17

Time just keeps flying! How are you 17, Julianne? You are on the cusp of having your driver’s license, you love The Sims, Disney, romantic movies, music, hanging with your grandparents, going for walks, making people feel celebrated and special, your dog-baby, and taking care human of babies. You are one of the most creative people I’ve ever known, and that creativity seems to grow daily. You facepalm in response to our comments regularly and I always worry you’re going to give yourself a bruise! It’s shocking to remember how fragile you were at the beginning compared to how strong the Lord has made you. I pray that each year will be more wonderful than the last! We love you so much! ❤️ 

16 Years Old

Whoa! Time flies. Back in September Julianne turned 16!! We all decided to go on a trip to one of our favorite places to celebrate her big day! I just can’t believe she’s 16. I think back to all the times when things were hard and sad and time moved slowly and then she started doing wonderfully and time moved so fast! In fact, she had a Cardiology checkup yesterday and the word “perfect” was the theme. We are so thankful! We pray that God would continue to give Julianne excellent health, continued joy, and that she’d always know how loved she is by Him and the people around her. Happy (very late) birthday, Julianne! 

Best Christmas Gift Ever

 First, here's a quick video:

I got a yellow lab puppy for Christmas!!! His name is Butter Bean after his uncle, Tuck Beans. I'm his mama this time! He is not a replacement for Uncle Tuck but he's a good distraction for us. At that time he was only 9 weeks old and extremely adorable!! He's already met some cousins including Josie & Sam from Zachary, and Stella & Poppy from Madison. I have started a blog about little BB called "Yellow Lab Butter Bean," and it's got a little intro to us and what BB's doing today. Follow this link: yellowlabbutterbean.blogspot.com, and you can join us in our adventures. 

Goodbye To Tuck

This is Julianne providing this post about our dog Tuck. He was diagnosed with liver cancer on December 3rd and they said that it had spread to more than one area. We thought maybe he only had a few months left, but he didn't. Our beloved buddy died on December 20, 2021.😢 He was somewhere between 12 & 13. I am so thankful he died this way and not on the streets or in a home where he just stayed outside all day and everyday. Tuck had a great life, and even went to Perdido Key the September/October before he died. I miss him so much and I wish he would live to be 100 human years! (I guess that would be 700 dog years LOL!) 

Tucky bud's trip to Perdido Key

He really enjoyed himself!

He was the best dog we could ever ask for. I really hope dogs go to Heaven so that we will be able to see him again and he will have no more pain, no more cancer, no more paralysis. We love you big bud! 

Birthday Girlie

Happy 14th birthday to this sweet birthday girl! If you know Julianne then you know she LOVES to celebrate!  I’ve never known anyone who throws confetti as much as my girl! Her original party had to be canceled due to weather, but she chose the mall and lunch with Grammy, Aunt Laura, and me to celebrate instead! Then the sweetest lady heard the restaurant staff singing to Julianne and came over and said it was her birthday as well and gave Julianne $10! What a sweet idea!! Definitely going to try to remember that if I’m at a restaurant and hear that a kid is celebrating a birthday on the same day as mine! And then the celebration continued when a convenience store owner let her pick out anything she wanted in the store! Then the celebration continued with cake and dinner with Grandpa and Daddy joining the party! And then the celebration continued further with Mimi and Papa coming for lunch! And then the celebration continued with that restaurant bringing her Mississippi mud! So many precious surprises for her after she made the tough call to cancel her party. Oh and FYI, it definitely helps to wear an “It’s My Birthday” shirt!! We sure do love you, Julianne! And we are so thankful for 14 YEARS of celebrating!! We pray that God gives you many, many more!! 

 

Last Day of School

Today Julianne completed 7th grade! I can hardly believe it! She still loves Math and Writing and always blows me away with her creativity! Last week she taught me how to subtract a negative from a  positive and the "why" of how that works. Good thing I'm not her Math teacher! Julianne blew her testing out of the water and finished out the year strong! Now all that’s left of this school year is a piano recital and that’ll do it for the 2020-2021 school year. It was an unusual, but good school year. However, like so many others, we're hopeful that 2021-2022 will be a little more "normal". 😄We remain thankful to God, as always! ❤️

Happy Birthday to her!!

Yep, it's a birthday!! Today our baby girl is 13! You read that right, 13! Crazy, I know! Where has the time gone? We are so thankful today, and always, for the way the Lord has cared for her and strengthened her. The last 6 months have not been the easiest, thanks to a new favorite/most hated word, "social distancing", but they've been good. This year has been so good and now we're on to a new one. Every year older Julianne has become I always think, "oh, this is my favorite age" so I have no doubt that 13 will bring more of the same. 😊

This year we have seen Julianne become more responsible in caring for herself, more diligent in sticking to her commitments, and after many years of trying... she learned to ride a bike! She's even taken on being a volunteer, virtual PreK homeschool co-op teacher! It's really been a wonderful year. We are so very thankful. 💓

Oh and also, Julianne started 7th grade! Here she is with her favorite classmate / faithful companion:

Ahh...what a great day today has been. 💖 Julianne is doing wonderfully health-wise, school-wise and comedy-wise (she's a really funny girl). Thank you all who continue to pray for our girl! We are truly grateful!