May 30, 2011

We wish everyone a safe and happy Memorial Day!

Last weekend, I attended a function called Operation Appreciation which was held at the Oceanside Pier in honor of Military Appreciation Day.

It was a great day because I was able to watch my son, Bry, with his Naval Unit working on the beach during the LCAC demonstration.

Here are just a few shots that I wanted to share today.

Our entire family is extremely proud of our newly-promoted Petty Officer!

We want to thank everyone

who has or is serving in our U.S. Military for sacrificing

their lives each and every day

to protect our country.

And, we honor all who have made the ultimate

sacrifice and lost their lives while serving our country.

Today is a day to remember them all!

~LilSis

January 21, 2011

They say that scents bring back memories more than anything.

We'd have to agree with that.

There are some scents that bring back childhood memories, and

there are certain scents that remind you of someone special.

Coffee brewing and bacon frying early in the morning,

a brisket cooking in the oven,

the aroma of flavored pipe tobacco.

Those things will make both of us look around the room for our Dad.

Then we realize.

He's not here.

He left us.

4years ago.

Today.

January 21st.

It's a date that we don't like to remember, but will never forget.

~LilSis

August 31, 2010

We've had some big events going on these past couple of weeks in our world, which definitely took some of our time away from BigSisLilSis.

Here are just a few things that have been happening:

• Two weeks ago, BigSis and I met in Chicago for a long weekend to meet Bry's fiance.

• Last week, I had a training class in Dallas and BigSis was nice enough, after working a full day, to pick me up every night so we could go to dinner.

• HayHay started his Junior year in high school last Thursday.

• Bry got married in Illinois on Saturday. (Yes, without family present; sniffle, sniffle…)

• Bry also learned that he will be stationed here in San Diego and may be relocating as soon as next month! (Hip, hip, hurray!)

• BigSis spent the whole weekend at WordCamp Dallas; 25 different sessions to be exact!  Ask her about it if you're interested in the scoop!

• My little guy, HayHay's 17th birthday was yesterday.

• My 19th wedding anniversary is today.

• And, I'm anxiously awaiting to hear about my first assignment for my new job.

I'm ready for things to settle down and get back to normal, but I don't even know what normal is any more. I think I'm going to have to redefine “my normal”.  Thankfully, we have a long holiday weekend coming up!

BigSis and I will be getting back on track soon and are also working on some new ideas for our site. Hopefully, we'll be ready to announce a few changes in September!

We hope everyone had a great summer!  🙂  Now, what's going on in your world!  Tell us; it'll make us feel better about our craziness!

~LilSis

August 30, 2010

HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY HAYHAY!

Ahhhh!!! To be young again!!

Our youngest, the baby of the clan, is 17 years old today!

We're so proud of the young man that he has become and we love that he still acts like a kid and isn't trying to grow up too fast!

HayHay is funny, kind, loving, creative, compassionate, respectful, and overall; a great person and a great son!

And, we especially love the fact that he still enjoys hanging out with his parents! 🙂

We love ya, Hay!

~LilSis

July 30, 2010

Today is our dad's birthday. He would have been 75 today.

In some ways it doesn't seem like 3-1/2 years have passed since we lost him, but at the same time it feels like forever since we've seen him. Our birthday celebrations are definitely not the same since he's been gone; we always used to celebrate Bry's, Daddy's, and SisMama's birthdays all at the same time since they were just days apart. And even though our dad is not with us in body, he's with us in spirit.

We're thinking about him today as we do every day, and just look forward to the day when we can see him again when we get to Heaven.

Happy birthday, Daddy. We love you and miss you!

~BigSis

July 29, 2010

Baby Boy Bry

Baby Boy Bry was born!

This is one of my most favorite photos, ever! It almost seems like it was yesterday… and now my baby boy is a Sailor in the U.S. Navy serving to protect our country!  We are SO proud of him!

(I could go on and on and on, but I'm a tad emotional today and I would end up being really sappy!) 🙂

Happy Birthday, Bry! We love you!

~LilSis

April 20, 2010

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! I know it's Tuesday but it feels like Monday to me since we just flew back home last night. Have ya missed us? Maybe just a little?

We don't normally run off and leave for five or six days without something new here on BigSisLilSis, but this past week was a crazy week for us.

Last Thursday, we all met in Chicago to attend Bry's graduation from his Naval Basic Training at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, IL. The graduation was held at RTC on Friday, April 16th and was unlike anything I've ever attended and an event that none of us will ever forget.

Division 159 (Bry is 4th from the back in far left row)

It was a much anticipated, emotional, and fun-filled weekend for all of us. Bry wasn't able to have overnight liberty but we spent as much time as we could with him during the day. He made my birthday on Sunday even more special by being able to celebrate it with me and spend time with the family. Here are just a couple of shots from Sunday.

Bry with his proud Mom, Grandmother, and Aunt!

It took motivation, determination, and discipline for Bry to accomplish this goal and I can't even try to put into words how proud we all are of our new Sailor!

Our proud Sailor

It was pretty hard to leave Bry on Sunday without turning into an emotional mess but somehow I managed to keep a stiff upper lip. He'll be in Great Lakes for seven more months for his A Training and I'm not sure when I'll see him next, but hopefully I'll manage to get back up there this summer. He's happy, excited about his training, and looking forward to his future with the Navy so I can't ask for more than that.

While in Chicago, we managed to do a little sight seeing downtown so we're planning on sharing a couple of those photos with you within the next day or two. It might take us a couple of days to get back into the swing of things! 🙂

~LilSis

February 22, 2010

I know that sounds corny, but it's a pretty emotional day for me. Even though he is 25 years old, he's still my little boy and I know all you moms out there know what I mean when I say that.

This seems like it was just yesterday.

(Before I say more, I made a decision today to change BigT's blog nickname. All our other kids blog nicknames are their real nicknames. We chose BigT back when we started this blog because a neighbor had nicknamed him that, but that's not what we call him. We call him Bry, so from now on, BigT is Bry here on BigSisLilSis.)

Our entire family has been waiting for this day, with much anticipation, for seven months now. Bry first started the process of joining the Navy way back in July of last year. He worked with a recruiter here in San Diego for several months and when she couldn't locate a job for him, he packed up his truck, moved to Texas, met a new Recruiter on his first day there, and started the process all over again. Looks like we'll be adorning our homes with navy flags in support!

Bry has never been real sure about which direction he wanted to take down the career path until now. Ever since he started talking about joining the Navy, he's seemed more sure about it than anything ever before. He's gone through a lot of red tape, gotten into the best physical shape of his life, and is more focused and motivated than I've ever seen him.

Even though I never really anticipated Bry being in the military, I always knew that he had a big heart and would do something great with his life. Now, he's going to help defend our country and I couldn't be more proud.

I'm on an emotional roller coaster today because I don't know when he's leaving Dallas or when he's arriving in Great Lakes, but I'll feel better once I talk to him tonight. He gets a 30-second phone call to let me know when he arrives, but after that I won't be able to speak to him for eight weeks. That's gonna be tough!

Today, I'm a really proud mom and a teary-eyed, lip quivering mess all at the same time!

Note from BigSis:

I know what you mean, LilSis, about being emotional! I remember that cute little blond guy like it was yesterday too. It was a rough weekend here, with Bry moving out of my place on Friday after spending 6 weeks with me, and then his send-off party on Saturday night. I'm totally proud of him for doing such a brave thing with his life, and I'm trying not to be selfishly mopey! To keep from going nuts with worry, I'm going to keep praying every day that God will surround him with a supernatural hedge of protection to keep him safe and well! I hope that our BigSisLilSis friends will join me in praying for him, and all of our military!

~LilSis

January 21, 2010

Same day. A year later.

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day we lost our Dad. But, you know what?  We don't like that word. Lost. He's not lost. What do you say? Passed? Passed away? Died? We don't like any of those words.

There really isn't one word to describe what it is that happened on this day three years ago. It's just the day our Dad went to Heaven.

So, today, we're quiet, in his honor.

~LilSis

November 21, 2009

If you haven't already noticed, we don't really talk about one particular subject here on BigSisLilSis. We don't only talk about food, or fitness, or beauty products or mommy stuff'; we talk about what it is we women talk about. We talk about something different every day. With our friends. And our sisters. We talk about what's on our minds. We may talk about anything from a great recipe, a new eye shadow color, a great anti-cellulite product, our favorite foot cream to Cats in Hats, dolphins, or even hairballs!

But today, I don't want to talk about any of that; I just want to share with you this photo of my three favorite, sweet, handsome guys, all together. Just so you know, they've all shared this photo on Facebook so they don't mind that I'm sharing it here!

The Blues Brothers

From left to right; BigT, BigGuy, and HayHay, also known as The Blues Brothers. (Photo was taken July, 2009 during BigGuy's visit to San Diego.) This doesn't happen often enough since the three of them now live in three different states.

As this week of Thanksgiving approaches, it seems as if we all think more about what it is we're most thankful for.

I'm so thankful every day that somehow, someway, we managed to raise our blended family where each and every one of our kiddos considers the other a brother or a sister. No half brother, no step brother, no half sister, no step sister…just, this is my brother or this is my sister.

And these three brothers; without a doubt, they're not just brothers, they're Bros!

~LilSis