Family Resemblance

Last month, my parents embarked on their annual motorcycle rally. Parents meaning dad and step mom- but she is such a valuable part of my life- that the "step" part of her title has been long removed. (The explanation is necessary to the rest of the story.)This year, the destination was Santa Fe, NM. Fortunately for me, this was not far from family in Colorado, so they added an additional leg to there trip. The value of this was that my dad was able to visit with family from my "real" mother's side of the family, and get copies of old photos and documents to add to his genealogy research.

The importance of this to me, was that I had never, to my own recollection, seen a picture of my mother when she was a child. She passed away 13 years ago, so as I get older and as my daughter gets older, I can't help but focus on how removed I am from who my mom was as a child.

Well, Dad was able to bring back pictures from his visit with my uncle. I sat down and went through them on the computer with him and couldn't help but tear up at the sight of the little girl that I had only ever known as "Mommy". The reminder that she was someones little girl, that my grandparents loved her and protected her as we do our little Ali, was overwhelming.

The uplifting part of this experience- and I promise, there is one- is seeing the resemblance that my daughter has to my mom!! My mom is in the back left portion of this picture. She was most likely two or three years old, making the photo from approximately early 1957. Ali is three and a half in the picture above!

I know that my mom lives on in her three granddaughters, all of which were born after her passing. I am confident that she blessed them all and kissed them gently before they entered this world. I know that God needed her with him to be their guardian angel, as she would not have been able to do so if she was still here with us. I cannot wait to see as each of them get older, which part of mom's personality then inhabit!

Angelika "Angie" Overton would have been 55 years old on July 23rd. We love you!

Memorial Day

I know that Memorial Day has come and gone, but not the opportunity to pay tribute. This is a picture of my grandfather, Alton Lee Overton, taken in 1966. He served in the United States Air Force in both Korea and Vietnam. He is laid to rest at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, Nevada.

Before his passing, he would volunteer on Memorial Day to help post flags on the grave sites. It is a very inspiring sight, to see all of those flags lined up. The sad thing is that I couldn't tell you if I ever went prior to 2006, but since then, we have a tradition to visit each Memorial Day.
Aside from thinking of Grandpa everyday, and wishing he was still with us, this is an opportunity for me to really think about him and put all of the "catastrophes" of my life aside. To stop for a minute and breath. A time for me to really think about the good in my life and the things that I know make him proud. I know that egocentricity of my younger years kept me from memories that I will never have, but that makes the ones that I do have so much more special.

I know he is most proud of my family. (He always liked Ray, and I know that he played a part if us finally getting our act together and getting married.) Just wish he could have been here to see it in person.








The pictures of Ali are in chronological order, the first being 2006. I think that was the first time she sat on grass! The next from 2007, is my favorite, that has found itself on many a screen saver! Then he in 2008 , she was 2 1/2 and insisted on a cute pose. Rounding off with this year where we deterred from our standard setting to a picture of her and her pine cone collection that she spent the majority of the visit collecting. She is taking after Grandma!

I know that I was fortunate to grow up in the military, as it instilled the eternal sense of patriotism that does not come as natural as it used to. I often wonder if Alison will appreciate it. All I can do is be sure that I do my part, and continue to share stories of Grandpa Lee with her.

My life as a children's book

Something that you may have not known about me. I would love to write children's books. I don't know if this came about when I was pregnant or when I started working on my Master's in Elementary education, but man how fun would that be. And with a toddler in the house, I have and endless supply of inspiration.

Every since Ali could talk, I have been tracking titles that are based on the crazy ideas that she comes up with. I won't list the titles specifically, because one day this dream may come true! But I will say that they include anything from unconventional foods for unconventional meal times, to rationalizations about the world that would seem too simplistic to an experienced adult! Essentially, I want to illustrate her imagination. Of course, someone else would have to do the illustrations, because it won't be me!

Tonight, Ray noticed the hidden title before I did, and called my attention to it! At first, I think that he thought it was a silly fascination, but now he is coming around! It's become a sort of game that we share from time to time!

I am sure that I am hoping that by capturing these years in a series of books, then she will never grow up. That she won't loose the carefree, nonsensical way about her.


That I will forever be able to live with her in Neverland! My ultimate goal is to keep the second star to the right within view regardless of how old either one of us gets!

I gotta do something with my phone...

Apparently, the amount of time that I explore on my new Blackberry is having an affect on Ali. It started two weeks ago, to the point where Ray and I had to intervene!

She is now addicted to both her Tinkerbell flip phone and her Princess Blackberry. Seriously, it has a qwerty keypad and everything! Now, granted, both are toys that have no telecommunications capabilities, that doesn't stop her from having an imagination!

She pretends that she is taking pictures and is going to "send them to me." How would she possibly know that she can send me a picture on her phone. I guess that we am more verbal than we realize when doing the same on our phones.

It was absolutely adorable until it started to interfere with meals. She would not eat because she had to "check something on her phone". Or "someone is going to call me". She was absolutely exasperated at the idea of missing an (imaginary) call. That got me worried because it demonstrated an unusually high levels of anxiety for a three year old!

So, needless to say, none of us have our phones at the dinner table any longer. I am definately more aware of what I am doing and the impression that it may leave on her. I love that she has such a wonderful imagination, though! she even puts her phone next to ours on the charging console!

Watch out, she may be calling you soon!

'Father and Daughter"

This is a video we really like. It has that circle of life quality to it.

Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend was jam packed. On Good Friday, Ali and I ventured to the Clark County Fair in Logandale. She rode her first mini-roller coaster. She loved it so much that she rode it 3 times!

After the long drive home, it was up again Saturday morning to go Easter egg hunting at Mt.'s Edge. Unfortunately, due to incorrectly posted times, Ali missed the Easter egg hunt for her age bracket. She was so cute walking around with her empty basket. "That's ok", she said "we'll just go play on the swings". We had a great time at Exploration Park with Uncle Shawn, Aunt Kell and baby Sophia.

Easter Sunday was the most relaxing as I cooked my first ham and hosted my family for dinner. Overall it was a great weekend!

Getting started...

So Ray created this blog in December to provide us a venue to keep in touch with our friends and family. Now it is almost May and I am finally setting the layout! I am inspired by some of the beautiful and simplistic layouts of our friends!

I must forewarn, my page will not be without error. There will be gramatical errors, but as long as I can have an avenue to relax and reflect on the past day or week, while letting you all into our lives, then I shall overcome the horror of misrepresenting my intelligence!

Enjoy!