Memory Lane

March 8, 2010

Recently as I was cleaning out some closet's and organizing some things, I found a bag containing several disposal cameras. I wasn't sure if the pictures could be developed due to the age of the cameras and the conditions in which they had been found, but I decided I would give it a try anyway.

After dropping off all 15 cameras at the local Walgreen's, I was told I could pick them up the following afternoon. I have to admit, it was like waiting for Christmas day, wondering what gifts would be under the tree! I could not wait to get to Walgreen's the next afternoon and see if any pictures had been salvaged. To my surprise 13 out of the 15 cameras were able to be developed! Praise the Lord!

What a blessing to see so many memories that were otherwise gone but now given life through the eyes of a camera.

These first pictures are of my stepdaughter, Kelli at her high school graduation from North Davidson High School. Kelli turns 25 May 7th of this year so it would make these pictures close to 8 years old.

Kelli with sisters, Jana (l) and Rachael (r)

Kelli with Papa Tullock (l) and Mama Tullock (r)

Kelli at age 17

Kelli and her Dad

This next picture was one that Rachael had requested I take several times and finally one day after school, she got her wish. Rachael has been a student of UGCS since the age of 3 and when Pastor returned in 2001, she quickly became one of his "little buddies." As she continued to grow at UGCS, so did her love for Pastor and the church. It was through the love shown to us by UGCS that Rachael and I started attending Union Grove Baptist Church and we each became believers through hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jimmy would join us in 2003. It's amazing what Love can do!

Rachael and Pastor Harris (I believe this was taken in 2002)

This picture was one among many that were taken when Rachael and the Brown boys celebrated their birthdays together one year. Yuri and Jon were a big part of showing Christ to our family and try to include us in as many activities as possible to plant the seeds of salvation. Praise the Lord for people willing to put others first and share the love of Jesus Christ. A family divided by sin but now united in Christ!

McKinley, Seth & Wilson Brown and Rachael Tullock

The next two pictures are of Rachael and her dog, Bear. Bear was a wonderful part of our family and we were blessed to have him for many years. I remember the day I had to tell her that Bear had passed away and the tears she cried. It was the first loss of someone dear to her and she was comforted by a shadow box that Kim & Yuri had made for her. The shadow box contains Bear's collar, his ID tag and a picture of him and Rachael together.

Rachael and Bear playing in the snow.

Bear

Rachael has always enjoyed playing sports and we believe that God has blessed her with many athletic abilities. She loves to play volleyball, basketball, and softball. She even played on the spring soccer teams at UGCS until they started overlapping with softball. She then determined she would stay a softball player. Rachael played community sports from the time she was old enough to hit a ball off a tee and bounce a basketball around half court! She loves sports!

Rachael playing softball for Arcadia community team. That's Jessica Hege behind her.

Paige Wall, Rachael Tullock, and Mackezie Hauser

I think every young girl goes through a stage of wanting a horse and Rachael was no different. We went through the age of her big sister, Kelli desiring to have her own horse and Rachael followed in her footsteps. Rachael asked her dad and I to buy her a horse at least once a day for a solid year. You could not make her understand that a horse required a lot of money, land, food, and attention. We finally were able to compromise when I began taking her horseback riding at Tanglewood Farms.

Rachael and her horse (he was a rental)

I'm not sure where this next picture was taken but it shows Rachael, Jessica Hege, and Haley Griffith together. It was probably taken at church but I love the smiles on their faces!

Our last picture down memory lane was our most recent one. This picture was taken in 2008. Thanksgiving Day at our house. We celebrate Thanksgiving Day at our house each year and Jimmy's family, my mom, and a few friends join us.

Jimmy, Rose, Kelli, Jennifer, Nick, Mom, Me, PaPa, MaMa, Rachael, Daniel and Julie

It was so much fun looking at all the pictures and even posting some of them to facebook. It was like having Christmas all over again! Some of the best gifts can be unexpected gifts!

"Talking to J.T"

Monday, January 18, 2010

Permission was given for me to blog about this from my daughter.

Rachael has a new interest in life. Its talking to J.T. For months now, when we ask Rachael what she is doing, her response seems to be the same each time, "talking to J.T." After many months of being asked from others at our church, "who is J.T." or "is it "J.T.Wilt", I have been requested to introduce Johnathan T. McNeely.

(Johnathan is the one in the middle surrounded by all the girls..lol)

Rachael met Johnathan at Word Of Life Camp in July of 2009. He is from Lake Wales, Florida and is a member of Trinity Baptist Church in Lake Wales, Florida. Johnathan is 16 years of age and a junior in high school. He became a close friend to my daughter during her week at camp. After returning home, he became friends with Rachael on our face book page. This was the beginning of the end for me and Jimmy accessing face book very much.

Rachael and JT (as she calls him) began chatting on FB every night. They rarely missed talking with each other and our house was filled with random laughter each evening coming from our daughter. We never knew what was being said but it sure did make our daughter smile:)

(Rachael, JT and Leann at WOL 2009)

As parents, we became interested very quickly in who our daughter was talking with and not long after the conversations began on FB, we were introduced to Johnathan over the phone. He seemed to be very respectful, nice, and somewhat shy. More importantly, he was saved and his family saved and attending an Independent Baptist Church. Soon, Johnathan and Rachael started discussing our upcoming trip to Disney World in Florida (which I just recently posted about) and they began to discuss a way of seeing each other again. Johnathan's mother soon called and invited us to spend a day with them at Universal Studios while we were in Florida. So the arrangements were made and Rachael began anticipating the day she would see JT again.

I had asked Rachael several times after being introduced to JT by phone if she liked him in a "boy-friend way" and she always gave the same patent answer. "Mom, I do not know him that well and we are just friends."

We were to meet JT and his family on the last day of our Disney trip. Unfortunately, Jimmy became ill and was unable to go, so Tyler Odell stepped in and took his place. We met JT, his mom (Sheri), dad (Glenn), big brother (Cody), little sister (Courtney), and best friend (Eric) at Universal and enjoyed the day with them at Halloween Horror Nights. We had a very good time and enjoyed talking with their family. We got along great and at the end of the day shared hugs and said good-bye.

(heading back to our cars after a long day at Universal)

left to right: Eric, JT, Tyler and Rachael

After arriving back in North Carolina, the chatting on FB sooned turned to talking on the phone. They have not missed a day since we returned home from Disney and on Rachael's 15th Birthday at midnight, Johnathan asked her to be his "official" girlfriend. He sent Rachael a diamond cross necklace and pair of earrings for Christmas and continues to talk with me and Jimmy about any plans he tries to make for them to see each other.

Recently, his family has invited our family to spend time with them in June while they are camping in the North Carolina mountains so we are making arrangements to meet with them. Rachael has also agreed to attend the Wilds Teen Camp with his youth group in July and then they both will attend WOL camp again this summer.

Some may ask, "do you really expect this long distance relationship to work?" or "is it smart to encourage your daughter in this relationship?" Jimmy and I have discussed this many times and we both have come to the same conclusion. She is 15 and boys are going to be part of her life. We would rather her get to know the heart of a boy rather than it solely be based upon a physical attraction. We feel that this is what the long distance relationship is doing. They are learning about each other's hearts without seeing one another daily. Some say, it is her first real crush and "summer love" and maybe they are right. I don't question it anymore, we just monitor it and do what we think is right as parents.

Jimmy and I are sure of one thing. The Lord brought JT McNeely and his family into our lives for a reason. It might be for spiritual growth, new Christian friendships, trials, or lessons to be learned but we are trusting the Lord in all of it.

We pray every night that the Lord is preparing a Godly husband for our daughter, whomever it might be. We are NOT rushing this and know that Rachael still has years of undecided plans. That is why we cling to Isaiah 55:8-9.

In the mean time, we'll just continue to hear, "talking to JT."

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Missing Disney!

I have been trying to find the time for several months now to blog about one of the BEST vacations we have taken together as a family. I seem to have finally found the time to post all pictures and gather my thoughts. I warn you, it might be the longest post in history!

In late September of this past year, our family scheduled a week long trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We had 7 nights and 8 days of absolute continuous fun, great weather, and good health! (until the last night), "sorry honey, you caught the cold crud and was unable to attend Horror Nights at Universal with us!"

The day we departed from Greensboro. We were so thankful we were able to get decently priced airline tickets!

Landing in Atlanta, Georgia to change plans. Pouring down rain and storming. Was praying the weather in Florida would look better.

Beautiful, sunny Florida!

After arriving at the airport, we were taken by courtesy bus to our destination at Disney's Pop Century Resort.

We decided to lounge around the resort for the remainder of the day and get a good night sleep for our big day tomorrow. Our first stop would be breakfast at Chef Mickeys and a visit to Magic Kingdom!

Chef Mickeys was great! I highly recommend it! All the Disney characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and others come and visit your table. We were able to take pictures and because we were celebrating my birthday, Donald brought me a birthday cupcake and danced with me!

Dancing with Donald!

My birthday Celebration Cupcake. I would receive many more of these during the week we were at Disney! They love to celebrate!!

Taking our picture with Mickey!

Our picture with Donald!

Our time with Donald was extra special. If anyone knows my husband well, they know that my husband does a fantastic impression of Donald Duck and sounds just like him! When Rachael was smaller, she would laugh until she got the hiccups because her dad would talk to her in Donald Duck language! I believe the Sizemore children and Stephen Pollard have seen the Donald Duck in action before and loved him!

Taking our picture with Minnie!

I would love to post all the pictures we took but there we so many of them. We do have them on our face book page so feel free to visit and view them!
We enjoyed all aspects of Magic Kingdom and rode every ride even the smaller ones for children. After all, when you visit Disney, you must become a child at heart to thoroughly enjoy everything it offers!

One of my favorite rides at Magic Kingdom!

Kissing my prince in front of our castle!

The O'dell family was at Disney World the same week as us so we were able to enjoy time together with them as well and make some special memories. Here we are riding Splash Mountain with the O'dells. Frnt R: Tyler and Rachael. 2nd Row: Jimmy and Taylor and Mark and 3rd row: Angie and Stephanie.
Mr. Jimmy is holding a sword that lights up and was the comedian for our ride! Great Memories!!!

Our next visit was to Disney's MGM studios where we started the day off with a showing of Beauty and the Beast.

There were rides such as Tower of Terror, Aerosmith's Rockin Roller coaster, and much more. One new attraction was the taping of Disney's own American Idol Show. This was great fun and we enjoyed watching each of the contestants.

Taking a scenic ride together with the O'dells.

Getting ready to ride the crazy, fast, Aerosmith Rockin Roller coaster!

While at Disney MGM, we ate at the 50's Prime Time Cafe. I also recommend this place to everyone. We had a blast and the staff is hilarious. I will tell you they are strict about table manners and will correct you for bad ones!

Our host, Michael. He was such a nerd and a cut-up! We miss Michael!

We are heading over to the Caribbean Resort to have dinner at 1900 Park Fare. This is also character dining with Cinderella and her evil step-mother and step-sisters. We rode a boat from Magic Kingdom and the view was gorgeous!

Caribbean Resort. I would love to stay here but we would need to budget for this one and save some more money! This place is absolutely one of the pretties resorts on Disney.
Arriving for dinner!

There are always plenty of people waiting to take your picture! One of my favorites of me and my "baby"

Jimmy, Cinderella, Rachael and me!

The evil step-mother who was a little "too flirtatious" with my husband!

One of our next stops was to Animal Kingdom. We enjoyed looking at all the different animals and also riding all the different rides they offer. We rode Mount Everest and I have to say, it scared me more than any ride I rode for the week. It definitely gets your heart racing!

The top of Everest!

Our boat ride at Animal Kingdom!

One of our favorite highlights for the day was the Jungle Parade at Animal Kingdom. You must take time to see it. Get there early and get a front row spot! It was a great parade with lots of participation and fun!

At the end of the parade, one of the floats broke down in front of Mickey who was at the end so we were able to enjoy Mickey dancing for over 45 minutes. We were laughing because the more he danced, the more he got into his dancing and was showing off some pretty good dance moves!

There are so many wonderful memories that were made and I will treasure each and everyone of them to the character dining, rides, shows, and time together with friends!

There are so many more things I could say and pictures I could post of our time at Disney but I don't want to spoil it for the rest of you. If you are blessed enough to visit and I pray you will be, I recommend Disney to everyone! Just remember, when you step off the plane, or arrive at your destination by car, put your Mickey ears on, leave the world behind, and just RELAX and ENJOY!!