Father's Day

I am so excited about the upcoming weekend!! All of my children will arrive at my house at some point TOMORROW! Our empty nest will once again, even if for only a few days, be filled with the sounds of a big, happy family. Sisters will enjoy catching up with each other, cousins will love playing, swimming, and just being together, son-in-laws will figure out ways to aggravate their mother-in-law just for the fun of it, Mimi and Poppa will have full laps, and will sit back and just listen to the joy that will surround them! Of course, there will be the normal one or two fits pitched, tears cried, and maybe a cross word or two, but they won't last long and will soon be forgotten. And in the middle of it all will be a beautiful new blessing, Wesley Nathaniel Loy!!

Saturday we will gather at my sister, Becky's house and celebrate my daddy's 84th birthday and Father's Day together. My niece Jessie and her husband Lance will be home for the celebrations. Niece Mattie is already home for the summer. This will be the first time we have all been together in a while and there will be plenty of good food, birthday cake, and lots of fun and laughter! We will remember past days when daddy was younger and mama was well and be thankful for the memories! And we will thank God that daddy is still here to celebrate with us!

Sunday will be a special day as we all attend church together on Father's Day. Bill will be singing "Butterfly Kisses" with all three of his girls sitting there listening, pray that he makes it through! I will sit there surrounded by those that I love most in this world and praise the ONE from whom ALL blessings flow. How blessed I am to have the two most loving, caring, honest, dedicated, wonderful men as my earthly father and my husband and father to my children! Jim Carlisle and Bill Salters are the most Godly examples of what a "daddy" is supposed to be. They have loved their girls unconditionally and shown them that love not only by what they say, but what they do. They taught them from a very young age to love God and led them to faith in Jesus, not only by telling them about His love for them but by living their lives as an real example of what it means to be a Christian. I do not know why God has chosen to grace me to be one's daughter and the other one's wife. I can never thank Him enough for that privilege!!

Wesley Nathaniel Loy

So, I just realized that I posted the night before Wes was born and then my next post is the one about my crazy week with the dogs....had to come back and catch y'all up on our sweet new baby boy! Wesley was born on May 18 at 2:37pm. Sarah and Jeremy got to the hospital around 7 and they began the induction. Bill and I arrived about 9 and she was in the middle of getting her epidural. She had actually been having some pretty hard contractions which she had never felt before and was ready to stop! I tell these young mothers all the time most of them do NOT know what REAL childbirth is like!! They get epidurals when they are only dilated to like 3. Try being in hard labor for 12 hours or longer with NO epidural!!! I am actually thankful that my girls have not had to experience that! Anyway, back to Wes! Sarah actually progressed fairly quickly and was at 10 and ready to push around 2:10pm... then we had to wait on the doctor. He arrived and before we knew it Wesley Nathaniel Loy had come into the world. He weighed 8lbs and 7 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. I have been so very blessed to actually be in the delivery room for the birth of all 5 of my grandchildren!! How awesome is that? God is so good! I was afraid that Sarah may go into labor and deliver Wes before I could get to Tupelo. God orchestrated everything just perfectly! Sarah and Jeremy brought Wes home on Thursday and I stayed until that Saturday. He turned 3 weeks old yesterday and I am about to die to get my hands on him again. They are coming to Natchez July 1st, but I am trying to work in a weekend trip up there before then. Here are a couple of picts that Sarah sent me yesterday.

What a week!

I am so thankful that today is the beginning of a brand new week and glad to put last week in the past! Keeping two dogs for an entire week when you have not had a pet for several years is not a great idea. Sunny and Bud left a week ago yesterday on a cruise to celebrate their 4th wedding anniversary and Bill and I, who by the way have no special plans as of yet to celebrate our 35th anniversary in August(what is wrong with this picture?), kept Callie and Cuddles for them. Actually I should say that I kept them... Bill didn't really do anything with them or for them! Sunny and Bud do not have any children yet, so the dogs are absolutely spoiled rotten, of course they sleep in the bed with them. So, the first couple of nights, Cuddles, Callie and I, slept, I use that word loosely, in one of our extra bedrooms. Callie woke me up every night anywhere around 2,3 or 4 am...I was a walking zombie. On the third night I was awakened by something cold and wet... Callie had wet the bed!!! Needless to say she did not sleep with Cuddles and I the rest of the week! The week rocked along and we got to Friday...last day before we took them back to meet their parents Saturday morning. The weather was so nice that I decided Friday afternoon to finally give the flower beds in my back yard some attention. I was so proud of myself!! I was sitting on a small stool and just working along when I turned around and saw something in Callie's mouth. I quickly realized that my cell phone was missing from the place on the stool beside me where I had laid it. I had taken the phone out with me in case daddy tried to call me. I jumped up and ran over to retrieve the phone hoping that she had just picked it up and that it would not be harmed. No such luck! She took off running several feet before finally dropping my phone. Now, this was not my old razor phone that I have had for several years. Oh no! Just 3 weeks ago I had made the big leap and gotten me a nice Blackberry curve. Thank goodness I did purchase insurance! However, the deductible is $150.00. So, my $450 phone, that I got for $200 since I signed a 2 year contract, is going to end up costing me $350.00! The week did end wonderfully.. we met Sunny and Bud in Brookhaven yesterday morning and gave the dogs back!!! YAY!! And then we drove over to Mendenhall and spent the day with Sydney, Tony, Skyler and Mylie. Mylie had her first dance recital and we were so glad to get to be there. She did great and looked beautiful! So, today we began a new week and I for one am glad it is not last week!!

Thinking about life and death

Tomorrow morning my sweet, wonderful, caring, beautiful daughter Sarah will be induced and give birth to her new baby son, Wesley Nathaniel Loy... what joy! I learned early this morning that my sweet, caring, loving, funny first cousin, Buddy Taylor, had died during the night last night... sad, but also joyful because of his faith in Jesus. I started thinking about some of the major losses in my life and how many of them coincided with major births. Several days after Sarah was born, my "Uncle" passed away, when Sunny was born my Pawpaw Jesse died. When my wonderful cousin Ava lost her battle with breast cancer at age 43 our dear friends, Mike and Jeanna Crowder welcomed Josh to their family. Will was born on November 17 and just a few days later, two days before Thanksgiving, we lost our sweet Uncle Jack. And now we have lost Buddy and Wes will be born tomorrow. I know there are other incidences like these in my life and others lives. Isn't that just like our God? That even while we are sad and mourning the loss of loved ones, He sends a new life, full of promise to remind us that life goes on and that He loves us so very much. So, as I go to sleep tonight anxiously awaiting tomorrow and praying for a healthy baby and safe, normal delivery, I am also thanking God for Buddy's life and that I know he is safe at Home!

Just random thoughts...

Guess it's time for a new post. Not sure what I want to write about or where this post will go. Had a nice weekend...Renae(Jeremy's mom) and I left town around noon on Thursday and headed to Tupelo. We got to go to one of Sarah's baby showers Thursday night and it was wonderful. She and Jeremy have made so many wonderful friends there and it was great to get to meet and visit with some of them. It also really gives me such peace of mind to know God has provided these friends for them since they are so far from family. We spent most of Friday shopping and getting baby Wes's room ready for him. Unfortunately Will's tee ball game was cancelled since the weather was awful, but we had a great couple of days with he and Macy! We came home Saturday afternoon. Had storms here this morning...trees and powerlines down all over town. Have not heard of any injuries, thank the Lord! Got a busy, busy week ahead. If all goes well, Bill and I will leave here Thursday..go to Mendenhall and watch Skyler and Mylie play ball, spend the night with them... go to Sunny's on Friday and spend the night with them.. go to her graduation ceremony at Belhaven and see her receive her Masters in Education Sat. morning and then head to DESTIN!!!! We will be there until Sunday the 17th unless we get THE CALL from Sarah. Part of our time will be vacation and then the last half of the week is the MS Bankers Convention. I am really looking forward to some real relaxing time on "MY" beach!! Please pray that God will allow us this time away with no problems... with my daddy the age and shape he is, we just never know and of course mama too. Bill needs some relaxation time too... Destin is the one place that he actually really relaxes!

Changing the subject... our dear friend John Hicks had a terrible accident a week ago yesterday and has been in ICU on a ventilator since then. They were able to get him off for just a few hours today but had to reintubate him. Please please pray for his recovery and for his sweet wife, Courtney and his children, Erin, John Ashton and Emily and all his family. We love them very much and would appreciate any and all prayers!

It is late and I need to get some sleep. I have no clue who, if anybody reads this..but if anyone does, I hope this finds you and your family well and right in the middle of God's will for your life! It's the best place to be!!

My crazy life!!

Guess it's about time to write a new post. I seem to update about every 2 weeks or so. Let's see my last post was on Sarah's birthday, March 29. I have had a lot going on since then. I have:
Been to a Beth Moore Living Proof Live event in New Orleans
Stayed in N. O. with my sister and saw LIVE, with Regis & Kelly
Had Sarah, Jeremy, Will and Macy here for Easter weekend!
Dyed eggs with Will & Macy!
Celebrated Easter Sunday!!!
Lost my "other" mother, Mary Frances Jones on Easter.
Drove to Laurel for my good friend Sherry's moms funeral
Drove to Hattiesburg from Laurel and picked up Mary Frances sisterve
Drove back to Natchez
Went to Jackson for Doctor's appt.
Drove from Jackson to Mendenhall, watched Skyler & Mylie play ball
Drove home from Mendenhall early Wed morning
Celebrated her life and said goodbye to Mary Frances Wed afternoon
All of that in addition to my normal hectic life of working,helping
daddy,etc...
Whew.. I am tired!! Looking forward to this weekend at home with not much to do!!!
After this weekend things get really wild!! Garden Club meeting next week in McComb, meet Sarah in Jackson Friday, Nathan's wedding in Columbia Sat., back to Jackson until Monday. Go to Tupelo on the 30th for Sarah's baby shower.. stay til Saturday to watch Will play tee ball...leave town Thursday, May 7 going to Syd's to watch kids play ball, to Jackson for Sunny's graduation with her Master's from Belhaven, and then to DESTIN for a week...part vacation, part MS Bankers Convention...UNLESS Sarah goes into labor....whenever that happens I will be headed North!! Please keep us all in your prayers as we do all this traveling and pray for a healthy baby and delivery!

Y'all have a great weekend!! Here are a few picts!

Sarah Rebecca Salters Loy

29 years ago today God brought another precious baby girl into our lives. Sydney was 27 months old and we were ready for another baby. Sarah Rebecca was born after about 12 hours of labor and welcomed into this world by her mama, daddy and our preacher, Bro Charles Harvey. I had been sent home with false labor several days before and my parents had come and taken Sydney back to Natchez with them. Everybody wanted to be sure I was really in labor this time so none of the grandparents made it in time for Sarah's birth. It didn't matter, as soon as they arrived and saw her she captured their hearts forever and she has been capturing hearts ever since! The night before Sarah was born we still had not decided on a name. We had no intention of naming our 2nd child something that started with an S but God did. I was reading my bible the night before I went into labor and read about Sarah and then about Rebecca. I asked Bill how he felt about Sarah Rebecca if this baby was a girl and he loved it. It also fit with our family, since my maternal grandmother's name had been Sarah and my sister is named Rebecca. The name Sarah means "Princess" in Hebrew and Rebecca means "to tie." From the time our "Princess" was old enough to talk, she has been "tieing" people together! God gave Sarah a unique and special love for people. She is not only loving.. but kind, caring, compassionate, sweet, honest, humble, faithful and much more. All through her childhood as people got to know her, they would ask me " Can we take Sarah home with us?" You hear people ask that sometimes and parents answer by saying something like.. "sure, you will bring her back soon!" knowing that you did not really mean it,....I can honestly say I never once answered that with Sarah... my answer was always, "No, you cannot have her!"

It is such a blessing for Bill and I to see her now as a wife and mother. One who is teaching her children the love of God and to serve Him. We are thankful for her husband, who is a fine Christian young man. What joy to see them serving God in His church and living their lives striving to please Him. How thankful to God we are to have Will, Macy and soon another baby boy Loy in our lives. God is SO good!

When Sarah was about 4 or 5 I guess she realized that people loved her.. alot..and one day we were introducing the girls to someone and after we said " this is Sarah, our middle daughter"... she looked up and said ..." I am the special one!" She hates for me to tell that story because she is so humble, but ...Sweetheart, you are indeed "special" and I am so very proud of you and thankful to be your mother! Sarah Rebecca, you are very loved!!