Memories of Momma Dale

My "Momma Dale" passed away peacefully after a long courageous battle with breast cancer on Tuesday, July 12, 2011. 

 Though my heart is grieving, it is such a comfort to know that she is in a place where cancer doesn't exist and there is absolutely no suffering.

When I was a little girl, I thought of Momma Dale as the "cool" grandma. Memaw (my mom's mom) was the traditional grandma - her baked goods tasted like they came straight from heaven, she was plump and cuddly, her hair was gray and she was content to sit in her recliner and cross-stitch all day. Momma Dale on the other hand was always energetic, and ready for fun! She was stylish and looked younger than she was. When we would go somewhere with Momma Dale, people always thought she was my mom - not my grandmother. I remember one time, when we were junior high age, that Momma Dale and Papa Charlie took Rachel and me to a museum there in Fort Walton Beach.. There was a lady that worked there that was amazed that Momma Dale could have teenage grandchildren and asked her what was her secret to looking so young. Momma Dale thanked her for the kind words and told her the secret was simply "Dare High", and then we walked out. Curious, I asked Momma Dale what Dare High is (I wanted to remember the secret for the future). Momma Dale looked at me confused and said, "What do you mean?". I told her, "Well, you told the lady that the secret to looking young is 'Dare High'." Momma Dale laughed and said, "Did I say that? I meant Hair Dye! She must think I am crazy!" When in reality the lady is probably still looking for "Dare High" to make her look young, too!!

We would only see Momma Dale once a year at most....ususally during the summer. We would head over to Florida to spend a week or two swimming in Momma Dale and Papa Charlie's pool and hanging out with our cousins. We looked forward to this time every year. Momma Dale would take us on shopping trips, talk about what was going on in our lives, sing with us and let us play in her jewelry. Many times she would take my sister, me and at least 5 of our cousins to a water slide park or the beach by herself! AMAZING! All of that showed us that that though we didn't live close and we didn't see her as often as we would have liked, we were special to her.

Momma Dale was such an example of how to live the Christian life. At our last trip out in March she showed amazing grace and dignity - even as she was losing the battle with cancer. Her faith is what pulled her through and let her face each day. I was blessed to see videos my aunt took of her singing praises from her bed in the last few weeks of her life.  Momma Dale was a picture of the lyrics of a Christy Nockles song "the weak and dying glorifying you in it all....it's the song of the beautiful Jesus Loves Me". What a testimony!

I will miss Momma Dale dearly, but I will hold tight to my memories of her and pass them down to my children - her great-grandchildren. I know that she is now in total peace in the presence of our God.

Hot Fun in the Summertime!!

A few years ago Belton and Temple constructed Splash Pads at some of their parks. They are a fun and free way to cool off during the super hot Texas summers. We had a great morning playing in the fun water features last week!!

Gabe ran around like a mad man enjoying each sprinkler, while Selah preferred the gentle streaming sprays. Miguel just liked to splash around in the puddles!



And we all slept really well that night!



Fun Day at the Museum

These are more pictures from the Mayborn Museum in Waco. It was really so much fun exploring all of the areas - even Miguel had a really good time! Along the way the kids learned about Texas History and Science - as well as Ancient Egypt!

Our Beautiful 3 year Old!

Selah was so fun to photograph this year! She enjoyed having her pictures done and was such a ham for the camera! I can't decide which picture I like best!!

Selah's Birthday Parties

The Serna traditional birthday party at Casa Ole!! Selah really enjoyed the birthday song!

Take a close look at the book Selah is reading....I made it for her "10 Little Selahs Jumping on the Bed"!

And a little dinner entertainment from our own J.T.!

The next morning we had a princess party at GiGi's house. Aunt Brandy and Uncle Nick gave Selah this adorable Ariel gown and she decided to wear it for her party. GiGi bought her the tiara to wear instead of a party hat - she looked so beautiful!

GiGi and I are a cake making team! I make the gluten-free cake and GiGi decorates it - she went all out with this castle cake!

Selah opened this present and said, "I can't believe it is a Tangled dress!":

We had such a fun time celebrating with family!

More picture to come .... this was the first time the triplets had met a lot of family, and the first time that all of the cousins were together in the same room!

Exploring Egypt - from home

Last week we did a "lap book" on Ancient Egypt. We learned about how mummies were made, the gods of the Egyptians, pyramids, the Nile River, and some of the Pharoahs. When we finished our lap book, we had an Egyptian party. Gabe and Selah dressed as Egyptians and we made gluten-free Egyptain flat bread. It was so fun!!

Then we met Aunt Suzy, Devon, and Xander in Waco (they are visiting Memaw and Papaw, but live in Colorado). We all headed over to the Mayborn Museum on the Baylor University campus. There they had a special exhibit on Egypt!!

Above, the kids are rebuilding pottery as archeologists do. Below, they got to climb on a camel statue! They also were able to see a real mummy, hieroglyphics and more! There are also discovery rooms in the museum....each room more exciting than the last!! We had a blast!!!

The Wax Museum

On June 20th Byron and I celebrated our 13th Wedding Anniversary. We really would have loved to have gone on a date, but right now with Miguel still little (and nursing) it is hard to get away from the kiddos - so instead we had a fun family day visiting the Palace of Wax and Ripley's Believe it or Not museum in Grand Prarie. Even if it wasn't a romantic date night - it was a great way to celebrate our anniversary and our little family that came "all because two people fell in love".

Gabriel has really been enjoying his bike and is a very good rider! In fact, he has a goal to enter a bike marathon in the fall with Daddy. So he has been "training" by riding laps around our apartment. One morning I showed him pictures of Lance Armstrong on line and we read about his races, so it was really neat that we walked in and the first wax person we saw was Lance Armstrong!

Here is Gabe interviewing Johnny Depp:

And Mommy and Miguel being interviewed by Oprah!

OK - this would be a Letterman to record on the DVR!! I'm sure Gabriel would have Dave in stitches! 

Selah was pretty much creeped out by the wax statues, and though she LOVES the Wizard of Oz - she was clinging pretty tightly to Daddy when they got this close!

And of course, I had to get a shot with Michael!! (For those of you that don't know I am a huge Michael Jackson fan....I can't help it - I love his music - and I just think he was a musical and performing genius in his own right. I literally mourned his death....yes, I know - somewhat pathetic....)

Until next time....

Same "bat" time....

Same "bat" channel!