the weekend and this day

In light of all the natural disasters happening in the news right now, I had forgotten that today marks the sixteenth anniversary of 9/11.  Do you remember where you were on that day?

I do.  I was getting myself and two toddlers ready to leave for mom's day out at our old church.  I remember putting on mascara and my phone rang.  It was my sister Tricia, who was telling me to turn on the tv and watch The Today Show.  While we were on the phone, the second tower was struck, and I remember one or both of us screaming.  I wanted to sit and watch all day, but I had to leave for work.  The whole day went by so fast.  The next day we were at mom's day out, we had a bomb threat in our church.  I remember having to put all the toddlers and babies into the cribs we had and rolling them all out into the parking lot with all their bags and food.  Who knows how long we were out there?  It was a long time.  Bomb threats were happening all over the country, because apparently during tragedies, sickos think that it's funny to do that.  That day we had the threat at church, nothing came of it, which we knew it wouldn't deep down, but it was scary.

I was still a very young mom, who just wanted nothing more than to grab my own babies and hunker down with them at home.  Life goes on, though, but it was never far from my memory.

I am so glad that on our anniversary trip last year to NYC, we got to see the 9/11 memorial and museum.  It was very somber, and we both got teary multiple times throughout our visit.

This was part of the foundation of one of the towers of the World Trade Center.  There's a quote on the wall in the museum that reads, "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."  How true that is, even today, sixteen years later.  I think it's really sad that it always takes a tragedy to unify us as a country.  This rings true today, as we experience tragedy and natural disasters happening all around us.  I am praying for those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks, and I am praying for those who are still experiencing the hurricane or the aftermath of ones from a couple weeks ago.

On a much, much lighter note, we had a great weekend!  Todd's cousin Denise and her daughter Katie were here visiting from their town near Chicago.  It was a really fast, whirlwind trip for them, but I am glad they got to come.  I love the relationships between my boys and Katie.  They came to church with us yesterday morning, then we went to lunch after.

This is Denise.  I love her so much!  We have always been more like best friends than anything else.  We went to McAlister's for lunch after church.

Sweet cousins!  We love our sweet Katie.  Saturday night her, Graham, Drew and some friends went to see a movie, then later on, Graham took her to Gibson's donuts, a Memphis icon.

They left right after lunch, and I left right after them.  My best friend and her husband bought a home and had a house blessing yesterday.  It was so sweet!  I am so excited for them in this new endeavor of owing their home, and I know that God is going to use them where they are in their neighborhood.

Here's a little sneak peak at their beautiful home!  I didn't want to share too much, since it's not my place to share, but it is adorable.  There's so much charm in this sweet home, and their backyard is amazing.

After that I went to church for our annual church family picnic.  We visited with friends, some played games, we ate dinner and laughed and had a wonderful night.

It was a great weekend.  Today I have nothing on my agenda except for catching up on house stuff and laundry.  I also have lots of lists to start making for our upcoming vacation.  We leave in a few days!  I cannot wait.

Thanks for reading, and love to all!