The Chronicles of the Hawes Kids : May 2011

Sorry for the delay in posts. The past month has been very difficult for us, but we have begun to find peace and strength each and every day. We know Ben is with us and he is now in God's house cloud jumping and watching down on us. Our pastor said it perfectly, Ben is still with us, he just has a different address. We hold onto our faith knowing he is loved and we'll one day be together again. We would like to thank everyone for all of their love and support this past month and the continued support in the days ahead....

Well, this weekend was quite the whirlwind. It all started with all of our friends and family making the long trek to Ann Arbor for Ben's Memorial Service (which was absolutely beautiful). As bittersweet as it was, it was wonderful to have all the family together. Justin LOVED all of the attention and let's face it, he gets it all! Saturday evening we all gathered at the hotel reception area where we ate some pizza, enjoyed some beverages, played some pool, watched some baseball and went swimming in the pool. Might I add that mama is quite the pool shark! ;)

Sunday we got all 15 of us together for breakfast at Bob Evans and said our good-byes. (boo!) Justin's god-mother, Auntie Teresa (mommy's best friend) made the long trip from Wisconsin for the service and stayed the entire weekend. (yay!) It was a beautiful day so all of us went and walked around downtown A2 and through campus. We met up with our friend Laura and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Grizzley Peak Brewing Co......for several hours. It doesn't sound like much but it was an amazing day and Justin loved walking through the diag and going for big boy walks, jumping in puddles.

Monday we said buh-bye to Auntie Teresa (boo!) but then went to Gallup Park (yay!) and had a lovely picnic that daddy prepared. We also rented a paddle boat. Justin got to sport his sponge bob square pants life vest. Despite the vest mama was quite paranoid about J-man falling in the water. Justin loved paddling under the bridges and people watching. We even saw a pair of swans with their babies! Afterward we went to the cemetary where "Ben sleeps". Grammy and Grandpa Hawes gave Justin a couple of American Flags before they left and Justin wanted to bring one to Ben along with 3 yellow roses. It was so cute and we love how he knows Ben is in heaven and likes to include him and talk about him. Later in the day while Justin was napping mommy and daddy enjoyed some beverages on the front porch swing and enjoyed the beautiful weather. We wrapped the day up with dinner on the Aubree's patio.

It's such a shame amazing weekends like this have to end, but at least we have lots to look forward to like our trip to Traverse City in less than 2 weeks! 10 whole days of family & fun! We cannot wait!!!!!

Enjoy some photos and a quick video from our wonderful weekend~