photos from Uncle David

I had promised to share with you after I visited Mammaw B this weekend, well Aunt Della came home from the hospital and Mammaw decided to go spend a few days with her so I didn't get that visit in. However, I did receive some photos from Uncle David for the blog and I took the liberty of adding a couple I got from Patrick. I know you'll enjoy seeing them.

Five generations
What a good looking bunch!Too much excitement for Blakely.


Indianna Jones Sr and Jr??

Note from Samantha....

Samantha sent me the following email to share with you:

I wanted to post a comment to tell you guys that Curt is doing great in school – after a long 4 year battle with the school district they are giving him the help he needs. He is also doing taekwondo and is in the Leadership program (training to be a leader in the community as well as the dojo) and that Kate is approaching her modeling career - we go to Florida in January and will be definitely doing a photo layout for one of the nationwide department store as well as auditioning for a spot on Disney television, a Got Milk commercial, Starbucks, and lots of other places. (Can you post anyone who wants to help in Katie’s endeavor to raise funds for her modeling can get me at immomhelpme@comcast.net for more info.) She plays the flute and placed 5th in region and her choir at school placed 5th in regional Festival.

I am doing well – just workin or runnin to keep up with the kids. I watch Alex and Alicia every other weekend while she works and they are doing sooooo good, too. In June it looks the kids and I will be able travel old Route 66 on the way to New Mexico to see friends and then we will be spending a week with Dad in Nebraska in July.

Oh and tell "Big Katie" I am taking a venture in the world of Arbonne to see where I can go with it.

One other bit of news for those of in the Central AR area – Katie is learning to drive! She will be on the road by November !!!!
BEWARE OF TEENAGER ON ROAD! EEEEKKK!!!!!!

With our love,

Samantha, Katie and Curtis Floyd

Things you might want to know

I got this photo of Mammaw B from Michelle. I love it!

Life can get so crazy and fast-paced. Trying to keep up with it all can run you ragged. This week Amanda is in New York City, Russ is in Texas today, but headed for Oklahoma on Friday and Arkansas on Saturday, Katie and Eliot are in Michigan, Joy is in Chicago (instead of NYC) with a friend who is visiting from Paris. Laura has just gotten back to college in Illinois after visiting in Missouri (where she is making wedding plans!), but she will be headed to Oklahoma for the weekend. I just found out that Kelly is going to Seattle next week for a conference. Whew! To bring it down to my day, Ike is in Marianna, but is coming to NLR tonight. So, how are you all doing???

Since I was not doing so well at blogging for a while, I thought I would list a few things that have been going on over the last several months, just to offer anything you might not be aware of:

-My mom was in the hospital last fall and has had a really rough winter. She is finally doing well and seems to be almost back to full strength. She is back to work for the tax season and is doing MUCH better.

-I'm sure you know about Freddy's health issues. He did a great job of keeping us up on his journey through quite a scarry time. He visited Mammaw B about a month ago and it seems that things are about to get back on track for him. I will try to get a current report from him to post.

-Aunt Della fell earlier this year and was in the hospital for several days having broken her arm and her hip. She was doing somewhat better at home with home nurses and therapy, but has developed bloodclots in her leg and is back in the hospital again.

Not meaning for all news to be health-related. So here are some other notes:

-Bill and Joanna pulled off one big, beautiful wedding in January for Joanna's youngest, Laura. I think it was an event to be remembered by all.
-Laura (Donny's oldest) will graduate from college in May and is getting married in June. We are having a shower for her here in NLR on April 18th.
-Sarah (Larry's daughter) will graduate from high school in May.
-Russ and Katie have been asked to head-up two mission trips to Guatemala this year, one in May and one in June. And, yes, they will be taking Eliot with them.

-THE MAY FAMILY REUNION IS ON 16TH THIS YEAR.
-THE SEPTEMBER REUNION WILL BE ON THE 19TH AT THE HOSPITALITY HOUSE IN BURNS PARK.

I'm hoping to get with Mammaw B over the weekend and hope to have things to share with you from that visit. I would love to get updates from you to know how things are going with your families. A lot of our family is on facebook and several have blogs of their own. I love having all these ways to keep in touch. Please check on each other and let's keep our close connections.

PLEASE READ DAVID BRUCE'S POST BELOW AND LET'S GET THOSE PHOTOS SENT TO HIM!!

POST SENT TO ME FROM DAVID BRUCE

Below are photos of Maddy and Gabe, Philip and Stephanie's twins. If that is not enough for you please check out www.bentleybabies.blogspot.com. New photos and videos are posted each week. Philip's bunch is making plans to be in Arkansas for a few days in early June.

Attached

Let's dig out those old photos...

Sandy's conversation with Mammaw revived an idea I had several years ago. I imagine that everyone in our family has had their photo taken in Mammaw's swing. I would like to collect as many of those photos as possible. Both her porch swing and her yard swing qualify. It would be great to have photos from across the decades. So warm those scanners up and send them to me. (JPEG files preferred).

Use e-mail or snail mail. Send hard copies or disks. I'll try to work with whatever you send. My contact information:

David Bentley
418 South 20th Street
Rogers, AR 72756

e-mail to: david-bentley@sbcglobal.net

The next family reunion may be too soon. However if everyone reponds quickly and generously I will endeavor to have CDs ready at a family reunion in the near future. Besides celebrating everyone's love for Mammaw this could be a great way of chronically our whole family. That said don't leave out those ex-spouses. They were part of the family too. Don't forget those great black and white shots from long ages ago.

David Bruce

My visit with Mammaw B...

Without any apologies (which is very hard for me) I wanted to "reactivate" our family blog. Life gets too busy doesn't it?

I read quite a few blogs and though some are amusing and entertaining, some are informative and even insightful. And with e-mails and facebook we all have lots of opportunities to be in touch. But my thought is to pick this project back up and try to do right by it. I have to admit it seems harder to get family news to put on the blog, but I have decided that if I can share how Mammaw B is doing and any news from a visit with her I will have done a good thing... and in the meantime I can take my liberty to write about whatever may come to mind.

Today on my way back from Marianna Mammaw B kept coming to my mind. I stopped by her house to find her home alone. As you know her eyesight is very bad now so I announced who I was as I came in. A big smile came across her face as she greeted me and reached for a hug. Sometimes everything has a way of fading away and you just want to live in the moment. That's what I wanted today. Just to be with Mammaw for a bit. She told me that Jackie had gone to Rob's for a birthday celebration for Joseph who turned 21 this week. We talked about Aunt Della and the healing process she is going through since coming home from the hospital. She told me how proud she is of Uncle David and Aunt Geneva for stepping in and helping her. Uncle David and Duwane had to do some building and repairs at her house to help her get around with her wheelchair and walker.

Mammaw talked about Billy and how happy she was that my mom heard from him. For those who may not know, we found out that Billy, who now lives in Indiana, was in the hospital, but is now doing better and has now gone home. She asked me about Amanda and the mission trip she is going on with Jamey and Sheri to NYC. She talked about Meaghan's baby Nathan, telling me what a cute baby he was and what a good mother Meaghan is. We talked about Joy and Wesley and Patrick.

I've shared this with you for a couple of reasons: first of all to let you know how sharp she is. She doesn't miss a trick. And secondly to assure each of you that you are on her mind and in her prayers. Never think for a moment that you have escaped her thoughts.

After a bit my mom came by before heading to church and Jackie came in. But before they came in Mammaw shared some thoughts with me. Merely thoughts to her, but great words of wisdom to me. During the course of our visit at one point she got very thoughtful and she said, "You know, Sandra, life is too short.(This coming from a woman who is now 98 years plus a few months) We need to love the people in our lives. Sometimes things happen in life that cause problems, and bring us heartache. We don't always understand why things happen, but we can't let those things eat us up. We need to work things out and forgive one another and move on with life."

What more needs to be said. I am so blessed to still have my grandmother in my life. I treasure my time with her and hope somehow that in His great mercy, God has placed some of her in me.

Please take a moment to post a comment just to let me know you have checked in on the blog. I would still love to share news from you and your branch of the family if you want to send an e-mail with your family happenings.