Grandma Hauer

Mailia's Grandma Hauer passed away suddenly, yesterday. What a special woman she was.
She was 86 years old and had gotten up and drove herself to church for Palm Sunday. She suffered a heart attack shortly after arriving at church and passed yesterday afternoon about 4:45.

Our hearts are broken once again.

Darrell and Mailia had plane tickets for this coming weekend......they were going up to spend Easter with Grandma Hauer, and they were all counting the days.

Darrell did not get there in time to see his mom one more time. This is the most heartbreaking for me.
But he and I are very thankful that Mailia got to spend good quality time with Grandma Hauer at Christmas. And I'm equally thankful that I snapped this picture while there.

We will miss you Grandma Hauer. But we know that you are with Grandpa Hauer now, and I know that's something you've looked forward to for a long time. We will see you again.
All our Love,
Darrell, Shirley and Mailia

Just for Fun

Birthdays #7, #8, #9, and #10.

The Birthday Girl

Ten years old today. Where did the time go? She was just six when she became our daughter.

She had a nice birthday week-end. We drove up and spent the day in St. Augustine on Sat., and then celebrated her birthday yesterday with cake and ice cream and presents.

Today it's cupcakes for her classmates.

Sure wish time would slow down. I'm going back now to look at pictures from her first (7th) birthday with us.

Happy Birthday Mailia!!!

Does this mean??????

More and more these mornings are happening..........Mailia came out of her bedroom this morning with huge tears in her eyes and then just stood in the middle of the floor looking at me. I thought something was seriously wrong, so when I said "Mailia, what's wrong?" she told me through her sobs that "my shirt is too small".

That's it?!?!?!?!? (of course I didn't say that) but are you kidding me?

It's a uniform shirt.......one of many she has. Shouldn't be a big deal right?

Lord have mercy..........could this mean what I think it means????????

I am sooooooo not ready!!!

#48 wins race #48

There's a lot of talk these days about folks being tired of watching Jimmie win.
That's not an issue at our house (lol) but I can understand some of the critics.

However, after reading some of the commenting on Nascar.com I believe the critics should understand that Jimmie is only doing what he's supposed to be doing.....winning races.

He doesn't cheat...his car passes inspection every week. He gets lucky sometimes (like this past weekend) but he's the first to say so. Luck is a HUGE part of the sport. And winning is not his fault (it's not a fault at all) but it IS the fault of the other cars, drivers and teams. They can all change the outcomes of these races, if they work hard enough, employ the right people, and luck falls their way.
So don't hate Jimmie because he's beautiful, oops I mean a winner. Acknowledge that for the moment (actually the last 4 years) he has the best team, the best car and the best of luck.

(and yes, he's gorgeous too) lol

Last Cross Country Meet

The Smile Mile this past weekend, concluded the cross country season.
She finished at 8 min, 32 sec, her personal best for the mile. It was 41 cold and windy degrees that morning, but she was determined to wear shorts since sweats would slow her down. Besides, she is never cold. She will miss running. Three days a week, since the start of the school year, they meet and run at 7:30 am, rain or shine or cold.
Now the Girl Scout cookies have arrived, so we'll be sitting at booths this weekend selling cookies. No school on Fri., it's Rodeo Day at the county fair. We won't be attending the rodeo, but she is anxiously looking forward to the fair.
We haven't heard yet whether she'll win a trophy for running this year. They won't have the awards ceremony until just before the end of the school year. But she's hoping she'll win one. I think her chances are good since, in addition to a few school-sponsored meets, and the Smile Mile, she also ran a 5k and a 5.2k.
Not really sure why, but two of the Tampa Bay Buccaneer cheerleaders were at the Smile Mile, so M. wanted her picture taken with them.

Trying to Move On

I have got to move past this 'funk' I've been in since Rick passed. Words like fog, daze, zombie, surreal, all describe my world the past couple of weeks.
But thanks to time, family, friends, prayers and sheer will, I am feeling a little better each day. I have my moments, but at least it's not hours now.

So the timing of the 2010 Nascar Racing season couldn't be better. Just 10 days away now from the start of the Daytona 500. And just what is a picture of Tony Stewart's car doing on my blog???? We are a Hendrick Motorsports family............Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Jr. and Mark Martin.

Tony Stewart was my brother's favorite driver. And I made a promise at Rick's funeral that I would cheer for Tony this year. Doesn't mean I won't also cheer for my Hendrick boys, but it won't be that hard to be a Tony fan either. Tony is a good guy and a great driver/team owner. He is colorful and passionate about what he does and generally makes every race interesting...especially with his commentary afterwards. So, Tony and Hendrick it is this year.
May the best man win! I love you Rick!