Catch-Up

Wow, it's been almost a year since I have posted last. Facebook seems to have taken over my posting of pictures and happenings with the Voelker family. Pinterest has also taken over my "spare" time. I have pinned many awesome things, and have even completed a few of those pins! There are some pretty creative minds out there!! Anyway, I guess I will start off this post with what we have been up to recently. July is always a roller-coaster of emotions for us. We start off the month celebrating the 4th of July, Michael and I met on July 9, 1990,and we were married on July 16, 1994. Those are the happy things we get to celebrate in July. Then our hearts turn heavy as we remember 3 very special people to us. Our dear friend, Coady Miller on July 22, my sister on July 24 and our friend, Dave Burns on July 31. Sadly, we buried Coady and Jolee on the same day in 2007. They passed away under seperate circumstances, but our families will always be intertwined by the sorrow we felt and shared.

Here is one of the last pictures taken of my sister, Jolee. My niece (who was 5 at the time) shot this picture of her mommmy with her camera. Jolee Loved, Loved, Loved the sun, sand and boating. So, in memory of the 5th anniversary of her death, we went boating with a group of friends at Clinton Lake. It was a wonderful day, that could have been spent in sadness, only to be filled with laughter! Unfortunatly, death happens, it sucks and you can't escape it. Our 4-H club was rocked with the freak accident and death of a member's mom and little sister just over a month ago. My heart breaks for Ashley as her and her dad re-build their lives together. My heart also turns to Michael's Aunt Nancy, as she recently had to say good-bye to her son, Allen after an auto accident took his life. It takes me back to remembering all those "firsts" that a family goes through in the first years after a loved one has passed. It is hard to get through all of those, but you just suck it up and do it. I STILL wait for the phone to ring around 4:15 every afternoon. That is when Jolee would call me on her way home from work. Even if we didn't have anything to talk about, it was just nice to hear her rant about her day or about the idiot drivers around her! I miss that. I could go on and on, but I will save you from that. Just know that tomorrow isn't a given, and always tell the ones you love that you love them, tell today, tell them right now, because life is uncertain and you just don't know!