A Funeral, the Beach, & Good Friends

My dearly loved uncle, Bob Dyer, passed away recently. This past Saturday, our family went down to Myrtle Beach where he and my aunt Kay have been living for years. Bob had been sick, due to a failing heart. He died peacefully in his sleep. I have wonderful memories of him that I will cherish.

It was wonderful to go down to SC and pay our respects to such a fine man. I enjoyed seeing several members of my family, on my dad's side, that I had not seen in awhile. The kids did great and I was so thankful that Scott didn't hesitate when I told him I wanted to go to this funeral. He not only supported me, but paid for us to stay in a nice condo away from the beach, it all worked out so well.

We decided to go visit our friends, Jen, Daniel, Ellen and Arianna, as we were in SC. They live in Columbia. We spent Sunday night and stayed on till this morning. They were so welcoming. We enjoyed just living life with them for a few days. Their children are a joy, as is their home and garden. Daniel and Jen are so refreshing and fun to be with. Nothing they do is fake. They are the real thing, true friends and good people. The life they live is so meaningful and beautiful.

Our kids got along great with Ellen and Arianna. They played and played. Jen cooked us up several meals and every one was wonderful, including the Indian food she whipped up for us yesterday, yum! She is an amazing cook and has taught me so much. I was happy to bring home some new recipes from her.

We were sad to leave, but thankfully we had an early start and were hopeful about our return to Durham. Little did we know the excitement that awaited us as we took our seats and buckled up. Not even 20 miles down the road, my sweet little Brayden calls out, "Mommy . . ." soon to follow was his breakfast. Poor little guy. We stopped and recovered, not an easy thing to do four or so hours from home. As expected, his elephant, Ellie, was totally covered. This added to the fun. Two hours later he did it again. We stopped again, cleaned up, changed his clothes, wiped him down and regrouped. Whew, almost five hours later, we made it! We are indeed home!

I will post pictures in several segments, as I have so many.

Hanging out at Broadway at the Beach

Scott with Kalen and Brayden in Kay & Bob's pool

This is my sweet cousin Meredith and her precious little sleepy Noah

What a cool kid.  Brayden was all suited up.  Yep, that's Kalen's peace sign.

My kids with my dad and Sally (aka PaPa and Mimi)