Great Weekend!

We spent another weekend in Bossier and although it was quick, we had a good time as usual. Saturday was Avery's 2nd birthday at Gymboree and the kids had a great time. Landry Grace especially! My pictures are of poor quality as I somehow have lost the battery to my Rebel and had to use my iPhone for pictures. Not a good combination when you have kids going 90 miles per hour.



We continue to have a strong connection with our friends in Bossier. It's not that we see them every time we are in town or that we talk all the time even. There is a group of about 12-15 of us who became friends through our Sunday school class in Benton and have just had that "connection" since. We have had all kinds of trials and tribulations in our group. Moves, divorces, deaths, diagnosis', etc. Through it all we are prayer warriors and most of all true and devout friends. The most recent diagnosis is that of our friends with a 5 month old baby boy. I will with hold names and the diagnosis as the news was just found out on Friday and the family is still dealing with the situation the best way they know how. I am so thankful that God has placed this group of people in our life. We have grown together, prayed together, multiplied together, and cried together. My heart aches for this couple but at the same time I know that God placed this child with THIS CERTAIN couple for a reason! I know that God has his hand on them and will allow them to "embrace the journey" with their sweet boy. May we all choose to become better and not bitter when faced with obstacles. And although you may not know whom I am talking about, please pray for this sweet couple with me as they raise this child with love and knowledge of a God who is all knowing and all powerful and oblivious to ANY imperfections that we may see in any child of Him.

LG singing "Jesus Loves Me"

Had to share this sweet video of Landry Grace singing. We are in
Bossier for the night and excited about Avery's birthday at Gymboree
tomorrow!

Sent from my iPhone

Matt's Eulogy

This past week has been one of the toughest of my life. Not only has Matt lost his dad and I a wonderful father-in-law, but my children have lost their Papaw. There are no 3 people on this Earth closer than Matt, Mark, and Papaw. He passed 5 weeks from the time we found out about his cancer and we are going to miss him so terribly much. Matt and his family were so overwhelmed by the outpouring of people who came to mourn our loss. I am not surprised because I knew the type of person Papaw was. He was so many things to so many people. We were told many times what a wonderful funeral it was. That it was the most uplifting service anyone had ever been to. It was truly a celebration of life that represented Papaw well. No one left the service without laughing and crying. With permission I am typing Matt's eulogy that he delivered at the service. It was so hard for him to do but he wanted to honor his dad in this way.

Everybody please bare with me as I am about to do the hardest thing in my life and that is to talk about Ralph Tatum Tyler. Believe it or not he is now singing better than Brother Patton. And oh how he loved to sing.

The name Ralph Tatum was used by his mother. Usually when she thought he was being too hard on me and Mark, or when she had had enough of his picking. And everybody knows how much he loved to pick on people.

When it came to the 2 women he loved in his life, he was called Husband and Brother. Mom and Aunt Lou: I know he did not always show affection towards you two, but he truly loved both of you.

Papaw was used when it came to my 2 children: "Boom Boom" and "Lu Lu". He said one of the most disappointing things about dying was that he would not be able to see them grow up. Well Papaw, you now have the best seat in the house.

Then there were names like Big Ralph, Fat Boy, and King. All of these were shared by numerous friends he had throughout his life. And then there are some nicknames that I cannot share here today that he had.

For 33 years he was called Coach Tyler(he had taught PE and drivers ed at Bossier High). That is an awful long time to be called COACH to have never coached a sport.

Finally there is a name that Ralph Tatum Tyler went by and that was My Dad. These 2 words are the most cherished words that come out of my lips for Mark and myself: My Dad. Over the past week I have been told numerous times that my dad was a man's man. People, you do not know how much that means to me and my brother. He did not say that he loved us much but that was my dad. We knew it through my dad's actions. He told me last week while lying in bed that when he saw me entering the gates of heaven that he'd come running. Well Dad, I will meet you halfway. THANK YOU for raising us the way you did. I hope to turn out half the man that he was. I LOVE YOU.

And on this day I KNOW he made his daddy proud.

Celebration of Life

Celebrating Papaw's life now....today is also my brother in law Mark's 31st birthday.
Right before Jake's birth
Christmas 2006

Turkey Time....Jake: 11 months and silly Papaw is trying to hold him like he used to with Matt and Mark

His first glimpse into the Tyler fried turkey business

We love you so much Papaw and know you are dancing among the angels.

Papaw

I took this picture on Jan. 17th ish and today Papaw is not doing well. Matt went over to Bossier this morning after an incident. Praying very hard he doesn't suffer long. Thank you Lord for such a great man who means so much to so many people. He has lived a wonderfully blessed life and we love him so much!


Sent from my iPhone

To Run or Not to Run....

that is the question....I mainly post the same thing over and over...so I thought I would ask an opinion. In an earlier post, I mentioned that I was training for the New Orleans half marathon. I do have friends out there who are, what I consider to be, extremely fast. I do not consider myself a serious runner but I am still a competitor and try to run 4 to 5 days a week(no workouts on the track or things like that: been there, done that. No thanks!) in the wee hours of the morning while most are still sleeping. Since Matt's dad has been sick and he has been out of town a lot, I haven't run in almost 2 weeks. Plus my running partner has been gone on a cruise(it's gotta be tough being a college student...oh to be 20 again!) and just got back today.

So I will resume my running in the A.M. and am still pondering going down to the big easy next weekend(the 28th) and running anyway. It would be a nice getaway...just have to get past the fact that it'll be a training run as I won't try to race it. Any suggestions out there?

And I must brag on my current running partner, Kennedy, for a minute. She is one of the most disciplined 20 year old non college athlete runners(meaning she doesn't run competitively in college). She is a machine and pushes me every morning. In December she ran a 20 minute PR(3:35 and some change) at the White Rock marathon to qualify for Boston. I personally think she could have run a lot faster than that knowing the kind of shape she was and is in but then again, it was a 20 minute PR from her first marathon a year before. We plan to do Boston next April as it filled up before she had qualified this year( my qualification time I ran at last year's Boston is good for 2 years). Right now she is training to help me out and getting up way earlier than she has to on some days to help a friend out...that is dedication. Thanks!

And Papaw is about the same for those keeping up. We plan on hanging out for a bit in Bossier this weekend. Will keep you posted on any changes.

Happy Valentine's Day

We aren't too big on Valentine's Day around here but I though this picture of them on Thursday turned out cute. They had small parties in their class at Mom's Day Out and I pulled out some of their red and white outfits(and a bargain $2 shirt for Jake at WM)to create the festive look:).
And a friend of mine whom I found through a blog, Donna Strickland, made these cookies baskets for Jake and Landry Grace's teachers. She is very creative and after placing my first order with her(she did the Mickey and Minnie cookies for the kids birthday) I discovered she lives in our neighborhood. Small world.

Have a great day!