As I might have mentioned in my earlier blog entry, my Aunt Opal (around 87 years of age..) passed away on Saturday.  Sunday we spent most of the day working in the yard and carting kids around.  Monday was a Swim Meet.  It was unbearably hot but we withstood it until the sun went down.  Cameron did well at that meet, coming home with a 1st place in Backstroke, a 3rd place in Butterfly and a participation ribbon in the Medly relay (they finished almost an entire length of the pool in first place but alas...one of the team members swam the wrong stroke....what can we say...it happens!). Tuesday was swim meet practice.  We have been having SUCH a hard time getting Cameron's swim cap on that I finally put my foot down and took him to get a haircut.  The stylist recognized right away that he had been swimming a lot....his hair was the texture of brittle straw!  She was able to give him a haircut that he and I both approved of!  She also gave us some special shampoo and conditioner for people like him who swim a lot.  After just 2 applications there was SUCH a noticeable difference!!!  I also treated Cameron to the full deal...cut, shampoo, massage chair, hot towel over the face and style.  He really enjoyed it and felt really special!  Who knows, he may actually look forward to haircuts in the future....
While waiting for my guy I mulled over the fact that I really didn't have anything to wear to the funeral that would look appropriate and be functional in 100 degree weather for any length of time.  After the haircut, the boys went with me to search out something...If you know me, you know I HATE clothes shopping only slightly more than clothes shopping with boys in tow.  Imagine my surprise to find not one...not 2....but 3...count them 3 appropriate outfits that fit like a charm!  Next blessing? They were all within my budget!  I thought I would also take a chance and look for a pair of shoes.  Stores like this rarely have shoes that fit and are affordable. Again I was blessed with a very nice pair of sandals that went perfectly with 2 of the 3 outfits AND fit like a dream and were again in my price range!  While walking from the fitting rooms to the front of the store to pay, we were detoured down a side aisle where Cameron remarked in amazement.."mom, aren't those the angels you collect?"...and sure enough there were several of the Foundations angels that I have collected and given as gifts over the years!  They were marked down drastically and my dear husband told me to take them!  Imagine how blessed and surprised I felt when I noticed that 3 of the angels carried part of the Beatitudes on them.....exactly what our Theme for the next school year will be!!!!
After a quick lunch and some cleaning, Xavier came home and we loaded up to take off for the funeral.  We knew we were going to miss the viewing so Xavier suggested we stop to eat on the way.  At the restaurant, Isaac's food took a little long to cook.  Next blessing came in the form of the Manager of the restaurant giving us certificates for 4 complete meals for free on our next visit!
At the funeral the next day, we got to see many aunts and cousins that we haven't seen in many years.  It was nice to catch up on lives and celebrate my wonderful Aunt Opal and her life!  God blessed us with some nice cloud cover for the graveside service.  I also discovered that many of my Uncles and my grandfather were active servicemen in both WWI and WWII! It was nice to visit the family plot.  I hadn't visited my Grandparents graves in many many years!
After a wonderful lunch we headed home and passed on the way a local vineyard and winery that I've always wanted to stop at.  Xavier said why not and we stopped to explore.  I wanted to bring home some wine and decided to do the wine tasting with my mom.  The gentleman who helped us was kind and pleasant.  We were only going to taste 4 wines but ended up tasting about 10 or so!  Upon hearing that my husband doesn't drink, this wonderful salesperson immediately turned and poured Xavier a tall glass of sparkling grape juice!  My mom and I decided to join their VIP club which would give us discounts and some access to special events at the vineyard.  Our helpful gentleman waived our tasting fees helped us sign up and then immediately applied our discounts to our purchases!  This vineyard is quite close to my parents home so I know they will really enjoy the membership-my step-dad will definitely enjoy some of the cooking classes!
After such a crazy couple of days, we were then blessed with a nice, quiet ride home through some beautiful countryside.

I think some people might have been put off by the fact that we werent' all teary-eyed about this funeral.  We chose instead to look at the life of a great woman who had lived a long life even when faced with many physical ailments.  She of all people would have wanted us to be happy!  We chose to look at all the Blessings God bestowed on us during this time.