Mourning our beautiful granddaughter Eden Rain

On Saturday May 21, 2016 our beautiful granddaughter was stillborn.

She never took one breath and we never got to hear her cry or see her open her beautiful little eyes.

It has rocked us to the core and it is something that no family should ever have to go through.

Labor was progressing fine and then something went horribly wrong.

You have never known such heartbreaking sorrow until you watch a mommy and daddy bathe their
 lifeless little daughter and handle her with such tender loving care.

The funeral was today...we shed many tears and we cried as we watched her mommy and daddy
carry her tiny little casket down the steps and out into their own SUV...

the only time she will ride with them as a family.

Mommy and daddy named her

EDEN RAIN BOOTHMAN

Please pray for all of us in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

We will never be the same.

Love...

...signs are what I have been working on this past week or two because we all KNOW what the next holiday is right?
Yep...Valentines Day. Don't forget your sweetheart!! :)

 I am making them out of pallet wood. One of my very favorite woods right now to work with. You too? I know
 a lot of people are using it and the sky is the limit. I have seen it on walls and floors. I have seen signs, tables,
 candle holders and all kinds of things made from it.

 If you are lucky you can find pallets for free, but they aren't very expensive if you have to purchase them.
 My hubby was coming home from work one day and saw a couple pallets in the ditch that must have fallen
off a truck at some point so he stopped to get them for me. Sad day because he had to leave them there.
They wouldn't fit in his vehicle. I miss our truck!! :(

Signs, signs, everywhere signs...lol

 I have sold a few on Facebook and I have taken several up to a friends store where I sold my pallet trees this
 past Christmas season. If you are interested in one just give me a shout out! The wood they are painted
on is approx. 28 inches long.

I thought I would show you a peek in a corner of my dining room right now. The lighting is
 horrible this time of year so I didn't get many good pictures. See that lamp shade?
$5...a steal! I love it.

I also wanted to show you what my youngest son made me for part of my Christmas gift.
See the lanterns off to the left. I LOVE them!  Our family doesn't spend a lot of money for Christmas
 gifts and we LOVE home made gifts so we try to do something along that line.

He loves to work with his hands and said he would love to do this kind of work all the time.
I think he has a bit of his mama in him. SMILE

I hope this post finds you well and healthy. Praying that you will have a wonderful New Year.
Blessings~ 

More Vacation Fun in North Carolina

Fort Fisher Beach in North Carolina is the last beach we visited before we came home.
 There are so many beaches there that are within 20 minutes or so of where my son and his family live.
What a life to live somewhere like that. I think I could adapt very nicely...until the hurricanes come.

 I have decided that I want to become a beach bum! What do you think? Do I fit the bill? ha!

Something most people don't know about me...I LOVE the water , the beach and the ocean,
but living for years with motion sickness, I have just kept my distance. If you have never had it,
it is not fun, however I was pleasantly surprised this time to not have much of a problem
with that at all.

Although, I am sure if I was on a huge boat with rolling waves I would spend my time hanging
 over the side losing my lunch. As I said...not fun.

These little granddaughters of ours LOVE the water. I haven't met many kids who don't.
They had so much fun!!

I do WISH that I had learned to swim as a youngster. That is one thing I have always
wanted to be able to do. I took swimming lessons one summer when I was probably
around 10 years old, but I did not pass. I passed the diving and flunked the swimming. I
was scared to death of my feet not being able to touch the bottom. ugh.
I don't know what you think , but I am sure a person can't save themselves by diving!! ha!!
 How I wish I had been allowed to go back the next year and actually learn. 

Beautiful little sisters Annika Lilyana and Ainsley Paige.

Family photo shoot time again!

{I never remember to have anyone take photos of hubby and I}

This man of mine was looking for ships or anything really. It doesn't take much to make him happy. 

We searched for shells at this beach and found several. I also brought some sand home.
 I am trying to make a beach inspired jar filled with goodies as a reminder of our wonderful time.
I am so ready to go back!!

Blessings~

The sun, the sand and the ocean!

We took a LONG awaited, MUCH anticipated vacation this past week and
 loved every minute of it!

We left on Saturday and drove straight to Wilmington,North Carolina to my son
 and his families apartment and we had a blast!  We left home about 6:30 am
and arrived about 9 pm. It was a long drive, but so worth it! We haven't taken a
 vacation in...are you ready for this? Over 26 years! Last one we took was to
Niagara Falls in 1989! How sad is that??!! 

Monday we took off for Wrightsville Beach to get in a family photo shoot.

I had looked at pictures on Pinterest to get some ideas, but I don't think I
remembered one thing once we arrived. ha!

My son Nathan, his wife Colette, Annika and Ainsley.
Oh, how we have missed them all!!

I took over 1400 photos in the week we were there. Oh my goodness!! I know you
don't want to see every photo of my family so I will try to pare them down. lol

It seems like this was my standard look in almost every photo! HAHA!
We didn't intend to get our clothes wet...just wanted some pics, but that
did NOT work. After awhile, we just didn't care anymore.

See...that stupid look again!! HA! I sure love these gals!!
This was a maxi skirt and I rolled it up several times so as not to get it too wet.
As it was , when we got back to the apartment part of my white shirt was
blue from the skirt. :)

Sisters...

Several times we wrote things in the sand, but the water washed them
away almost as soon as we finished.

Love this pic of our sweetie Annika.

...and this one. lol.

Isn't this a hoot?? Yours truly and hubby.

I think Ainsley is digging to China...wonder what she is looking for.

Grandpa wanted to take Ainsley in the ocean and hold her as the waves hit.

Now, look at this photo very carefully. See that camera case strapped to his belt
on the other side?

Do you see it now? Nope...he forgot about it and drowned my Canon SX160 in the ocean.
Totally ruined it.
By the time we got back to the apartment it was already starting to corrode the parts inside
from the salt water. Not a good thing to do. So sad...

Love this shot of my son and granddaughter.

We had such a wonderful time and this get away was just what we needed. Thankfully, I also
took my older more expensive camera along also so I could continue to take photos. I have
lots of them so stay tuned.

Blessings~