Summer Fun List: Go To The Zoo

I love a good zoo. So do my children. It was no surprise to me when they put a zoo trip on their SUMMER FUN LIST...especially since we hadn't been in a while. 

While we were at my parents' house last week, we loaded up early ('cause it was gonna be H-O-T that afternoon!) and headed to the DALLAS ZOO.  I know that most people in the DFW area tend to head over the FORT WORTH ZOO when choosing a zoo, but we are partial to the Dallas Zoo for a few reasons. It's a little smaller and can be done in a long morning. It's always less crowded. It has a really great children's area (where we almost LOST Phoebe a few years ago). 

I know this isn't a great photo, but it's the only one I got of our "guide". He sure was handy with a map!

In the new-ish African Safari exhibit. 

Eli up-close-and-personal with a giraffe. 

Even Lola enjoyed the trip! :)

More elephant photos. I think Eli was trying to make it look like the elephant was going really fast. 

Monkeys...

Monkeys...

And more monkeys!

The famous butterfly bench. We always take a photo on the bench. It started when Eli was about a year old and we've taken one every time we've been since. Phoebe was getting tired and hungry and hot at this point and refused to be in the photo. 

After lunch, we headed to the carousel. It's the last thing we do before we leave. I love this carousel. 

It's not your traditional horse carousel, but all the animals in the zoo. I just think it's so whimsical. 

That was our zoo trip this year. We are slowly checking off all our Summer Fun List activities, but we've also found a little time the last few week to just be lazy. Finally. 

Grandfather's 90th Birthday Party

On the way back from Stephanie's WEDDING, I trekked back through Dallas and then onto Abilene to celebrate Grady "Grandfather" Jolly's 90th birthday. His actual birthday is June 12th, but the party was on Sunday the 10th...which happened to be Eli's actual birthday (and our 12th anniversary, but that always takes a back burner!). 

May I just say how much I love this photo. Two of my very favorite boys in the whole wide world turning 90 and 9. This was just one of the many blessings rained down on our family that day. 

Because that's really what the day was about. A day to celebrate my Grandfather and the blessings our family has received through him. This is my dad and his two brothers, David and Randy, in order by age from right to left. They always tell him he's adopted because when they were itty-bitty the two older boys had matching suit coats and my dad's was different. They can't really say that anymore because my dad is now called "Little Grady" because he looks so much like Grandfather. 

It was a day "fulled up" with family (as Phoebe would say). Ben drove Isaac out and left Sarah at home. Something about being 8 1/2 months pregnant made her decide she should probably stay home.  I drove in with my parents, Carrie and Shane and their kids since I had driven up from Houston the day before with Maria and Jenny. Brad drove my kids down from Amarillo that morning.

That was the great thing about this impromptu family reunion/birthday party. People drove from all over everywhere to sit outside in the 100 degree Abilene temps to be with Grandfather and each other. It just goes to show how special that man is to all of us. 

Lola was there in all her big bow beauty. I just *heart* this girl!

There was a certain level of nostalgic redneck charm to the whole get-together. Eating bbq and watermelon. Drinking from red solo cups. Slathering on tubes of sunscreen because if there's one thing the Jolly's aren't is tan. 

My dad and his sister, Joy, who's the youngest of the four Jolly children. For years, after we'd been with Joy and her family for a few days, my dad would call me "Joy" on accident. Old-habits die hard, I guess. 

I tried to walk around and get a photo of everyone who was there . I missed some people and some (like Grandfather) were in several. As I did, I was struck with the legacy my Grandfather is leaving. He loves the Lord and he loves his family. He works hard and serves others unfailingly. He laughs often and never met a pun he didn't like. He is a good and holy man. These people all gathered to honor him and love each other and just spend a brief afternoon just being together.

Randy and Andrea

Causha, Erin, and Suebeth

Chris, Emma, Brittany, and Caleb

Grandfather, Drew, Terrah, Summit, and Bethany

Beverly, Derek, and Kim

Byron and Lisa

Don, Charles, Lela, and Philip

David, Grandfather, and Autumn (By the way, David and Autumn share our anniversary, too!)

Amy and Natalie

Brad, Grandfather, Randy, Gretchen, and Gordon

Carrie and Ben

Eli and Drew

Here's the whole group. Like I said, it was an impromptu family reunion. I can't even remember the last time all Dad's siblings were together.  And there was Margaret's family. I call her "Mimi". My Dad's mom passed away when I was four. I still wish I had known her, but we were blessed when Grandfather married Mimi and we were able to get to know another grandmother. She had three sons and grandchildren of her own, but always made room for the Jolly grandchildren in her home and in her heart. Two of her sons were there with most of their family. The oldest was on a cruise that had been planned for months. 

This is a photo with all  the "kids" and some spouses from Grandfather and Mimi. There are 6 kids in the photo, 4 spouses, and 1 spouse who had to leave early.

They have 24 grandchildren. In this photo, 14 are grandchildren, 6 were spouses, and 2 other spouses were wrangling children and missed the photo. :) 

They have 18 great-grandchildren. I think this is a pretty good photo of 11 of them. I took 785 photos to get two good ones.

Here's the other one.

Here's the funny photo my cousin took of all the parents trying to get their children to smile for above photo. 

Some of Grandfather's extended family was there as well. Mostly my Dad's cousins. Grandfather was one of 7 children and the only one still living.

There's always cake when Grandfather is around! :)

My aunt brought a piñata. We always had one at the Jolly family holidays and it was fun to do with our kiddos now. Swing order was youngest to oldest.

At the end of the day, after all the watermelon was eaten and we were good and truly hot, it was time for all of us to drive back home...wherever that may be. We drove off in all different directions, but took with us the memory of a day spent celebrating the 90 years of Grady B. Jolly and the impact he'd made on our lives. 

And what a legacy it is. 

My Best Friend's Wedding

I bet you're all thinking of that MOVIE that came out the summer of 1997, right? That seemed to be the summer of wedding movies, if I recall. Or maybe the few summers of wedding movies, but this post isn't really like that movie at all. 

Well, except that it's about a wedding.

But it's about so much more than a wedding, too. Because anybody on this side of a wedding knows that real life starts after the wedding. And it very rarely ends with "Happily Ever After".  At least not the "Happily Ever After" we imagined.

My sweet friend, Stephanie (below left), got married way back on June 8th. (That just goes to show you how far behind on this ole blog.) The other two are Rebekah and Jenny. :)

Don't be fooled by that 100 watt smile and that darling dimple. This gal knows about pain. She knows about heartache. She could write the book on grief and unfairness and a broken Happily Ever After. Beneath that pretty exterior is a core of pure steel. One forged on the fire of early widowhood and single motherhood and all the other "hoods" the rest of us only think about when facing our worst fears. 

You see, her first husband passed away before she was even 30, leaving her with a 6 month old son and a broken heart to mend. (You can read her story in her own words HERE.) From Stephanie I learned what it meant to hurt for someone so much it makes you sick to your stomach. From Stephanie I learned what it meant to pour out my soul in prayer for another person. From Stephanie I learned what real grief was. From Stephanie I had my first glimpse of someone struggling through the bitterness and pain of living a Plan B life and living it with grace and a sense of humor and still clinging to a hope in the God she made herself trust...even when she had to make herself cling to that hope when all she wanted to do was give up and turn her back on Him and all the promises He seemed to have broken. 

So when the rest of the "girls" (JENNY, REBEKAH, MARIA, and myself) heard that she was getting married again, we knew there wasn't anywhere else we'd be come June 8th. These are the best friends I don't get to live very close to. The ones I pick up right where I left off with. The ones we've walked through weddings and babies and infertility and parent's divorces and cancer and death with and we'll just keep walking with as life keeps dishing out the bad stuff. The ones I can share my all my ugly, selfish, un-spiritual thoughts with and they won't hate me or judge me or stop being my friend. They might offer comfort or advice, but I know they'll just love me and pray for me and and they'll just be there no matter what. It's kinda awesome. 

Apparently, we also dress alike. 

The rest of us decided to put together a "blessing basket" for Steph and her new family. She was marrying Dallas, who also brought a 9-year-old son, Garrett, to the marriage. They didn't need a lot of "stuff" since they were combining two households, but they needed blessing. 

This time around, they both knew how hard marriage is. There wasn't any of the innocence and ignorance that comes with a first wedding. They know what it really means to be a family and all the hard work involved. They weren't wearing their rose-colored glasses this time. We wanted to bless the new life they were going to build together. And we know it called "building" because it takes time and sweat and elbow grease. 

So I made her an apron to help keep clean. :)

Mostly I just thought the dish running away with the spoon was cute in a kitschy kind of way. 

These two boys have no idea what kind of gift has been given to them. 

A mom and a dad who will fight and work with everything they've got to give them a strong, Christian home full of love. At the wedding, they even said vows to the boys. It was beautiful. 

We even remembered to take some group shots at their new house. We always say we will and we never do!!

Friday, the day of the wedding, we got to spend quite a bit of time with Steph actually. I'm telling you, when it comes to weddings, we did it wrong! The wedding was held in an old church in Tomball and the only decorations were simple buckets of flowers at the end of the pews. Simply beautiful. There were no attendants, no crazy schedules to keep. Just a simple ceremony surrounded by the people closest to them. Stephanie and Dallas did take photos before the wedding so we were left to our own devices for an hour and half or so. We ended up at a couple of junk stores and an old-timey soda shop. 

Go figure.

A big storm did roll through right as the wedding was starting, though, thus prompting some creative rain gear. 

But it had cleared off by the time the reception rolled around. It was held at a local Mexican food restaurant. These girls humored me with a photo on the rather rickety train caboose out front. 

When I say the wedding was beautiful, that isn't just a word I'm throwing out there because it's used to describe weddings all the time. The dress, the food, the flowers, the music. There was something else about this wedding. As the four of us sat on the rickety wooden pew watching the fifth make her second vow to love and cherish until death they do part, it felt more real and raw than when the four of us watched the first wedding. Now we know what those vows mean. Now we know how tenuous and fragile those good times are. Now we know that life can change in an instant. Now we know what it means to cling to God in those dark, dark days when all you want to do is give up. Now we know how powerful those words are. 

Now we know the true worth of this friendship. 

And there would not have been anywhere I would have been on that rainy Friday night. 

Happy (Very Late) Wedding Stephanie and Dallas!!