May 28th

May 28, 2009 was the worst day ever. I lost my brother, one of my best friends, that day and my life will never be the same. Zach loved life and loved having fun. We decided instead of moping around and being sad on May 28th every year we would honor Zach by being together and having fun. Last year we didn't really plan anything but several of Zach's friends asked my parents if they could come over and just hang out so we could all be together. My dad cooked ribs and my mom and I made some sides and everyone had a nice time. This year we decided to think ahead and plan something. My parents get a monthly newsletter from Compassionate Friends which is a grief support group for parents who have lost a child. My dad was looking at the newsletter one day and it was talking about their biggest fundraiser of the year, the Firemen's 5K. He thought it might be a good thing to do to give back to Compassionate Friends and then he saw when it was - May 28th. He thought that was a sign that we should do it as a family in honor of Zach. I thought that was a great idea and thought it would be fun to have some shirts made for "Team Zach" and see if I could get more of our family and friends to do it with us. I told our family, my friends and Zach's friends and we ended up with about 45 people that day. It was awesome!

We got a double jogging stroller when we found out we were having another babe. Until little Zachy gets here Brobee fills his spot :) The walk started at 8am so we got there at 7:30 which is EARLY for Olivia. And me.

I loved seeing all those orange shirts!!!

Team Zach!

Scott & Meredith

Lindsey and I

Stephanie & Jason (Zach's BFF)

Meredith & Brenda

Willie & Clay (Zach's other 2 BFF's and fellow diesel mechanics)

Jacob & Willie

my wonderful fam :)

After the walk there was a huge bus that shuttled everyone back to the starting point where all our cars were. We all stood around and talked for a little while and then Olivia got on the bus with my parents. Chris, Lara and Hayden did not walk since Lara was VERY pregnant but they were waiting for us at the finish line. So their car was there and we had a miscommunication about how we were getting back to our car. I thought Chris was driving Johnnie back to our car and then he would come pick me (and my giant stroller) up so I stayed with Lara and Hayden and so did Bridget. Then Chris, Johnnie and Dave pulled up in Lara's car. They had thought I had got on the bus. So me, Chris, Lara, Bridget, Hayden, Johnnie, Dave, a single stroller and a DOUBLE jogging stroller crammed into Lara's 4Runner. Good times. Since Johnnie and Dave are boyfriends they snuggled in the back together with the strollers.

I thought this was a cute pic that Johnnie took of Olivia following me to the car.

After the race we met Chris, Lara, Hayden, Dave & Bridget at Yogi's for brunch and then headed to Alvarado to help my parents. My dad smoked ribs and brisket again and my mom and I made some sides and we invited everyone at the race out for dinner. It was a HOT day so Olivia spent most of the day in her pool. She loved it when Poppy joined her!

I didn't take very many pics that evening but here are a few:

Richard & Alisha

Jacque & Layna

Kylie & Olivia

Mer & her dad (Kylie has always called him Papa Harse but Olivia calls him Pops) Pops makes the best homemade ice cream and he brought some out for us - YUM!

Sam, KC and Molly (She looks just like Zach's dog, Hank, b/c she is his mommy)

We had such a great time and thanks to all who did the walk with us and came out for dinner!

Oh Hail

One stormy evening in May, it hailed. Olivia was intrigued. She hadn't seen or even heard of hail before. Johnnie took her out onto the back porch so she could see all the hail on the deck and she picked some up and brought it in to show me. She thought it was the neatest thing. I must've been on weather.com a lot that evening checking the radar because now every time I go to weather.com Olivia asks if I'm looking for the hail - LOL!

Easter Sunday

There haven't been many Easter Sundays that I didn't spend with the rest of my dad's family at my grandparents house. We've always eaten lunch - usually fried chicken - and had an easter egg hunt. I was glad that Olivia got to run and hunt eggs there this year.

sitting on the porch with her new Easter bunny from my Aunt Tess and Uncle Terry

she's got her game face on

I think someone told Paxton to get his basket off of his head so Olivia thought - I wanna do that!

she's almost got it...

she was successful and we were able to convince her and Pax to both put their baskets down for a nice picture

Morgan, Paxton, Avery, Tate, Olivia and Abby

they are my cousins' kids but they are all very sweet and treat Olivia just like another cousin

running like the big kids to find some eggs!

she found one!

she sometimes wanted to go ahead and see what was inside :)

My Aunt Tess has an Easter bunny costume that she usually wears for the kids but she was having knee problems and wasn't able to wear it this year. I asked Johnnie if he would put it on so Olivia could see the Easter bunny. I didn't realize that the face was cut out....

Olivia said, "Ummmm, that's my daddy." She was not impressed. But I was. Johnnie is a trooper and will do anything for his baby girl :) Thanks babe!

Easter Egg Hunt

A few girls from playgroup were going to the Easter Egg Hunt at Bicentennial Park in Pantego so I thought it would be fun to take Olivia. Johnnie's parents went with us and Olivia had a lot of fun. What a difference a year makes!

this is her hunting eggs last year

and this year...

PawPaw & Nana

Olivia and I riding in the choo choo

she is too busy singing to smile for a pic

Daddy's Little Helper

Any task that we are doing, big or small, Olivia wants to help. Whether it is cooking, cleaning, laundry, feeding King or Kitty - you can bet if she finds you doing something she will say, "I WANNA HELP!!!" And we usually let her. One day back in April Johnnie said he was going to go clean up the driveway because there had been a storm and our entire driveway was covered in leaves and tree limbs. Of course Olivia wanted to help! She got her own broom and helped sweep, she picked up limbs, leaves and sticks and put them in a pile, then she helped put it all in trash bags. She really is a great helper!

picking up the sticks and leaves

on rare occasions she will look at the camera when I ask her to

saying, "CHEEEEESE!"

Sandbox

My parents love when Olivia comes to play at their house so they are continually adding new fun things for her to do out there. At the end of March when it was starting to heat up outside they bought her two kiddie pools. They fill one with water and they went and got a load of play sand for the other one. She LOVES her sandbox! And of course they got her all sorts of little sandbox toys so she is just in heaven with her sandbox and her pool. It wasn't warm enough for the pool on this day but pool pics will come soon :)