayed, but we had a couple more places to see before we left Abiquiu, so we headed back down the "driveway". The going was quicker than the coming and it didn't take near as long to get back to the main road. We met some hikers on the way and stopped to talk to them. They had hiked from the Ghost Ranch, which would have been about a 30 mile hike round trip!



We both wanted to look at the river again so we turned off the main road and found a spot where we could walk right into it. It was not deep where we were so I took my shoe off and stuck my foot in. The water was so clear and clean, but freezing. We stood there for a few minutes just taking in the beautiful scenery. It truly was Mother Nature at her very best that day. I forgot about something until Mona left a comment asking if the sky was really that blue. The sky truly that blue, and the balloon festival was being held in Albuquerque that week. Leaving the Monastery we could see some of the balloons floating through the air.

Anytime I go anywhere, I like to collect a few interesting rocks to take back to put in my flower beds. Several had caught my eye on the way in. Of course, since it was Federal property, I knew it wasn't a good idea to take any from here . . .

2008 - OCTOBER - GHOST RANCH

We found the Ghost Ranch. The Ghost Ranch consists of 21,000 acres and in 1934 it became the place Georgia O'Keefe's spent her summers. She eventually convinced the owners to sell her a small part of the Ranch and she bought a house with 7 acres. The area around the Ranch was the inspiration for many of her paintings. The "rock palaces", which are the red, orange, pink, gold, and brown towers of rock, surround the Ranch. This painting that I bought is an example of her work:

The driveway into the Ranch is probably a half mile long. Once we got there we had to park the car and then walking was the source of transportation. The ranch is a series of rustic buildings, and while there is B&B available, it's also a place where you can go for the day to paint, hike or just look around. If you stay at the Ranch, you can take all sorts of cool classes such as watercolor painting, yoga, pottery, astronomy, meditation, etc. Danny & Becky had spent the night there back in the summer, but we just did the look around thing for a bit, and while it was a very cool place, there was somewhere else we wanted to go and we didn't when or if we'd get there. We stopped off at the Ghost Ranch Visitor's Center long enough to buy some souvenirs and then we were off to find Christ in the Desert.

2008 - OCTOBER - NEW MEXICO

NEW MEXICO HERE WE COME!!

On Sunday, October 5th, Judy Jones and I left for a very long road trip. We drove the first day to Oklahoma City and toured the Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing Memorial. We ate dinner at a cool restaurant along the river that runs through town and then drove until we got tired, and spent the night at a Comfort Inn somewhere. The next day we drove and drove some more. We were in Oklahoma for quite a while, and there was pretty countryside and interesting sites along the way, but I was most fascinated by the huge windmills that went for miles and miles. I had never seen any, and while most people I mentioned them to aren't that impressed with them, I think they are much more pleasing to the eye than an electrical power plant. They looked like giant dancing robots on the tops of the mountains. If I was listening to the right music I could sit and watch those things for hours. For some reason they remind me of WallE. Trying in some little way to help clean up the mess we humans have made.



ABIQUIU

We crossed over into Texas and I instantly got bored. Texas is a state that I can get a gut full of traveling through in a hurry. I don't have anything against Texas, we go there all the time to buy and sell horses, and have had some great times there. Billy Bobs in Ft. Worth is one of my favorite places in the world and we've made some great memories there, but the highway scenery is terrible.

We drove for about eight hours and made it to our destination for that day, Abiquiu, New Mexico. All we did that night was find something to eat and go to bed. The next day we had plans to tour the Georgia O'Keefe Home and Studio, but when we went to get tickets, the woman at the desk told us that tickets must be bought several months in advance. Who woulda thunk it? I guess we looked at her like she had two heads because she went on to say that people from all over the world come to see the Georgia O'Keefe Home and Studio. Whatever. We could take it or leave it. We asked what else there was to do around Abiquiu and she said "nothing". Well, I already knew there was the Ghost Ranch outside of Abiquiu. But first, I wanted to check out "inside" Abiquiu. We decided to have lunch at the Abiquiu Inn, which is next to the Georgia O'Keefe Tour Center, then we looked through the gift shop, then set out on our own "tour".

The town is surrounded by mountains, and tower after tower of layers and layers of rock. It really is beautiful and still relatively untouched. It's inhabited mostly by natives of the area and the only industry is tourism and arts and crafts, so it's somewhat impoverished, but still very quaint. We drove around in the Appalachia-like hills, up many dirt and rock roads (probably trespassing a time or two, but I figured they were accustomed to ignorant tourists), only to get to the end and have to turn around at a dead end or in someone's washed-out driveway.

We went back into one neighborhood, and I use that term loosely, as it was more like a compound. There was a fairly good sized mission-type church right next to what looked like a dive or honky tonk. There were several houses, some of them more like huts, and some of them had shops in them. We stopped at one hut/shop and went in. There was no one in sight, but we knew someone was there because there was the very strong aroma of something wafting through the door from the back of the house and it was not an old smell. It was the aroma of marijuana being smoked. I went to lots of concerts in the 70s and I know that smell. A few seconds later a very large, very mellow-looking Mexican/Hippy man appeared and asked if he could help us. We told him we were just looking around the town and we asked about his shop. He said the shop was a family business and everything in it was made, painted or crafted by a member of his family. He sold paintings, and small sculptures of birds and animals and jewelry. He had fabrics and yarns for sale that were colored with dyes made from the native vegetation. He also gave us a good bit of history about the area. He took us outside and showed us that just a few yards away, was Geogia O'Keefe's home, which was surrounded by a very tall stone fence. I had read about the 3 acre hacienda she had bought in 1945. We then told him about our experience at the Georgia O'Keefe Tour Center when we went to buy tickets, and how the lady told us there was nothing else to do there. He said that while Georgia O'Keefe had done much good for the area, the people that ran the Tour Center had not been kind to their town. He gave us the inside scoop on places to go and how to get there. We asked him if it was alright for us to go inside the church and when he assured us it was, off we went. It was a very simple church, but beautiful, and Catholic, of course. It was very similar to many Episcopal churches I have been in here. We poked around in the church for awhile and then headed North out of town.

2008 - AUGUST & SEPTEMBER

AUGUST & SEPTEMBER

August was a flurry of going back to school and getting in our groove. At work we had numerous meetings, receptions, parties and other events coming in the months ahead that needed planning, so it was a busy time.

The weekend of August 23rd, Mona, Betsy and I went to Marie's in StarkVegas for a Girl's Weekend, and boy did we need it. The weather was rainy and gloomy and we loved it. We sat and talked and ate and drank and talked and laughed and had a great time. We so need to do it more often. None of us wore a stitch of makeup the entire weekend. Strangely enough, I didn't take a single picture.

We were all going Nutts waiting for football season to begin. We joined the West Point tailgate this year and the season started on August 30th with a home game against Memphis, which we won. Things would get better from there.

In September, Ole Miss was scheduled to host the first Presidential Debate of the election year. On Tuesday, September 2, the University kicked off Debate Month by hosting our Naturalization Ceremony at Fulton Chapel. We held Court there that day and the Honorable Mike Mills naturalized over 200 people, which was a record number for our Court. It was also the first time our Court had ever been held outside the walls of one of our Federal Buildings. It was a great and very memorable day.

Several days before the Debate, McCain announced that because of the financial crisis, he felt the need to go back to DC to do what he could to help, and suggested that Obama do the same. He wanted to postpone/reschedule the Debate. Jeeze!

The whole town held its breath for two days. Ole Miss stuck to the schedule and most of us took our kids out of school on Debate Day. Sallie and I took Nicky and Abby to the Grove. We visited Issue Alley and the candidates' tents and listened to speeches. We kept a watchful eye out for Oprah or Katie Couric or Kay Bain, or any other celebrity that might be wandering amongst us. Nicky collected bumber stickers and decals for Ronnie and Roger, got a Thad t-shirt and a "Clean Coal" baseball cap. He had pamphlets for everything from Darfur and Rednecks for Obama to the Gay/Lesbian Alliance. Abby humored me and patiently tolerated hanging out with her Mommy. I know she would rather have been running willy nilly with her friends we kept seeing running willy nilly. She is such a good sport.

As it turned out both McCain and Obama went up to DC. I don't know what kind of help they provided on the big FC, but they had some great photo ops. Anyhow, on September 26th, just in the nick of time, they arrived at Ole Miss. We left the Grove that afternoon and the only way out was down Sorority Row and onto Jackson Avenue. We were heading East on Jackson and as we were about to cross Washington Avenue, a motorcade of about 20 State Trooper cars and 10 big black SUVs passed in front of us. We knew McCain was already in town so we knew it had to be Obama. That night we went downtown and watched the Debate on the big screen set up on the Historic Oxford Square, from the balcony of Ken Coghlan's Law Office. Ken, being the devoted father that he is, was at a sporting event watching his son play, so Tom Levidiotis was our host for the Debate Party in Ken's digs. And a fine job he did too!!

As you can see, as usual, Sallie was in the right place at the right time . . .




The next night, the 27th, we were scheduled to have a small 25th Anniversay Dinner with Leslie and John, and Baker and Holley and Beau at the Downtown Grille. I felt really bad that Abby and Nicky were being excluded. Eden, Baker and Holley and I were supposed to pick Beau up on our way. When we got to Beau's, Baker went in to get him and we sat in the car. Then Baker called (from 100 fee away) to say that Beau couldn't find one of his shoes. We waited and waited. Finally, I said "he's going to make us late. I'm going in there!" Holley said, "I'll go!" And she jumped out of the car and went in. We waited and waited some more and finally they came out. Then we had to go to the liquor store. I was trying to keep my cool so the evening wouldn't start off on a sour note. I decided they could deal with Leslie if they made us late. When we got there, they led up upstairs. We went to one door and Baker decided that, no, that door wasn't good, we should go around to another door. When he was satisfied that he had found the good door we went in. He sent me in first and then Eden. Inside, were the rest of our children and our closest friends. They had been planning this for over a month and no one had let anything slip! Of course, no one filled Nicky in until the night of. We watched a video that Leslie had made us and we even got presents! It was the perfect Anniversary party. Here are some pictures and someday I'll figure out how to add the video.

2008 - JULY

But first, some ramblings -

I'm certain there are those who don't understand why I want to write down and remember over and over the days leading up to and following Isabella's . . . death/birth? Someone has even said to me "why do you want to dwell on something that makes you so sad?"

While I don't dwell on it, I do choose to remember, over and over again. I remind myself daily, because before that time, I took a whole lot for granted. Like the fact that just because my child was pregnant, there would be a healthy baby. That things would happen that would change our lives, like having a baby, but that things wouldn't happen that would shatter our hearts, like losing a baby.

To forget would be to act like that time never happened . . . it would blank out almost a year in the life of our family that up until that day in June had been one of our happiest. To forget would be to act like she never existed, and while that stillborn baby never took a breath outside her mother's womb, she will always have a hold on the hearts of those of us that love her, and we can't forget, ever, ever, even if we wanted to.

JULY

July was hot, but not too bad. I spent lots of time in the Garden that month. That's where I do my best thinking and Lord knows I did lots of thinking. On the 4th Baker and Beau brought some friends over and we cooked out and swam and sunned. Leslie and John made a good effort and stayed for a little while.

Abby and Nicky came home on the 12th.

On July 17th, Isabella's due date, we wanted to do something to acknowledge what should have been her birthday. Some might think it's a silly thing, but we wrote her a poem and we blew up balloons with helium and we wrote messages to her on the balloons. Then Leslie, Nicky and I went to her grave, read her the poem and released the balloons. John didn't want to go because he thought it would be too sad. But it wasn't sad. It was silly, and it was healing. We were sending her our love, our hugs and our kisses. And as we lay there like three loons on the grass in the cemetery and watched those balloons float up to Heaven, we were happy. Here is her poem:

We come today to honor you
To tell you how much we love you.
And though our time with you was short,
It was such a sweet time,
And a memory that we will treasure forever.
You will always live in our hearts and
Help to shape our thoughts and our lives.
Our memories of you we’ll always keep
But today we release our tears
And our broken hearts
And as these balloons rise
Like butterfly messengers
They bring to you
Our love, our hugs and kisses

2008 - JUNE

I should probably put a note of caution before this post. There are things posted here that some may not be comfortable with, but as I said before, this is my blog. Some who read this may not understand that I want to memorialize some of the things I have . All I can say is, I hope you never do understand.

JUNE - THE WORST MONTH OF MY LIFE

Normally in the summer, Abby and Nicky spend nearly the entire month of July in California. The time when they are gone is my time "in the Garden" (vacation). This year I knew I would have some final prep work to do to get ready for Isabella. We arranged for Abby and Nicky to leave on June 7th and come back on July 12th so they would be here when she was born.

So far, Leslie's pregnancy had been "normal" other than her observation that Isabella didn't move a lot and she seemed to be on the small side. Or, as Dr. Martin said, "the small side of normal". Whatever.

Wednesday, June 4th was a day that started out like any other. Except I wore that red dress that I thought was too tight. I got several compliments on it, but now I'd like to burn the stupid thing. Leslie had an appointment with Dr. Martin that afternoon. I don't remember the time, but my office phone rang and it was her. I could tell the minute I heard her say "Mama" that something was terribly wrong. She said "we lost the baby". I asked where she was, told her I was coming and left. Lisa Beard happened to be in my office, so she had to be the one to break the news to my work family. I didn't go back to my office for 10 days.

I spent the next four days at the hospital with Leslie, as she went through two days of trying to deliver naturally by induced labor. Finally, on Friday morning, they delivered Isabella by C-Section. It was the 6th of June, which is and always will be her birthday. She only weighed 2 pounds and 8 ounces and she was beautiful.

Those days at the hospital were terrible, as I watched my sweet child and her sweet husband go through (what I hope will be) the most agonizing days of their lives.

As terrible as the days were, they were also bittersweet. The days gave us time. Time together to talk and mourn and process what was happening. Time to help Leslie and John plan and make decisions about what would happen in the days to come. If things had happened too quickly, there may have been regrets. As it did happen, they were able to decide whether to hold her, love on her and spend time with her. Which we were all able to do. We took pictures and we made the only memories we'll ever have of that first baby girl. It was such a sweet time. I was in the Garden.

We saw so much love and goodness from so many people. Warren or Claire, or both, were there constantly. They spent many hours with Leslie and John and the rest of us, talking and reading scripture, talking about funeral services and just trying to give comfort. They were truly our Ministers.

Sallie, Lee and Christi drove to Leslie and John's house and carefully went through Isabella's things to find something of hers to put on her when she came into the world. They brought a pink gown, her rhinestone butterfly cap from her Great Granny and her pink and green blanket . They were the perfect things.

If only we could have preserved those things just as they were. They held her smell. I got so upset when one of the nurses told me she had washed out her gown because it had a stain of her blood on it. I wanted to scream at her that we wanted that bloodstain. And her smell. Instead, I just thanked her. She thought she was helping .








Eden had to continue work until the funeral but Beau was good to stay at the house with Abby and Nicky while I was at the hospital. Eden took them to the airport as planned on June 7th, for their trip to California. They weren't here for the funeral, but we felt that was best. I knew I needed to be available for Leslie and I knew they would be loved on and made over with their California family.

John had to take care of many of the preliminary decisions on his own, but then Leslie came home from the hospital on the 9th and the visitation and funeral were planned for Thursday, the 11th. Making those arrangements had to be the most unnatural thing our children will ever have to do. Thank God for Glen Coleman. With his help the decisions were so much easier and everything was done with much loving consideration and care.

I remember thinking about how much fun we had choosing just the right crib and nursery furniture, and then Larry and Beverly bought the furniture for them. Now our children were picking out caskets and Larry and Beverly were buying a family funeral plot so there would be a place to bury our baby. The first time I saw the spot where the plots were and where Isabella was to be buried, I was, to be honest, heartbroken. There was nothing there. My head knew that it didn't matter, she wouldn't really be there, but my heart saw an empty field and her there all alone. I worried about what Leslie would think. Of course, I let my emotions take over and stirred up a fuss about it. But a wise man told me that pretty soon the area would be full and she wouldn't be alone for long. And he was exactly right. I won't mention any names, but his initials are Larry Butts. Today that little hillside is full and she's not alone.

The day of her funeral was classic July in the South. Sunny and hot. I'd never been part of a funeral visitation and didn't know quite what to expect, and was dreading it. But as people came through the line and we hugged and visited, I was amazed at how comforting and healing it was. I was also amazed that over 200 people came through that visitation line for a baby girl they had never laid eyes on.

After everyone but the family had gone from the funeral home, Warren and Claire did a short service in the cool of the air conditioning, then we drove to the cemetery. I had never seen such a tiny grave. And there were so many flowers! There was also the stone "Guardian Angel" that Leslie and I had driven all over Hell and High Water to find. Glen had her ready to watch over Isabella.

As we got out of the car to walk down the hill to the grave site, I wrapped my arms around Leslie. I thought she would need my support. But when John took that tiny white box from Glen and carried it down that hill, it was almost more than I could bear. I was the one that needed help standing and Leslie held me up. I don't know where either of them got the strength and courage they showed during those hellish days, but I am still in awe.

During the service I held Leslie's hand on one side and my Mama's hand on the other. I couldn't tell you who said or read what, other than this . . . Beau read this poem:

The Rose Still Grows Beyond The Wall

Near a shady wall a rose once grew,
Budded and blossomed in God's free light:
Watered and fed by morning dew,
Shedding its sweetness day and night.
As it grew and blossomed fair and tall,
Slowly rising to loftier height,
It came to a crevice in the wall,
Through which there shone a beam of light.
Onward it crept with added strength
With never a thought of fear or pride,
It followed the light through the crevice length,
And unfolded itself on the other side.
The light, the dew, the broadening view
Were found the same as they were before.
And it lost itself in beauties new.
Breathing its fragrance more and more.
Shall claim of death cause us to grieve,
And make our courage faint or fall?
Nay, let us faith and hope receive,
The rose still grows beyond the wall.
Scattering fragrance far and wide,
Just as it did in days of yore.
Just as it did on the other side,
Just as it will forevermore.

After the funeral everyone came back to the Butts' for a meal. All of both families were able to be here, with the exception of Laura and Lana and their families. Boonie brought Sykes across the street to our house and let him swim for a while and I enjoyed just watching him swim and play with Major. It was a very special afternoon. I was in the Garden.

The rest of June is a blur. Mama stayed here so that she could be with Leslie when John and I went back to work. It seemed like someone was always bringing food, so we ate good. We were obsessed with the plants and flowers, what should stay at Leslie's, what needed to come to my house or Beverly's and what should stay on the grave. We didn't have our baby. The "flower and plant" arranging was all we did have and we were consumed by it.

Leslie decided to leave the nursery as it was and it was several months before she put away anything, but eventually one day, out of the blue, she did. It's still a nursery, only not Isabella's.

2008 - A Recap . . . With Pictures

JANUARY - MAY
Leslie found out in October 2007 she was pregnant, so for me the year 2008 was all about Isabella. At this point I didn't know she would be Isabella, but had the feeling. I did everything as usual - work, house, kids, gardening, etc., but that baby was always in the back of my mind.

Sometime (I think it was in April!) we had a snow, so Nicky got to build a snowman and the kids had a snow day from school. It was short-lived as usual.

I had not looked forward to anything with as much excitement in a long time as I did that baby. In late March or early April we did find out that she was indeed Isabella and were able to see her clearly in her 4-D sonograms. We could not have loved her anymore or have been as thrilled had she already been here.






The Spring was a flurry of planning, shopping, decorating the nursery and baby showers. Leslie had a book shower at school, a shower in Aberdeen and a shower in Oxford. That baby had her own library, an awesome wardrobe and a beautiful nursery.













We had the usual round of end of the school year activities, showers and weddings. I didn't have near as much time to be in the garden as I like. On May 3rd, we saw Lisa Beard marry Brad Holder. On May 4th Mona and I drove to Aberdeen to watch Betsy marry Bubba. It was a sweet, beautiful wedding, but I must have been somewhat traumatized afterward because Eden called to ask me if I was going to take Nicky back to Oxford with me. He was working at the farm and I had left Nicky there with him during the wedding. I was almost to Pontotoc when he called. So I didn't get the Mother of the Year Award for 2008.






On May 20th, Abby, Nicky and I drove to the Desoto Civic Center to see Zachary graduate from Collierville High School. That graduation only took two days. His class had about 8000 kids in it. (Or so it seemed.) I'm glad we went, but I'd Rather Be in the Garden . . .




On May 24th Grady Tollison, the Percy's, the Caysons, the Barhams and the Martins threw an engagement party for Chip and Jada at the Thompson House. It started out a stormy day, but the night couldn't have been better and the flowers that Marie and I did were fabulous if I do say so myself. Some of the flowers came from Kroger, but some of the flowers and most of the greenery came from the side of the road between Starkville and Oxford and our own gardens.

















On Memorial Day we had all the kids at home and had a really good day. Eden enjoyed himself a little too much as usual and rode Nicky's scooter off into the pool (with the brand new $1200 liner).











We scooted through Spring in ignorant bliss, never dreaming what was in store for us come June.