Pictures

All in all the trip to Florida was good...an adventure, but good. We arrived Thursday to my aunt's house. We got settled in and over the next few hours, my aunts and uncles would arrive, but I was waiting on my cousin, Mike. I hadn't seen that boy...excuse me, man in 10 years!! David was all over the place, laughing with Papaw, finding out that bean bag chairs are awesome and telling my cousin, Nolan, about pottying. Oh dear. Dinner proved fun and exciting with me getting a great chance to catch up with my cousin.
Friday, Jeremy and I took Boo to Disney, literally flying by the seat of our pants that day and my cousin, Mike and his wife Jen went with us too. We split off, only because we weren't planning on riding any of the big rides, just the kiddo rides. I believe a good time was had by all...although Mike and Jen got stuck in the mass arrival of people coming to the Pirates/Princess party.
Here is Boo and I on the teacups!!! We went fast!

This is Boo and Jeremy on Dumbo...notice that this time he is not crying his eyes out!! If you saw our pictures from September, then you will know why this is the cutest pic ever.

On to the real reason why we went to Florida...my grandfather's memorial service. It was wonderful. Just exactly how I pictured it would be, although, the stories were unscripted in my head, they were all funny, hilarious and serious all rolled into one. Gary Caruso, friend and editor of Chop Talk magazine, gave a resounding eulogy that I am sure my grandfather was humbled by. My husband spoke eloquently and directly with authority from the Lord about marrying into our family and about the decision my grandfather made to make peace with the Lord. As my uncle said...he was fine until he said the word, Pepaw. Then, it made it real and personal. You can see below the fine picture of my grandfather after pitching Game 7 of the 1957 World Series. Boo and I were trying to do the hand signal for 3. He does it well and kept telling me that he is going to be 3, but he's now 2. :)

Ahh...this picture now adorns my desktop at work...it's titled, My Boys! I love these boys dearly, with the love of a sister. I am blessed to be the only granddaughter in my family, which also means, I am blessed to have some fine men in my life. From left to right - Lewis, Nolan, my, Mike, and Danny. Mike is my older cousin, the me, then Danny, Lewis, and the baby, who now stands taller than me, Nolan. This is what I grew up with!!! Mike and I spent summers, spring breaks, and Christmas' at our grandparents house each year. As we got older, we drifted apart, but I gotta tell you, we reconnected like we hadn't been apart in years. It was awesome. Danny is a junior at FSU. Lewis is a freshman at TCC. Nolan is a sophmore in high school. These boys...well, tears just well up in my eyes when I look at them. They are strong, independent, men and I pray each day that God will bless them and watch over them.
It was a nice 5 days in Florida and a nice gathering of people honoring my grandfather. He was and will remain a special man in my heart. I look at these boys and see him in each of them...

In His Hands-

Karen

Tags: Lou Burdette

Out of Town

I am so sorry!!! I posted about the Par-tee going on at the end of the week, but I did not post that I would be out of town for a few days...fear not, I am back now!! :) I was in Florida for the past 5 days, visiting the family and attending the memorial service for my grandfather. Wow...it was truly incredible and the people...the stories...the pictures...all breath-taking. I got to spend some wonderful time with my dad and my cousin that I haven't seen in 10 years. It was great. I promise to share more about that in the next day or so and boy do I have some great pics too...however, something cool happened while I was away...
I am the featured blog on Laced with Grace this week!! How cool is that??? I am so honored that they chose me! Thank you girls! I love all of you and have enjoyed getting to you. These girls have great stories and scripture to back them up. They are solid and just a joy to know in the blogosphere. If you haven't read them, seen them, or met them, GO NOW! :)

I am settling back in to work today, so I promise to post more later this evening.

Soaking up life-
Karen

Party!!!

Now, who doesn't love a party??? Okay, maybe quiet, not-social people, but that's not me at all, so come join me for the fun!! It's a blog party...however, not just any blog party, but an ULTIMATE BLOG PARTY!
It's a week long bash from March 2nd - 9th. There will be prizes! All party guests who sign into Mr. Linky (on their site) will be eligible for the random prize drawing. All winners will be announced at the site 5 Minutes for Mom at 7PM EST on March 9th.

This is a great chance to meet some other bloggers! Come join us for the fun! You don't even have to pick out something to wear!!! It's that easy. Did I mention there would be prizes???

Karen

Babies! It's the week of Babies!

No, not for us!!! For my friends! Rush over to my friend Kaci, who delivered Elizabeth on Valentine's Day!! My friend Kim, who doesn't have a blog, but needs to get one, delivered Ellie just yesterday. Kudos to Kaci and Kim, who both delivered in less than 5 hours...I know....some of you are gritting your teeth at them! hee hee.

Picture:
I couldn't resist posting a picture of Boo either. We treated him to a Krispy Kreme donut last night and oh my...he got it EVERYWHERE! He wanted to make sure we took his picture to show his Papaw. :)

Enjoy!
Look at my shirt! It's all over me!! :)

Not sure if you can tell, but it's all over his face and he gave me his cheesiest grin for you!

This is Boo doing his new Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm song and dance. I don't know if he made it up or what but it's hysterical face to face.

Karen

Happy Belated Valentine's

Valentine's Day did not escape my mind, I was just too busy not to post! :) Don't you hate those days??
I hope each of you had an enjoyable Valentine's Day with your spouse, fiance', child(ren), or just with Jesus...can I get an AMEN? We spent Valentine's at the church...after all...it was Wednesday night and we had a delicious meal and I say Jeremy got off easy. Although, he is taking me out on Saturday night, and we have a babysitter!! Yippie! I think Outback is calling our names.

A week from today we will be on our way to Florida. I don't love the reason we are going, but spending time with my extended family is like one of my most favorite things to do!! Seeing my cousins, hearing my dad's voice, being with my aunts - well, it's just pure joy for me. They are all just as excited, but only because the one and only, treasured Boo bear is coming. I mean, who doesn't enjoy a little humor with the almost 3-year old??? He is a sight and full of energy waiting to be released on these people. He is practicing his singing and playing air guitar and oh my word, the wiggle groove. He thinks his Papaw, Nolie, Danny, and Lewis (my dad and my three cousins) are going to watch the Cars movie with him and he thinks that's all they have to do in an extended weekend, ya know???

Resting in Him-
Karen

Pictures with Pepaw

I apologize that it has taken me a while to get my pictures up...some of them were located elsewhere and it took me a while to remember where...it's been a long week if I should say so.
I think it's starting to hit me. I am emotional today, and there seems no other reason. The pictures are helping. Enjoy.

Boo was just under 3 months when he attended his first baseball game and got to see why it means so much to us...the plate with my grandfather's name and number on it is in the plaza at Turner Field.

Just a week later, Boo made his first appearance in Florida...he was loved immediately!!!

Here is Pepaw telling Boo his first story...you may be surprised to know it wasn't about baseball, but about life and love.One of my favorite pictures...I think I actually some pics like that with me in his arms.A month later (August 2004) Pepaw came up for the Braves Hall of Fame induction ceremony. That's Pepaw, Boo, me holding him, Jeremy behind me, my momma next to me and Uncle Les, my grandfather's brother.
Here we are almost a year later in June 2005. We stopped off in Orlando for a few days before my 10 year reunion in New Port Richey. Gotta love that paci!
Augus 2005 Pepaw came back up to Atlanta for the induction ceremony again...this was the year they celebrated the 15 year anniversary of the 1991 Braves (the worst to first team) - it was awesome to meet Steve Avery and Dave Justice, but it was even better hearing my grandfather walk around holding Boo saying, "This is my great-grandson!" I was teary.
It would be over a year before I would see him again...Jeremy, Boo and my mom saw him in August 2006, his last trip to the induction ceremony in Atlanta. We would make the trip to Florida in September and knew leaving that it was probably the last time we would see him.

The tests in the weeks ahead proved what we had all suspected, the cancer was there and spreading. Over the weeks between September and December, he would start showing more signs of his outward man wasting away. He was able to celebrate his 80th birthday at his favorite local place, surrounded by family and friends who loved him dearly. I was unable to make it, but my daddy sent me pictures! As the weeks went by from December to this past week, I would talk with my family more than I ever had in years...weekly updates, doctor visits, Hospice entered their lives and so did in-house care. He passed away peacefully, with no signs of pain and that's exactly the way he wanted.

I pray that as the coming weeks come to a close he will find we as a family have been faithful to his requests and honored him in a most loving way. The memorial service on the 24th will be much of a celebration of his life as it is ever could be.

Enjoy the photos!

In the Lord's hands -

Karen

Tags: Lou Burdette

My Grandfather

The man I referred to as Pepaw - -
He was married to my Mema. They had four children together. The man my father and his three sisters called 'Dad'. I am blessed to be his only granddaughter.
He went to the grocery store of choice, normally Publix, pretty much every day. He was a polite man. He made funny faces at babies (I have pictures) and he is the one who taught me how to blow kisses when we said goodbye. This man was the one who drove my mom and I from Sarasota to Miami one time and had to listen to me read the book 'Never Talk to Strangers' 800 times. (I was three and he claimed that he hated that book). This is also the man I told 'Don't be here, Pepaw' when the love bugs were attacking our car while driving in Florida - around the same time as the book reading incident. This is the man who made the BEST pepper dressing and sausage gravy EVER...of course, not together. I remember pulling into their beach house and prancing up the stairs - stopping on the landing to see if they were in the kitchen. As I grew older and they moved into the 'city', they had a half circle driveway that you could see right into the kitchen - where they normally were. The kitchen was the heart of where our family was. I have the fondest memories sitting on the stools as an almost adult girl and talking, reading the paper, drinking juice and eating cereal in the mornings. I would love to sneak all the way around through the bedrooms and come in a different way and scare my Mema and Pepaw! My cousins ate the best chocolate pie one Christmas on those stools...they may not remember, but I think I have a picture to prove it.
I practically grew up at the house on the beach - on Longboat Key - I think I was almost in high school when they moved to the city. I had a baby pool there. I remember playing Boggle for hours with my cousin Mike. When we were allowed to watch TV, we watched Gilligan's Island, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. My uncle Paul knew the words to the song of Gilligan...and I marveled at that for some reason. I always asked Pepaw to make me some shrimp. This usually required lots of work, but he normally made it happen. He rented a bike for me one summer...upon returning it we stopped for ice cream BEFORE DINNER and he asked me not to tell my Mema - this is the first time I have ever shared that story with anyone! :)
He always took me to the Buccaneer restaurant to eat on the island. This required dressing up, but I loved it! We always had the same waiter - Otto - and I still remember eating there as if it were yesterday.
He did nice things for people because he genuinely loved and cared for them.
In elementary school I wrote a paper about him in P.E. class - his profession was a baseball player. He spent 11 seasons as a Milwaukee Brave pitcher (from 1953-1963) playing with greats like Warren Spahn, Henry "Hank" Aaron, Bob Buhl, Eddie Matthews and so many more. He was once a Yankee (gasp!), a Boston Brave before they moved to Milwaukee, a Cardinal, a Cub, a Phillie, and an Angel. His best years were spent in Milwaukee, where he helped give them their only championship in 1957, by pitching three games in the series and winning the decisive Game 7 on just two days rest. 3 complete games and 2 shutouts in a World Series?...well, it's just unheard of in these days!
In all my years growing up he was just my grandfather, but to so many others he was a legend. His legend lives on now...
My grandfather, Lou Burdette, passed away on Tuesday, February 6th at his home. Some of my family was present with him.
In a few weeks we will honor him - Dad, Pepaw, "Fidgety Lou", whatever you called him - at a memorial service in Winter Garden on the 24th. I am looking forward to celebrating his life and his achievements...none more important than the decision he made just weeks ago to acknowledge the Lord as Savior.
I will post some pictures of him in a day or so.
If you would like more information about him, you can read some articles on www.atlantabraves.com - it's one of the rotating stories.

"And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 NASB

I love you,

Karen

Tags: Lou Burdette

Ice Day

Yesterday Boo and I got to stay home because of the ice. His school was closed, so I took off work and we did actually stay at home for a while, but once the roads cleared, we headed to Walmart for some items and then had lunch with Jeremy. It was down right cold out, so I made him bundle up, despite the argument he gives me every time that he doesn't need his coatie on. I even made him wear his new gloves that he got for Christmas...thanks to my mom's friend, Sue. Enjoy cuteness!

Jeremy said it looks like he is say "I surrender!" I told Jeremy that I wish he would say that more often. :)

Love,

Karen

Changing my Life - I am Hungry!

What if my first response was to worship Him?
What if? my very first response/reaction. was to worship Him!?

Ever thought about it?
What if my soul responded/reacted first instead of my flesh?

Hm. I think my life would change. I want it to change.
Maybe it is changing.

I am enjoying participating in the Daniel Bible Study on Wednesday nights and also in the Living Worship study on Sunday nights. Each unique and different, yet each, so very similar. Living Worship by John Randall Dennis is said to be "A Biblical Guide to making Worship real in your life." Hm...sounds interesting. I mean, who doesn't want to be real in their worship? What? You mean there are some people that aren't real in their worship? Oh my...
The Minister of Music is leading this class and will be out of town this weekend and has asked me to lead the class. I am honored and completely relying on the Lord to guide me through it. It's an incredible book. This week we study David and Jehoshaphat, last week we studied Job and Isaiah. It's been a roller coaster ride and I am enjoying all the Lord is saying to me.
He is using much of the Daniel Bible Study to speak to me just as equally in part with this Living Worship book. My mind is completely expanding...and so that brings me to my questions above.

Last week as we were going through the lesson Sunday night about worship, one of the questions asked was what do we do when a "circumstance" comes our way...we freak out, we lash out at God, we say 'Why ME?', we question Him on His way, His purpose, Him in general. Some times it takes a while to get over it. Some times people never do. I answered that I would like to think that my lashing out gets shorter and shorter each time. I honestly meant that. I came home that night with the question of "What if my first response was not to lash out, but to worship?"
As I was going along in the Daniel study, Beth Moore wrote something in Day 3 or 4 that struck me..."God is no less on His throne just because chaos happens in the world" (my paraphrase). Oh. Wow. It occured to me that God is no less on His throne right now than He was two days ago when one of my very good friends told me that someone else had entered their marriage and as much as it pains the two of them right now, they are going to seek counseling and move forward...TOGETHER. God is no less on His throne right now than He was on September 11, 2001. Does that strike a cord in you? God will be no less on His throne five days from now should tragedy strike you, your family, your friends, whomever.
He's GOD.
He is GOD.

God is changing my life. I believe it's impossible to read the Bible and it NOT change your life. I am absorbing all I can about my LORD because I am hungry. I am truly hungry for Him.
Oh Lord, you have shown me Your glory and at times I have been unwilling to accept it or to take and eat of it. But Lord, I am hungry now. It's not too late to be hungry or to be filled by Him.

In Jesus-
Karen