1. Today was the anniversary of
Matthew's death. My husband took the entire week off work and we have been spending the week together as a family.
2. On
Matthew's birthday we headed out to his grave site. He is buried about an hour drive away so we don't get to visit him as often as I would like but we make sure to go out there to celebrate his birthday.
3. Last year I was kind of unprepared for his birthday and went at the last minute to try to find some things to decorate his grave with. Unfortunately, I discovered that September is not the best time to find outdoor decorations.
4. This year I have been gathering things throughout the year so we would have some gifts to take out there. We also wanted to have something for the kids to participate in so we made a stepping stone. We spelled out his name, added a Superman action figure to the center and the kids placed all the glass mosaic pieces. They were really excited about making a gift for Matthew.
5. We headed out to the cemetery and gave Matthew his gifts.
The stepping stone. Flowers. A #2 birthday candle. A humming bird. A little bunny and mushroom. A drawing (birthday card) the Princess made for him. And small stones we each decorated. Mr. Cool and his parents also contributed a pinwheel which was perfect.
The vase, teddy bear, little car and flowers we put there last year for his 1st birthday have held up so I added the pinwheel to the vase. His little glass dolphin is also still there and though it has been kinda beat up, it has held up better than I ever expected. After we placed all his gifts we sang him Happy Birthday and had cupcakes.
6. I love
that cemetery.
It is so pretty and there is an "old cemetery" section with the taller cooler looking tombstones. The little white church was recently restored and I love seeing it right next to "our tree" that stands over Matthew's grave.
My husband's grandfather is also buried there along with many other family members.
I love that Matthew is buried surrounded by family.
I always like to take pictures when we are out there. Kids, stand by that tree and act natural.
7. I have been working on a slideshow for Matthew for the last two years. I keep wanting to tweak it and adjust it and at this point I better leave it alone before I destroy it completely so I will post it now and be done with it.
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