Summer of 2011

Wow! This summer has been amazing! We have done so much and learned so much I don't even know where to start. I hope this summer will be one my children will remember and cherish forever.

How it all began.....Seabrook Island has been a place our family has been visiting for several years. I would have to say it has holds some of our dearest memories and will be a place that is always so special in our heart. This was the first place Brittany ever rode horses about 10 years ago. She loved it so much that we went back home to Nashville and found a place for her to start riding. She was a natural. Before too long she was showing and jumping. Too make a long story short, we added two more children to our family and it just became really hard to attend all of the functions with a toddler and a baby. Also, Britt had a pretty good fall one time and hurt her back. She started not wanting to go and I didn't want to force it. I didn't want to push her and then feel responsible if something really bad were to happen.

Last year we came down here once again for a vacation. It had been a few years since our last visit and Brittany's last time on a horse. She took the advanced beach ride several times and once again was in heaven. Before we left she informed us that she really would like to live here during the summer and work at the equestrian center. I kind of just blew her off, but I should have known that when this first born says she is going to do something she does it. She is just that kind of girl. I wish I had that same determination.

Fast forward to a year later.....Britt had everything lined up for her time in Seabrook Island. She had secured a condo (all on her own), contacted the manager of the equestrian center and was hired for the summer position. I was so excited for her, but being the paranoid mother I am became really nervous about her spending the time by herself all summer. Many thoughts consumed me....What if she fell and became paralyzed? What if she went to a party and someone slipped her a drug? What if she didn't eat and fainted? ETC...... So, I decided I would come down here for a few weeks and spend some time helping her get accquainted. I had not originally intended on spending a very long time here, but after we got here and saw how hard she was really working it just became very hard for me to leave her. Also, Mimi and Grandaddy were scheduled to have a kidney transplant in the middle of July. They were also planning on coming to visit, so I really wanted to make sure Maddie and Radlee had time to spend with them at the beach before their big surgery! It has been a wonderful trip but not always easy. It has been hard to be away from Jeff for so long. He has been able to come down a few times, but it is just not the same as always having him around. Another thing that made it really hard was that one of my best friends was going to probably end up having her baby while we were here. Angie and I have been friends since high school. We have always been there for one another's significant life changing events, so the thought of not being there was breaking my heart.

I wish I would have been journaling this entire summer, but since I haven't I think I will just take looks back at each week and blog our special times together! This is a summer we will never forget!