A Big Weekend

Well, our days in Little Rock are numbered.  It's crazy that we will only be "residing" here for 4 more days!  SO many different emotions!!  I have been so busy with selling a home, buying a home, working, transferring, and everything in between that it has really snuck up on me. 

 

I am very thankful that we had a wonderful weekend though.  Mom came in town on Friday night and stayed with Blake and Kyndall.  We met them in Maumelle at a great Mexican restaurant.  Saturday morning, the boys played golf, so we girls decided it was a "Red Door Brunch" kind of day.  Excellent food and mimosas started our day off perfectly!!  After brunch, we made a pit stop by the Toggery (a children's boutique I will miss tremendously) and then Mom and Kyndall came to the house to help pack us up.  We really got a lot done!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reese was such a big help!!  :)

 

 

 

Saturday night, Mom kept Reese here at the house while Matt and I had a little going away dinner with some close friends at Cheers in the Heights.  We rented out the back room and it was PERFECT!!  I really can't say enough great things about all the people in these pictures.  I will truly miss each and every one of them.  They have been my life for the last 10 years and have helped to shape who I am as a person.  I love them all so much!!!  (You'll have to excuse some of the pictures, the lighting was bad and I forgot my big camera!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another weekend with LOTS OF WONDERFUL MEMORIES!!!

 

 

 

 

Father's Day

We had a very nice Father's Day, our last one in Little Rock.  *tear*  AHH,  I have been battling so many mixed emotions about this move.  Forgive me, if I seem extremely sappy! 

 

If you ask Matt, I'm pretty sure he had a great Father's Day weekend!!  We started it off right with dinner at our local favorite Alley Oops on Friday night.  (Just one of the MANY restaurants we will miss.)  Saturday, he played golf with the guys and then spent some time with Reese while I met my sister for drinks at Local Lime.  Saturday night, we had a great time as a family of three on the patio.  Matt fried some catfish with okra and it was delicious (not low fat, but DELICIOUS!)

 

Sunday morning, we went to church and then had a great brunch at Bonefish.  Matt spent the afternoon relaxing on the couch and watching the U.S. Open.  (Side note: The man is horrible at giving gift ideas for holidays.  He told me he just wanted a relaxing weekend with his girls.  SWEET, but frustrating because I wanted to get him something nice.  I suppose we'll go to Cabela's when we get to NWA - can't go wrong there!) 

 

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend.  Matt is such a blessing to me and more importantly to our sweet baby girl!!  I truly feel that she is the luckiest girl in the world to be able to call him "Daddy."  Watching him take on this role, never hesitating to jump in and do anything, makes me love him even more than the day I married him. 

 

 

 

 

 

Boy, he loves his little girl!

 

 

 

 

I also have to give a shout out to my amazing Dad!  He has so many wonderful qualities.  He is first and foremost a Christian leader who has always put God and his family first above everything.  He's a hard worker who is a successful business owner.  He's where he is today because of how he treats people; always kind, generous, and loving.  I am so proud to be the daughter of Reece Garner.  A man who is loved, respected, and admired by not only his family, but the town of Rogers.  Thanks for all you've ever done for me, Dad!!  I love you!!!

 

 

I hope all the wonderful Dads out there had a FANTASTIC Father's Day!!!

 

 

 

Our God Is An Awesome God

There are so many things going on in our life right now.  New territory, new job for Matt, selling a home, buying a home, new school for Reese.... and the list goes on.  Amidst all the good craziness, I have to take a little time to talk about my sweet Aunt Nancie.  Some of you know that my Dad's older sister, Nancie, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last June.  Yes, you read that correctly...last June.  She has had this awful disease now for over a year.

 

 

When she was diagnosed, we all started praying.  Praying for a miracle!!  If you don't know, the survival rate for pancreatic cancer is about 5%.  She had a cancerous tumor that had veins and arteries wrapped around it and was inoperable.  She spent a lot of time at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore working with lots of doctors and going through radiation and chemotherapy.  The entire time she fought this battle, she was positive and ALWAYS gave glory to God. 

 

 

This spring when she went back for scans, a few nodules showed up in her lungs, meaning that the cancer could possibly be spreading.  She started another round of chemo and I am excited to say that my Dad called me yesterday with the most amazing news.  Aunt Nancie got a report from Baltimore on Monday that the nodules on her lungs were gone and that the tumor in her pancreas is DEAD.  When he told me this, I just cried!! 

 

 

If you don't believe that God can work miracles, I am here to tell you that HE CAN!!  He has taken care of our family through this rough journey and most importantly taken care of Nancie, Jimmy, Jocelyn and Laura.  The Lord answers prayers!  Hearing great news like this makes you hit your knees and give thanks (even though saying thank you doesn't seem like enough). 

 

 

I know that cancer can always come back, and that cells can always reappear.  However, God has been so good to our family, AGAIN!!  Thank you to all of you who have been praying for Nancie and her family.  I continually pray that he will watch over her and heal her.  You can follow her blog on CaringBridge    http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nanciebailey

 

 

 

Our God truly is an AWESOME GOD!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Lots To Talk About....

Well, this post is way overdue, but I figured better late than never.  As I said in the post before, we are OFF TO NWA!!  I have transferred to the Bentonville PC position within the Diabetes Division and I cannot tell you how excited I am about this.  I get to work with an AWESOME partner, will still report to the same boss I've been blessed to have for 6 years, and will now be a part of the Tulsa District (which is a great group of people). 

 

This is something that Matt and I have prayed about for a long time.  Little Rock is a great place to live.  I have loved it for 10 years!!  But, when Reese came along, we started thinking about a lot more than just great restaurants, fun concerts, and the night life. (Who am I kidding??  Night life??  We haven't been downtown in over 2 years! :))  We started thinking about safety, private schools, and the fact that we don't have a lot of help without any family around.  When we started thinking about a move, it made the most sense to go to NWA, where I grew up, where we would have family to help out, and most importantly, where there would be job opportunities with Lilly for me.

 

God has answered our prayers for a transfer.  As of July 1, I will be working in NWA (covering Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, and Fayetteville).  Matt will find a job at one of the hospitals as soon as we get up there.  (When you have a ROCKSTAR NURSE as a husband who is so great at his job, he is able to find employment mostly anywhere.)  Our house was on the market for 11 days and we received a great offer and the contract has been signed.  If all goes as planned, we hope to close on our house here in Little Rock on July 12.  We have also made an offer on a house in Hyde Park.  Our offer was accepted and we will begin working with the builders/interior designers immediately so they can finish the house by July 31.  If all goes as planned, we hope to close on August 2.  Thankfully, I have an awesome Mom and Dad with a very big home that will let us crash for about a month.  :)) 


Once again, it's amazing how God's timing is so perfect.  He has helped us make a move that will be great for our family, given me a transfer, helped us sell our home, and helped us find a home.  I know there are still a lot of things that have to fall into place, but he is fully leading us and we are definitely following!!





 

Life Lately

Life lately is SUPER CRAZY BUSY!!! I haven't even had a chance to post our big news about our sweet little family moving to NWA.  Yes, not only are we moving, but we have to be there in approximately 17 days.  You're probably wondering, "Do you have jobs?  Have you sold your house? Have you bought a new house?  Is Reese in a MDO program yet?  The answer to all of these questions right now is pretty much "NO," except for the fact that I transferred with Lilly's Diabetes Division and will be working in NWA.  Funny enough, I'm really not stressing about a whole lot right now. I haven't packed a thing (which is so not like me) and right now, that's ok.  (Ask me in a week, and I'll probably be in panic mode!!!)  There are a lot of changes going on, but we are definitely making time for some family fun!!!

 

My Heart.

 

Patios and shopping out at the Promenade

 

 

 

Reese's favorite place to be these days!!

 

 

 

Chris and Charla's Wedding on June 1

 

 

 

Oh how this sweet girl loves her Aunt Bee and Uncle Blake!!

 

 

 

Reese loves to water the flowers with Daddy on the weekends

 

 

This picture cracks me up...she loves the Sparkles game (she can drag her fingers and make colors)

 

 

 

We're not loving bedtime so much these days!  We would rather play....

 

 

 

It's making for some rough nights for Mom and Dad  :((

 

 

Date night with some friends - Sushi Cafe'

 

 

 

Boy, I'm going to miss this girl when I leave.   (Sad note: Right before sitting down for dinner we got a call that 'Lil Miss' was having a breakdown.  I could hear her screaming.  We left right then and came home to find a baby that just needed her Mama.  Yep!!  Separation anxiety is beginning to set in, folks!) 

 

 

 

Our house has officially been on the market for 9 days!

 

Reese and I went to a baby shower for our sweet friend, Tara, after killing time around town while our house was being shown to potential buyers.

 

 

Dinner at Big Orange with Uncle Blake and Aunt Bee

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We spent the first part of this week "house hunting" in NWA.

 

 

Before leaving town we had lunch at The Crumpet with Mimi. 

 

 

 

My head is constantly spinning with all the balls in the air, but I am focusing on the fact that all of these changes are good changes we have prayed about for a long time. I have to remind myself to slow down amongst all the chaos and just enjoy time with my sweeties!!!  :))))

 

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great time with family this Memorial Day weekend!  Matt, Little Bit, and I drove to Monroe Friday afternoon and spent three days with Matt's parents and Emily's kiddos.  You may ask where Emily and Jack were??  Well, long story short...my sweet sis-in-law had a big scare with some heart problems.  She was taken to New Orleans where she had heart surgery on Monday and they were able to fix her problem with ablations.  It was a very scary thing and I know that God was watching over her during this entire process. 

 

 

Matt and I tried to help out with her four kids while we were there and soak up some time with his parents as well.  We had a wonderful time, as we always do.   My nieces and nephews are getting so big!!  Every time we see them, someone has grown another inch.  Here are lots of pictures to capture everything we did....

Jack Henry and Sam Wyatt both had baseball games Saturday morning.  We had a blast watching them BOTH win!!!

 

 

 

Played in the back yard with Charlie Claire

 

 

 Rode bikes

Played in Poppy's fishing boat

 

 

 

 

 

Rode bikes again!

 

 

Sam Wyatt showed me his stance :))

 

 

 

Cousins Carter and Tanner came over to play

 

 

Mom's favorite part is enjoying some time sitting out by the bayou.  This girl was "walking" all over the place.

 

 

Bella (Cousin Claire) with Tanner and Reese

 

 

Sam Wyatt was helping to brush her hair when we were at the ballpark

We had so much fun!!  Emily and Jack are safely back in Monroe and she is recovering well.  Hope everybody had a great holiday weekend!!