Camp Mimi.....oh my goodness, how precious this time with my loves.  With Hay - it's old movies and shopping and food that she loves (which usually means Chipotle).  Such a sweet time with her and i am so so glad she loves to come and spend time with us.  The funny.....she was trying on clothes at a boutique on the square.....she always comes out and models for me.  She comes out in the darling little top - and says to me "Isn't this just so cute Mimi?  But what do you think i do with THIS?" and she holds out this huge bunch of material to the side.  It's very odd looking.....she says "do you think i tie this?" - just about that time a salesgirl comes by and Hay asks her - "this is so cute, but what do you do with this?" - the girl smiles a funny little smile and tells Hay "well, it's suppose to be a romper" - Hay had both of her legs in ONE leg of the romper.....she thought it was a top =)  We laughed so hard.  We bought the romper.....and i must say, it looks precious on her!

Then there's Camp Mimi with Avery and Addy.  I so love the way they get along.....like best friends.  We had a great time....crafts, yummy foods they love to make videos.  Late night movies - but this time they had to have "Camp Papa" for a few hours on Monday night.....as i went to Becky's for the final Bachelorette.  When i came home, they were all piled on the sofa with Papa, watching scary movies.  We painted crosses....and they did so good.  We did a little shopping too but both are quite picky.  No matter what we do, i always love time with Addy and Avery.  They are so precious in our lives.

Finally, Camp Mimi with Hayden....oh my....first through the door and he's looking for his "prize" - i always put a prize on top of his sleeping bag for him to find as he walks in.  It's a tradition.....and he knows to look for it.  This time it was construction trucks and a book.....he loved it.  We watched movies and stayed up late.....then endless hours of a cartoon he had never seen before - something i watched as a child...."Casper the friendly ghost" - i had to BEG him to watch something else...."But Mimi, i LOVE this" - we are moving....sold the couches and love seat - Mimi's usual bed for Camp Mimi when Hayden comes.....i told him we probably would need to sleep in the bedroom that night but he said "oh mimi, i LOVE my "camp" - (that's pillows and blankets all made into a soft little bed for him" - so i pushed two chairs together and we made it work.  He's so sweet....as he's falling asleep, he puts his arms around me and holds me tight....what a little love.  He sat in the chair with papa too....and put his arm around his neck and held him as they watched tv.  Such a sweetie.  We had to have his fav....beans and corn on the cob.  We did crafts for the first time and he loved it....we decorated a sleep shirt - he LOVES sleep shirts.  Just a precious time with our little man.  When told he was spending two nights his said "that means i get to spend THREE days!!!"

Love that my grands love to spend time with us.  It's a gift for me....for us.  We are truly blessed.....sweetest love....sweetest kids.

and i thought of even more....

Leo....that concert - we laughed so hard they almost threw us out....and then America....oh my.....the night before Shawn was born and on the first few rows..... SO pregnant.....so many concerts over the years.....CSN - our fav...the concert in Victoria......Neil Young....Dave Matthews......Sting.....Doobie Brothers.....Creedance.....oh and the night we went to see Shawn Phillips......such a throw back!  So many hours listening to that music....Babies conceived to that music.....Always we have loved the SOUND.....coffee house in the car.....your phone tuned to the Neil Young station as we showered.....the CSN on nights of love.....oh and we can't forget the Celtic music....how you love it, and i do too just because you do.  Fairport Convention.....Roberta Flack.....America.....CSNY - our beginning.....our LOVE.  Did i mention the night you met my daddy and Nelda had to drive.  The first kiss at Vanderbilt.....the night i fell totally and madly in love with you.  It was that first kiss.....white t-shirt and jeans and YOU.....wonderful beautiful you.....i never doubted one minute that God sent you to me.  Just memories sweet michael of mine......so many memories.  So much love.  You are so precious in my life.

I thought of more.....

streaking.....7 months pregnant - What were we thinking?  locking myself out of our first apartment - saving your parking place.  My first "surprise" for you....that pecan pie that i covered in a cloth....only to be revealed and you laughed so hard.....the crust as big as Texas......You, hiding your head among the canisters....me in the kitchen not noticing for the longest time.....the turkey that was cooked with the plastic in the middle....you getting up from the table - throwing up - and i think of all the meals you ate....with a smile on your face....probably facing food poisoning!  Scaring the hiccups out of you.....oh my gosh, the night in the bus.... remember?  We laughed SO hard because we were stuck ....i loved that van.  Remember the time i nearly crashed it into the hamburger place?  You were placing your order and then i hit the gas....not paying much attention to the clutch....remember the time i just KNEW something had happened.....9 months pregnant with a 10 lb 7 oz baby boy and i ran up the hill for you because you had had a wreck.....oh my gosh, my heart just went into overdrive......The night you met my dad for the first time....and Nelda had to drive....the pineapple i sent home with you from their trip in Hawaii....oh gosh, the night you walked me to the door at Jim Miller and you asked me to marry you?  5 days after we met?  I knew....i KNEW Michael Lane Corley......i knew you were the one God made just for me.  Remember at breakfast, i was so scared what my parents would think....and at breakfast my momma said "you and Michael are going to get married, aren't you?" - that was GOD........The beautiful places we have seen together.....Banff, finally.....Italy, France, Spain....Oh my goodness, the trips we have made.  Such gifts......I have loved you more than you will ever know Michael Lane Corley.  I have loved cooking special things just to have you give me that "thumbs up" - I have loved loving you.....i have loved being your "woman child" - i have loved every moment of every day and i pray there will be many more.  You are SO precious in my life.....God just gave me the sweetest gift in YOU.  When we go to bed at night....and we say "i love you" - it means the word to me Michael....it's so much more than words.....it's a LIFE...shared and loved......you are most precious in my life sweet man......God's gift!

This man.....what can i say?  43 years and a few months ago (December 16th, 1972) i met him.  Really and truly i met him the summer before.....but he was so shy - we didn't talk much.  i laced us his boots though =)  But on December 16th, 1972, my life changed.  God brought our paths together and i can never thank God enough for the gift of Michael Lane Corley.  Little did we know 43 years all that God had in store for us.  Michael, you know me better than ANYone in this whole wide world.....you know my fears, you know my joys....you know my hurts and you know my favorite things.....you know me better than anyone - and the miracle of that is that you still love me.  You have seen me at my best....and you have seen me at my all time very worst....but through it all, you continue to love your "woman child".  I can never tell you how much i love you.....it just can't be explained in words.  You are such a precious gift to me and i thank God often for the gift of you.  We have been through so much.....early marriage - the fights........the bear skin rugs....the water beds.....the cooking disasters....the first apartment....the first Christmas there.....getting pregnant.....all the stuff that goes with that first pregnancy....having you order shrimp when you were through and i was not....but too embarrassed to order for myself =)  The birth of Shawn.....that entire day of labor.....the minute we became parents....the joy - the fear.....we were babies having a baby (but somehow, some way we did great....because Shawn...and Chase....are precious men).....late night trips to Braum's for german chocolate shakes after, well, you know.....and Shawn, in my lap, dipping his face into the shake....and remember the night we heard him crying and we went in and he had thrown up in his bed and i guess his face was planted in it - because when we ran into the room, he raised his little head and all we could see - two eyes staring at us through the throw up.  I just lot all the baby weight from Shawn and we found out we were pregnant with Chase.....not planned, but the sweetest surprise and the most precious joy in our lives.  Our first home.....moving into that apartment for a short time.....then our first home.  The night i woke you up at midnight, shaking for all i was worth, because my water broke - and then we laughed uncontrollably.  Dropping Shawn at my parents and the rush to the hospital....barely in time to see Chase come into this world.  Then there was that....Chase crying constantly.....3 days and nights in Children's medical....you at Roy's finding exactly what we needed to help his pain.....the miracle change in Chase.  Raising our boys....all that goes with that.  Highs and lows....joys and sorrows....fears and tears....precious moments with our boys.....Padre Island and finding out we had 3 more hours in that small van with 9 people!  Christmas - pee wee football.....baseball.....team mom and you the video and picture guy.....Changing from banking to video.....all the weddings.....raising teenagers.....scary times.....worrisome times....but so much fun watching them play sports.  Weddings, grandchildren....oh gosh, remember the time we brought daddy home from the hospital....it was mother's day....i can't remember why he was there, but we came home and told the boys "we will just celebrate another time" - and Chase saying no way....they were coming to mom and dad's.....And they gave us that book with "firsts" Do you remember the first time you drove a car....do you remember the first time you heard the Beatles....do you remember the first time (with the sonogram picture) became grandparents!  Oh my gosh, we all hooted and hollered!  Such a sweet surprise on mother's day.  The birth of Addison Lane...oh my gosh, i will never forget holding her for the first time and she looked at me and goodness.....i melted.  The times we kept her when they had to travel....4 months old and they told us "she will wake up for a bottle....but just be so quiet....DONT look at her or talk to her ....heat the bottle and she will go right back to sleep....Oh my goodness, that precious baby girl did wake up and those big eyes stared at me. It was all i could do not to talk and play with her.....and then remember.....we were shopping with Dian and Ed - i think we were in Crate and Barrel.....and my phone rang.  It was Debbie.  She tells me she "thinks i might be pregnant" - i am like "What do you mean you THINK????" and she tells me the tests came back positive....i remember thinking to myself that is something a daughter needs to tell her parents personally.....so i try so hard to contain my joy and i hand the phone to Dian.....she squeals when she hears and then we tell you and Ed and all four of us jump up and down.....no telling WHAT the people in the store thought.....Then the sweet birth of Avery Grace....such a little joy.  I remember when she was tiny.....brand new.....and Deb and Shawn asked us not to hold her a LOT.....that they wanted Avery to be able to be "put down" at times.....well, one night we were all there and they put Avery down for the night.....and she was really squirming in the bed and making little sounds that Dian and i thought might need to be addressed.  I picked her up, and i sat in the rocking chair with her and rocked her and rocked her......in walks Deb....i am CAUGHT.  WE are CAUGHT.  I can remember baby sitting one night - we were at Shawn and Deb's house.....Deb and Shawn had strict rules....to bed at a certain time.....and we let Avery stay up late that night....and you went to get ice cream for us.  Avery and i sat on the porch waiting for you to get home and we made up a little song about papa going to get ice cream and Avery staying up late.  It seems we just broke all the rules =)  That's what grandparents do, right?????  Dance recitals, sitting through heck to finally see the stars of the show =)  Our little stars......So many sweet times with those two.  Then the heartache of divorce - I have never seen our boys lower than that.  Worried this momma to the core.  Thankfully, as time goes by - Chase finds the love of his life and we get THREE precious lives in our family.....the SWEETEST time....remember the engagement?  Oh my goodness, that was so fun.....how i loved seeing Chase going to so much trouble to surprise her.....Meeting Angie....meeting Audie and Hay.....blending our families......God answered prayers.  Then Shawn.....broken heart, broken trust.....and our broken hearts because of the divorce.  For years we weren't allowed to mention Deb's name.  I prayed so hard for it all....Avery was caught in the middle.....and then, God's sweet answer to prayers.....Shawn was able to put it all somewhere....i am not sure where.....but he and Deb were able to come to terms and make it the best situation for Avery.  Both the boys have done what it takes (and Angie too....bless her sweet heart) to put the girls first and make amends.  It's the best thing for Avery and Addy.....I am SO thankful for Angie and the girls in Chase's life....i am still to this day praying for Shawn....and if it's Deb....i hope they both realize it.....if it's not, i pray for a precious Christian woman to come into their lives and share this precious gift of life and share it with Shawn and Avery.  Audrey.... the scary times with the precious one....SO broken from her dad walking out....all the hurts as we traveled the road with Audrey.....And can i say this.....how PRECIOUS is that sweet baby boy Matthew and the pure JOY that has filled our Audrey Marie?  Thank you Lord.....You took the situation and You made WONDERFUL.  Thank you Lord....this is back tracking....but the first time i met Haley.....it was at Lakepointe's fall festival.....she had been at a sleepover and was SO tired.  I was really worried because we were meeting our granddaughter for the first time.  I knew that.  WE knew that.  She was so quiet and shy.  There were rides....and we all got on a ride - me next to Hay - at the end....i got out, and i offered a hand to Hay to help her....she took my hand and never let go.....she kept my hand in hers..... my heart melted at that point and she was OURS.  Oh - then the sweetest engagement......how precious was our Chase as he did so much to surprise Angie.  Marriage.....Cancun.....sweetest time.  Then Christmas.....at the mall, doing Christmas shopping with Chase....a tradition.....and he suggested asking Angie to join us for lunch.  She comes into California Pizza Kitchen looking GREEN.....as we sit down, she sits next to me and Chase across from us.  We start to order.....I look down and see rubber bracelets on Angie.....HUMMMMM, i know what those are for because we just returned from a cruise...those are for nausea.....i look down and mention them.....she has their caught in deer headlights look.....she looks at Chase...i ask what they are for.....and then i tell her i know what they are for....they are for nausea.....Chase looks at Angie....Angie loos at Chase.....and i look at Angie......she spills " Mimi i am pregnant and sick as a dog" - SWEETEST time......Precious times.....and then Christmas......we open a gift and it's a football jersey - a little bitty one......it's a BOY!!!!!  Angie so sick....Christmas and pics of Angie so sick.....i remember she ate my guacamole like a banshee......only thing that tasted good....birth of our sweet Hayden.....Hayden MICHAEL....papa...that's YOUR name.  Sweetest baby boy.  Life goes on....Camp Mimi's.....Hayden and sandwiches cut with cookie cutters....Avery and Addy and the mall....crafts.....sleepovers in the media room.....Hay and shopping.....sweetest times with my babies.....all this Michael......We have SO much....we have SO much to be thankful for.  Oh and then we find out our sweet Audie is going to have a baby.....we have worried about our Audrey.....never seemed to be happy....not completely......but then Matthew was born.....and i have never seen such joy.....Audrey is complete.  That baby boy made all the difference in the world.  Oh Michael.....our sweet life......we have been blessed beyond measure.  I can't even tell you how much i love you. I look at you and i still melt.  I kiss you....and that sweet touch of your lips turns me into mush.  I think of all the trips we have taken.....Italy.....France.....but OH Canada.....i have wanted to take you to Banff since i met you.  What a precious trip.....i got to share that joy with you.  We have shared SO much......goodness, i am so blessed by the gift of you my Michael Lane Corley.  I am SO gifted with the life we have lived.  I remember asking God if it was the right thing to do.....when i married you, i didn't know you at ALL......and then driving around that day of our wedding.....driving around and asking God "what in the world am i doing?  I don't even KNOW this man" - and then His sweet answer to me on KVIL.....the rain blared....." My name is Michael i have a nickel i have a nickel all shiny and new.....i'm going to marry a girl named Cindy....that's what i am going to do!" - Words of confirmation.....but i knew Michael.....i KNEW..... the minute your lips touched mine.....in the softest, SWEETEST kiss ever in the whole world....i KNEW.....and that night....December 16th, 1972.....i drove home saying to God.....this is the man i want to marry.....this is the love of my life.  YOU were my gift from God Michael Lane Corley.......God made you especially for ME.  Our life, our love......just the most precious gift from God.  I love you beyond measure......i love you MORE than words can say.  My heart was made for yours.......My life was made to share with you.  I can never thank you enough for loving me.....loving your "woman child" - loving me even though you know me with all the warts and ugly parts......you see the beauty.....you see the LOVE......thank you Michael Lane Corley.....thank you for the lives we shared together......thank you for loving me in spite of me.....thank you for the sweetest love.....the most passionate love.....the most precious love i could have ever experienced on this earth.  I haven't even mentioned our eternal life.....our eternal love for once another......i am SO thankful that we just GREW together in the Lord......we met....we went into our spirit life the same.....remember, you have always said that from that first meeting.....the meeting on Vanderbilt - you saw God's spirit in me.....and you were drawn to it......i was SO far from God at that point in my life.....but God let my love for Him shine....and God let your love for Him see that love....and we met in the middle.....we were babies in Christ....but oh Michael....we have grown!  I look back at our lives and see God's hand in it all......He guided us to love Him more and more.....for grow in Him, more and more.  Goodness, through your cancer.....that diagnosis on my birthday.....through the year of trials and tribulations......goodness.....we grew so much in that year.....we realized dependance on HIM was all we had.  Thank HIM for guiding us through it all - for helping you through surgery.....oh my goodness.....that 11 days....brought us closer than we have ever been........drew us closer to HIM.......i wouldn't want to be any place other than by your side through it all.....and i was SO proud of you.....you face every turn with such trust....you are my hero Michael Lane Corley!  i learned so much of during that time......we both drew closer.....it drew us closer to each other but more than anything, closer to our Lord.  I love you Michael Lane Corley....more than any words can express......more than you can ever know.......more than i can even fathom......it's a love that passes all understanding....just like the love that God has for us and that we have for Him.......my love for you isn't able to be measured.   I just hope you feel it.....i hope you KNOW it.....i love you beyond all measure.  You are such a precious gift in my life.  I am not worthy......but God gifted me with you.  He just placed the most precious gift in my life on December 16th, 1972.  I will never ever forget or take for granted the sweetest present i opened on that day.....the gift of LOVE....the gift of unconditional LOVE.  You are precious in my life Michael Lane Corley.....I am forever grateful.  I am forever in love with you. You are forever the LOVE OF MY LIFE on this earth.

I looked for pics of all of our friends.....my photo shop wouldn't load.....but just tonight....just today....i have to say what my precious friends mean in our lives.  These precious friends....i couldn't make it without them.  Today i was talking to Cindy - aka Bozo - she is just so precious to me.....i can tell her anything....ANYthing in this world.  She is my twin....she is so precious to me.  This last year has been heck.....and our sweet friends....so many of them....got together and PRAYED for Michael every Thursday night.....all of our friends just were THERE for us.  God you are so precious and i love the gift you gave us in our friendships.  What sweet gifts You give.  Thank you Lord.....thank you for my bestie!

Addylou...

I just love this picture of our Addylou.....how did this happen though?  How did this beautiful young woman emerge from the precious little baby girl we knew?  Addy, you are so beautiful - inside and out.  I told you today that i can see Jesus in your heart....with every action, every word....your tender heart just screams to me of Jesus.  We are SO happy to know that He resides in your heart.  You are beautiful sweet girl....and that beauty starts from the inside.  Your beautiful brown eyes, that wondrous long curly brown hair, that tall and slender frame that SO reminds me of your daddy.....you are so beautiful.  And we love you beyond measure!

Allie girl...

Let me tell you about a little pup named Allie....When she was just a puppy, Chase and 4 other college guys at UNT decided they needed a dog to join them in the house they rented.  So off they go and they get this little girl.  She lived with them probably a year and then as everyone graduated, it seems nobody could take her.  Chase called and asked if we could keep her for "just a little while" until he got situated in an apartment the would take dogs.  Here we are, probably 15-16 years later, and Allie girl became ours.  Until yesterday.

But first - the day we brought her from Denton - that first time for us to realize she was going home with US!  I will never forget - we had her in the back seat of the van we were driving....there was a space right between Michael and me.  Now Allie girl is a really skittish dog.....i think those boys did it to her....but she wasn't a jump in your lap kind of dog.  But this sweet girl must have realized she had found heaven on earth....she inched her way up between the seats and put her head under our hands and pushed up against our hands....her way of telling us she was happy to be our Allie girl.  We brought her home and she and Bogie got along just fine.  There are many Allie stories....one picture i can see right now, as if yesterday - she and Bogie, laying flat with legs spread behind them, staring out the window in the game room at Runningbrook....just waiting for Michael to drive in.  She was a good dog....never caused much trouble....a few accidents in the house, but other than that, Allie was a GOOD girl.  Not the smartest dog.....but she nestled right in to our family and the place in our hearts that held her just grew and grew.  She had the most beautiful eyes....brown....and the SOFTEST fur.  Her hair gets really really long and we would find it everywhere because she sheds so bad.  Every spring we would take her and get her shaved....she would come home from the "beauty shop" and oh my goodness, it made her look like a young pup every single time - even the last shave....when she was 18.  She always had a special spring in her step after she was groomed....i think she thought she was one hot doggie!  When we moved to Heath, she ran away - more than once!  The first time she got out there, she was gone ALL day long.  We just knew we had lost her.  Chase even came from McKinney to help us look for her.  We found a guy living in the neighborhood behind us that said he thought he saw her that morning....running for all she was worth along the creek bed.  He thought she was a fox.  She kinda had that fox look - and her huge bushy tail really did.  It was dark and cold and raining....an awful night.  Michael had a wedding so it was just me driving around the neighborhood with the windows down....yelling for all i was worth.  I stopped and looked in some of the houses that were being built...thinking maybe she went inside to get warm.  Now if you see Allie and you are on foot....and you call her name - she runs like crazy.  But for some reason, if you are in a car, and you open the door, she comes bounding at you and jumps in the car.  I was just about to give up....it was so hard to see....i hated to give up, but i had been EVERYwhere many times.  I took one more swipe through the neighborhood and as i drove, i prayed and asked God to please let me find our Allie.....just as i was turning to go back home, my lights caught her eyes and she stared at me.....i thought she was going to run from me, but i quickly opened the car door and yelled her name.....her ears perked up - at least that one ear did....and her she came....muddy, truly just filthy and wet and cold....but she jumped right in my lap.  I took her home, got her into a warm bath (in our gorgeous jetted tub) and bathed her good.  I think she loved the warmth.  I got her out and dried her the best i could....then i put her bed in front of the fire i had going.....she immediately laid her head down and she was asleep in NO time.  For two days, she had trouble walking......she must have run and run all day long.  We found the place she was getting out in the back and had it fixed....but she managed to get out a couple more times.  Luckily, we found her each time.  When we moved to Rockwall, she seemed to LOVE the new back yard.....she had bunnies to chase, squirrels.....we never let her be outside by herself because of the pool.....in her later years, Michael had her out back and he had to run inside really quick....when he came back out, he found her in the pool....swimming for all she was worth.  We got lucky then too....he got her out and she was fine afterwards.  As she got much older, she had arthritis....really bad....and got to the point we had to put her in diapers.  Then there's the time i nearly killed her.....we had to start putting her in the laundry room at night because she walked all night long....so we put beds and blankets and towels down for her.....at night (and some times during the day) we would give her rotessiere chicken.....she loved it.  She had a night light....a comfy bed and even with all that, the first night, she barked all night long.  It was draining.  SOOOO, we had these pills they had given us to give her when storms came (she was terrified) or on the 4th of July and New Years because she was so scared of the fire works.  She hadn't taken them in years, but i thought the next night, i would give her one......in the past, it just calmed her down....made her at ease.  Well, i guess because she weighed less and was older, the next morning she would barely move....we couldn't get her to eat or drink....she was so weak and couldn't even hold her head up.  We rushed her to the animal ER (of course this happened on a weekend) and 800.00 later, lots of IV fluids, Allie was Allie again. I was SO thankful.  I thought i had killed her.  Even in the last days, Allie's little tail would just wag and wag....we had this french drain in the back yard....it was just a gray drain...not very wide - but every time she passed it, she would hop over it....even in her last days....and if she was having a really bad day, she might not be able to hop, but her little head would bob up and down to emulate the hop.  Oh my goodness, we loved our Allie girl.  Yesterday she left us.  We think she probably had a stroke....weak on her left side to the point she couldn't stand....the vet said it could be a number of things....all not good.  The decision was made that it was time to help her to heaven.  (I DO think God has a special place....maybe a beautiful meadow....for our little animals to go when they leave us - God knows how much we love them....how they become a part of our families)  My cousin in Arkansas, married to a vet, told me weeks ago (i was telling her how painful life was for Allie....but her tail still wagged sometimes) that Allie would let me know when it was "time".....well, yesterday morning Allie was not herself....she was so sad....no tail wagging....just looked at me with those huge brown eyes.  I remember being outside with her and even said out loud to her "Allie girl....are you trying to tell me that it's time?" - As the day went on, i noticed that she was having lots more trouble.....i would even have to lay her on her side so she could rest.....i would cover her with a warm blanket and she would snooze so deeply she would dream so many dreams....her little paws would be like she was running - maybe dreaming about those times she ran away and enjoyed her freedom.  I gave her some of her chicken....trying to see if i could help her get a little energy.....but yesterday afternoon, i think she just decided it was time.  I am so glad that God helped us make that decision.....i couldn't have done it i don't think.  Michael stayed with her as they gave her the injection....i am a weenie....i just couldn't do it.  He petted her head and told her how he loved her....what a good dog she had been.....and slowly her big brown eyes closed and she found her way to that meadow in heaven.

We will miss our girl. She was a good girl....i think she knew she was loved so much....she gave us so much in return.  Not a lap dog.....but sure loved us up.  Allie girl....you run and run in beautiful heaven....I hope you know how very much you were loved.