we had a busy easter weekend. on saturday, we met brooke & patrick in gaffney for lunch & outlet shopping. they live in rock hill, so it's a perfect midpoint for us. as soon as patrick finishes graduate school at winthrop, they're moving to iowa where he is starting a position as a band director. we're trying to see them as much as possible before they leave in june. we'll miss them and we hope they start blogging so we can keep in touch easily!
chris and i had a nice service at our church easter morning before leaving for alabama. we had learned on saturday that my grandmother (mom's mom) passed away early that morning. she's had some recent health problems and had been in the hospital, so this was not unexpected. we left greenville sunday afternoon to be with my family and attend the funeral on monday. it was held in the town where my mom grew up - brundidge, al. i hadn't been there since i was a small child, so we visited some places that were important to my mom. it reminds me of the town in
to kill a mockingbird, which is my mom's favorite book.
house where my mom grew up (though it's been renovated...they never had a tin roof).
salem baptist church - where my parents got married. the funeral was also held here.
napa auto parts store that my grandfather owned - i never knew him since he passed away the year before i was born.
the juxtaposition of my grandmother's death and easter sunday reminded me that God is bigger than life or death and that He's in control of all things.
"for i am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~romans 8:38-39
the title of this post refers to chris' group of 7 close friends from high school. this weekend was a reunion of sorts for them, plus the spouses and significant others that have been "inducted" into the group! everyone came to town - erika & matt, patrick & brooke, jessica - to join us & dustin in celebrating liz & scott's soon-to-come baby girl with a shower on saturday. we had a great time eating, talking, taking pictures, and learning random baby trivia.
saturday night we ate downtown and and walked around main street, showing everyone falls park (a beautiful area with a waterfall and walking bridge). we also stopped for gelato, which is my new favorite food!
on sunday morning, the boxes (middle) and the bates (right) came to church with us. 
in the afternoon, we had a cookout to wish patrick and brooke goodbye as they prepare to move to iowa next month. we are going to miss them, but we are excited for the new adventures we'll get to hear about!
