We miss you Jerry

How do I sit down and write out the words that would describe what has happened over the past few months? I know I haven't blogged about anything. None. Nada. There has been SO much that I’ve wanted to write about but I just haven’t found the strength of will to put down my thoughts into words. Mainly because of what had been going on with my father-in-law, Jerry. On the morning of January 6th, Jerry went home. His health had declined rapidly since Christmas and it was a painful and emotionally draining experience for everyone that was there. Leading up to the morning he passed away, he was with his friends and family and everyone was there comforting him and telling him how much he was loved. After we went to bed that night, I think he was at peace in his heart and was ready to go home. He had been in so much pain for so long, I truly believe he received the answer to his prayers that morning.

His service was just incredible to me. Yes there were some tears but it was one of the most joyous events I've been to in a very long time. His best friend and his sister spoke about the amazing adventures he had experienced in his life. Its funny how much you learn about someone after they are gone. And in this case, Jerry was an amazing man. He was quiet and soft spoken in his recent years but when he spoke his mind, it was full of wisdom. I only hope that at my memorial service (hopefully a long time from now) they can find half of the fantastic stories and comments that were made for Jerry. He was the man who gave me permission to marry the one person that made my heart whole. His face always lit up whenever he was around his grandchildren and you could clearly see the love he had for his wife. I know he was beyond grateful for everything that Sherry did for him for so long. The kind of patience and strength that she was able to muster for him was saintly. But that was just a token of the depth of their love. They were married for 32 years. THIRTY TWO! How many marriages don't last 10 years... or even 5? They were pillars for their children and inspiring examples for anyone that knew them.

Christmas was tough this year, with all the traveling we had to do. But we were able to spend several days down in Texas, treasuring the time we had left. One special memory from Christmas was the fact that Jerry hand picked out all the gifts that he got for everyone. You should have seen the look on Kimi's face when she opened up the gift he got for her, a cross necklace with a pearl in it. It was the perfect gift for her, hands down. Now she will treasure it for the rest of her life.

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of your prayers and kindness during this tumultuous time in our lives. We are making it day by day but we still ask for your prayers of strength and rest. We KNOW Jerry is waiting for us up in Heaven and its not our time yet to go see him again. But just knowing he is pain free and watching over us makes it a little easier on the grieving process. We love you terribly Jerry.



This House Believes

Mr & Mrs Willis, I presume.

On December 15th, Kimi and I had the blessed opportunity to be a part of the wedding between two of our dearest friends, Brad and Denise. Kimi was a bridesmaid in a stunning red dress and I was a groomsman in my classy tuxedo. And guess what, little Miss Makenna was a flower girl! She was so cute in her little dress. It was unfortunate that she did not take a nap the entire day so when we got to show time, she basically sleep-walked down the aisle! Luckily there was another flower girl to put down some petals for Denise to walk down the aisle on. The wedding was beautiful and we are so happy for you two! Here are some pics from that day...

A couple of days before the wedding, I was in charge of putting on a bachelor party. Somehow, my own bachelor party consisted of me running up the score in Madden on BJ but that was about it. I was determined to make Brad's a little more involved. While the girls had their cutesy little girly party with their doilies and tea, we men had a crazy evening of Buffalo Wild Wings and a three-console-system-linked HALO 3 party! The Man's evening was devoid of women but was replete with the thrills of victory and the agonies of many harrowing defeats. If I didn't have to work in the morning, we'd have continued the party to the wee hours of the morning. I hope Brad had a great bachelor party! It was a blast talking trash with him and all of his friends from Bokchito!

Speaking of Bokchito, right after Christmas Kimi and I made a stop by Brad and Denise's new place on the way home... well, 'on the way' is a relative term considering it was 1 hour and 20 minutes east of I-35 near Durant and the Oklahoma/Texas border! Quite a little drive. When we heard the faint sound of some dueling banjo's as we neared the town, we knew we were in for something interesting. Brad and Denise were trying their best to woo us into moving down there, lining up a convenient tour of the town (took 4 minutes flat, haha) and just happening to drive by several homes for sale, complete with prices and square footage at hand. Too funny! My wife really does want to move to the country, but she wasn't really thinking dirt roads in the picture in her mind. I can name multiple great things about Bokchito, namely whole lots more family time, lots of space (think 40+ acre lots), and away from the madness of city life to name a few. But it has its disadvantages as well, of which would include moving away from family members that have become a vital part of Makenna's life and ours. Just another thing to add to our pile. Anyway, Brad and Denise, we wish you guys the best on your new home! We can't wait to see the finished product! Oh and Denise, we hope you get used to the fresh cow manure scent wafting down the street (not plural, but singular). :)

Halloween Time & More Bierwirth Fun!

On Saturday, October 27th, my good friends Guy and Leah Bierwirth and I, along with their son, Ethan, went downtown to take pictures for their Christmas cards this year. They saw the pictures that I had taken for Kevon and Ashley back in September and they thought I could do a good job for their Christmas card photos. Boy, were they wrong! Just kidding,I didn't do that bad of a job. I worked on creating a list of the shots I thought would work best for them so I could get some memorable pictures they could treasure. Remember, I have no experience with posing people into ways that would look good so I thought this was going to be interesting. This was definitely a learning experience for me since I had never taken pictures of another kiddo besides my own. We dragged Ethan around the whole Myriad Gardens, poor guy, trying to find good places to set up at. After about 10 different spots, he wasn't too interested in looking at the camera anymore so we decided to wrap up for the day. I was able to get several shots that I think are keepers and looked great, as you'll see below. Lesson learned: Take along someone that is WAY more interesting than me to try to keep a kid entertained! Sorry Ethan, we'll do better next time. Thanks again to the Bierwirths for letting me practice on them! You guys are awesome! View the slideshow here.

And of course, this past week was Halloween. This year Makenna dressed up as a little ladybug, which was so adorable! She had little black spots on her cheeks and nose, and coupled with the two antennae on her head, this year's costume beat last year's token first-year-pumpkin outfit. After dinner that night, she wanted to ride around in her red wagon but it wasn't even sundown yet so nobody was giving out candy yet. So instead, we went to visit a nice little place called "Orr Family Farms". We were the first people in the gate because Kimi was so excited to take Makenna there. There was a petting zoo, a playground area, pony rides, and a hayride up to the pumpkin patch field to pick out our own pumpkins. Toward the end of the hayride, Makenna started to get sleepy so we jetted out of there on over to Nonnie and Poppie's house for a quick trick or treat visit! After a little bit there, Makenna was realllly starting to get tired so we made our last stop at Grandma Betty's house before we called it an evening. Makenna crashed on the way home and all we had to show for the evening was like 10 pieces of candy and a lot of memories! Not too bad, plus we didn't see any creepy costumes. (We left a candy bowl outside our front door before we left... yeah, it was empty and had been thrown to the other side of our porch by some poor kid who didn't get any candy. Guess the 1st kid took it all, who knows...?) Below are some pictures from the evening. Enjoy!











I'll end this week's update with a quick reminder to keep praying for Kimi's dad, Jerry, and his health. Please pray for the doctors as well for wisdom to do what is needed.

Thank you all again for your prayers. We'll keep you updated as things progress. I hope you all enjoy the cooler weather! I love the crisp feeling in the mornings as I'm on my way to work! Now if only I had time to stop at Starbucks on the way...

God Bless,
Jason