Winter Ski Trips

When asked what memories I have of Carol in January, the first thing I think of is our ski trips.  Carol hated the cold weather.  But, one of her favorite memories of Vestavia High School was a ski trip with Young Life.  So, she was going to make sure our kids had some great memories--they were going skiing!

We did not have much money, so it was a challenge to pull this off.  What the kids probably did not know was that we had to borrow the gear from a bunch of different people.  It would have been impossible for anyone but Carol to keep track of it.  She had a method of making sure everything we borrowed came back.  Carol would take pictures of everything first and inventory the items. 

All of our pictures of our ski trips start with this:

and end with this:

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, Chester spent 2 weeks in a sewer pipe when we were on a vacation in Florida, he earned first class passage on every vacation since.  That complicated travel and accommodations quite a bit!

Thoughts from Leslie & John Brieck

Carol was such a genuine prayer warrior and faithful friend.  I remember when Zach had his 2 foot surgeries, she emailed or called me more than anyone I can think of to ask how she could be praying for him.  This meant so much to me, and it was obvious that she wasn't just asking to be polite, but she really was going to be praying for him - great comfort to know someone was going before the throne on his behalf.  

What a breath of fresh air she was - never a gossip, always positive and always directing thoughts and conversations toward a Christ like mindset.

Leslie & John Brieck

But, I want the blue scarf!

Carol was a wonderful mother. I liked being around her because I could learn things from her to make me a better mom. I loved seeing how intentional she was with the kids and how much she thought of them. The other day I ran across some emails from her from the time when Audrey, Cameron and Sydney were in the Talent Show together in 5th grade. Carol emailed Mrs. Howard and me about a time when the three girls were practicing and there was some disagreement about who would wear what color scarf.  Audrey had to leave for a piano lesson and Cameron and Sydney were left with the decision. They decided Audrey would have the blue one-the color she wanted.  Carol wrote the following note to me:
 
"Cameron and Sydney had gone out of their way to consider Audrey's preference, even when they had full permission from both Audrey and me to not even think about it. What a beautiful example of Phil. 2:3&4. 'Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.' Your girls are awesome! Whether the girls make the cut for the talent show or not, I think this has been a worthwhile, character-building experience for them. I am so grateful to God that Audrey has their friendship!"
 
Carol was always thinking about bigger things--not just the details of the day and all the things that had to be done, and places the kids needed to be. She was thoughtful about life lessons, about friendships, about encouraging other moms, and about ways to encourage character traits in her children. There are not many moms like that. Carol was a real gem!

Love, Kelly Hall