Happy Birthday Maggie and Grant!

Remembering Mama Lou

Our family had a sorrowful July with the passing of Mama Lou and my great Uncle Roy on the same day. My heart hurts from Mama Lou's sister who lost her sister and husband on the same day. I can't even imagine the pain of that. Although, we are still numb from those few weeks and sometimes don't believe it's real. I was blessed to spend a lot of time with her all my life. Her funeral was a celebration of her life lived as a christian woman. Brad Atkins did an amazing job. She loved buying things not only for herself, but for everyone else too. She was dearly missed at all of our birthdays in July. She would have been so upset to know that she messed up and missed all our birthdays. But I know she hasn't thought twice about it since she walked through those pearly gates! We were blessed that every family member was present with her when she took her last breath. She wasn't alone and I know Grandaddy was waiting at the gates for her. I will leave you with the last video and pictures I have of her from Easter. Cherish your Grandparents everyday you have with them! They may get on your nerves sometimes, but they will not be here forever.

Easter 2010

Powerful song!

At this point in sadness, I rest on the assurance of Jesus Christ. Without Him, we could not get through the storms of our life. We all ask the questions of "why?", but we will never understand why God chooses to take people out of this world the way He does. I know He is my ultimate Healer and if He wants to heal Mama Lou, then He will! This song helps me when I need to praise God and thank Him for everything he has given me.

Confessions...

So I have some confessions to make...
1. I have not been to the gym in over a month! First I injured my foot, then we went on vacation, them Mama Lou had her surgery and I have been getting home at around 8-9:00 pm every night. I also had to play catch up at work for missing a week and I worked late a lot at the end of May. So I know what you are thinking...EXCUSES, EXCUSES! I know it is not good to make excuses, but life has been so crazy lately! So I'm making this vow to anyone who reads this..."I, Kimberly Hill, will start back to the gym TODAY, June 7." Ok I feel better now that I have let the whole world know how I love to make excuses! :)


2. I have been slack with reading my chronological Bible. I got stuck in Leviticus and now I am in Numbers. Which means that I'm like 2 months behind! I feel so ashamed! I know it will get easier when I get through these books!

3. I love reality TV! I know, I know, I need to be reading my Bible instead of watch The Real Housewives of NJ!

4. I would have to say I am somewhat addicted to my Blackberry and Facebook; although there are times where I would love to turn my phone off! I'm saying somewhat because I do think I would be ok if I never looked at Facebook again, but since it's there I will read it! :)

5. I hate running!! So now your asking "well why is she doing C25K?" Well, I would like to lose 15 pounds and  running will help me achieve those goals. I also had borderline high blood pressure and it has gotten better since I started exercising. Yeah, it runs in my genetics!

6. I have more pictures of my dogs than I do of me and my husband. But they are just so cute! :)

7. I have more purses than I own of pants. Just a minor obsession with bags! ;)

8. I will not leave the house without first straightening my hair with a flat iron.

9. I have to get ready in the same order in the mornings or I will forget to do something. Come on, I know I'm not alone with this one!

10. I hate making the bed!

I hope you enjoyed my confessions and let me know what are some of your confessions?

Mama Lou is still at the nursing home getting OT and Speech, but we think she will be going home next week. She has done amazing with the surgery. Continue to pray for her road to recovery!

Mama Lou Update

Last Thursday Mama Lou had surgery to remove the cancer in her mouth. We were all very scared because of her irregular heart beat, but all the doctors approved her to have the surgery. They said it would last up to 7 hours and she could possibly have to have a trach. They would remove the pallet of her mouth and replace it with the muscle of her temple.Well, it only took about 4 hours and they didn't have to trach her! We were very thankful for that because we knew it would be a harder recovery. The doctor got all of the cancer! She was in the CCU until Sunday. She had a feeding tube because you have to give her mouth time to heal. She got moved to a regular room on Sunday and she started drinking water! When I went back on Monday, she was sitting there with no feeding tube eating some soup and pudding! She is also swallowing her pills. She is doing amazing and talking good too. God is so good. He has answered prayers of our hearts and she will still need continued prayers during this recovery time. Hopefully she will be going home by the end of the week!

Amazing Vacation!

Vacation did not come at a better time! Work as been so busy because my caseload keeps getting bigger. We are always doing something it seems like outside of work whether it's the gym or church activities. It was nice to slow down and turn off the blackberry! Our vacation started on Sunday and we drove 9 hours to Tampa Bay. We stayed at a hotel right on the bay with amazing views:

We arrived at the port on Monday and boarded the boat at around 1:30. We had time to get to know the boat and find our room. We sailed out at 4:00!

Tuesday was a Fun day at Sea day. We just layed out and got some sun. We also played some mini golf!

Yes we tied! Although Steven said this isn't real golf and the wind was messing up his putt. :) Tuesday was also elegant night at dinner. We got all dressed up for dinner:

Our waiter had a great time entertaining us that night as well to the nice british old lady. hahaha :)

Wednesday: We ported at the Grand Cayman Island from 8:00-2:00.

For our excursion on this island, we decided to go to the turtle farm. We got to hold baby turtles and snorkel in a salt water lagoon. It was so much fun!

This turtle was 4 months old. The one Steven is holding is 6 months old.

Here is the salt water lagoon where we snorkeled:

Here are some of the bigger turtles: 

Beautiful Grand Cayman waters:

Wednesday night we got a elephant towel! That meant that our steward really liked us! :)

Thursday: We ported at Cozumel, Mexico at 11:00 and had to be back on the ship at 7:00. We were able to swim with the dolphins at Dolphinaris. If you have never done this, you have to do it at least once in your lifetime. Now I have at least one thing checked off my bucket list! :) We also ate some amazing Mexican food at Three Amigos. We did some shopping because we always get Christmas ornaments at places we visit. We had success because we found one at each island! 

This is Dophinaris. See the beautiful ocean!

Kisses,

Hugs,

and high fives!

We also got to feed her.

The rest are of our day in Cozumel at the port:

In front of our ship at Cozumel

So...our ship the

gave me the inspiration to go on another cruise!! :)

Happy Late Mother's Day!

Just wanted to say Happy Mother's day to my wonderful mother, sister, and grandmothers. They are all amazing mothers and I hope to be a mother as well when God decides to bless us. Had a great day seeing family that I haven't seen since Christmas including my Grandma. Also, enjoyed beating my dad and Steven in cornhole. Go mama and I! :) 13 to 6! Sorry no pictures! Make sure you tell your family that you love and appreciate sometime today!