Fun in the Sun at Cape Lookout!

Today after church we went over to the Cape. It was such a beautiful day. We threw anchor over by the marsh just before we got to the lighthouse and had a picnic on board the boat (this is much nicer than sand all in the food). Todd just had to get a line in the water and yes the wildlife officer had to stop and check him for his license. Oh, thank goodness he decided to bring his wallet along that contained his license. After a quick meal of fried chicken, strawberries and egg salad sandwiches we were on our way to the beach.


Wyatt and Warren had a blast as you can tell. Todd got so close to the ponies that we thought he was trying to take them for a ride.
Warren was trying to wash his feet off in the bucket, but was not quite as graceful in doing so as everyone else. Note all of the sand in his hair combined with a lot of sunscreen. This made for a great bath time when we got home. After washing his hair for the third time during the same bath his head was free of sand and sunscreen. I hope you get as much amusement out of this video as we have. It still is not as funny as being there. This did not go on for just a few moments, this was repeated attempts at getting his feet in the bucket. Yes he did finally get his feet in the bucket.
Wyatt got to be first mate on the way back to the dock and is very proud of his first solo captaining endeavor.

We are back from Vacation, but not because we want to be..........

Hey everyone, we arrived home from our summer vacation this evening. We went on what seemed like a whirl wind vacation. Due to Todd just starting his new job the only weekend we could go was July 4th. As crazy as that seems we did it. We left after Todd got home from work Thursday evening and arrived in Williamsburg, VA about 10:30pm that night. The boys really did great traveling considering (Thank GOD for DVD players in cars). We were up bright and early the next morning (thanks to Warren) and headed off to Water Country. We had a blast there. Wyatt surprised us by climbing up this cargo net to slide down a rather large yellow tube water slide. After a fun filled day at Water Country we headed back to the hotel for baths and off to dinner at oh yes Wyatt and my favorite...OLIVE GARDEN. I ate so much salad and bread sticks I thought I would pop, and that does not include the seafood alfredo. The next day we were yes up again very early thanks to Mr. Warren, but that was ok. We had a big day planned for Busch gardens. We were there just as the park opened (we have never done that before). We had a great day until about 5:00pm when it started to sprinkle and then became a down pour. Of course Nana had wished for rain so some of the people would leave the park. Nana...don't forget that saying "Be careful what you wish for." Well, needless to say, we waited for quite sometime for the rain to stop, but it did not. We ended up leaving and heading for the hotel, but not before we picked up an endangered WHITE TIGER. Don't be too afraid he is a friendly little fellow. Well, after a quick in the hotel room dinner. We were off to bed, because now we have to face the drive home. I just really don't like leaving from a vacation. I never have. You have all that anticipation and it really ends to quickly. I don't think it would matter if I stayed for 2 days or 10. Well, here we are back home. Things went well on our drive home today. We stopped to see Aunt Judy and Uncle Dunk, but they were not home. The boys did really well. Warren took a good nap and "Tom and Jerry" kept Wyatt occupied. Well, now it is off to bed because tomorrow it is back the the "OLD GRIND" as my Mama would say.

Our Summer So Far......Has been Great!

Hey everyone! Well, we are enjoying our summer so far. We have had a lot of fun playing in the hose this summer. We have not had as many boat or beach trips as we would like since Todd has had to work every Saturday since he started his new job (but, we are not complaining, those overtime checks will be nice).
Wyatt is excited that we are leaving next week for Virginia. We have a whirlwind trip planned for Busch Gardens and Water Country. I think we must be crazy to be heading there for the 4th of July. We would not have chosen that weekend, except Todd does not have any leave yet. He probably will not have any leave until this fall, so we are going to brave the crowds next weekend. The way I figure it is that it is busy there no matter when you go, so bring on the crowds.
I hope that everyone is enjoying there summer as much as we are. Warren loves to be outside as you can tell by some of the pictures. He loves to play in the hose and will squirt water right in his face and just keep on going.
They are both growing up too fast.....You can flip through this blog and see them grow up right before your eyes. It really goes just that fast.

God Bless You and come back to visit us often here at the Bridgers Bunch.

Wyatt is now Famous

Much to our surprise last Friday evening we received several phone calls telling us Wyatt had made it in the Cartert County News-Times. His Daddy rushed out the door to the store for one of these papers, but when he returned he had not one paper, but four. Sure enough there was our Wyatt all smiles and being honored for reading so many books in the Accelerated Reader program at his school. We are so proud of Wyatt.

When we told Wyatt that he was in the paper and he is now famous he asked, "Does that mean I get a limousine now." Then at church on Sunday the preacher congratulated him on his achievement in front of the congregation and Wyatt said, "Oh, it was nothing." Such a modest child (Ha)!

School is out for the "SUMMER"

Wyatt is very excited that school is out for the summer. I can't lie I am pretty excited that school is out also. On Sunday we had Graduate Sunday at our church and Wyatt was pretty excited to be honored as a Kindergarten Graduate.
Wyatt received his Kindergarten diploma today at his class party. He also received the Accelerated Reader Excellence award and another AR award. He read over 50 AR books this year. We are so proud of him and he is very proud of himself.We had a pizza party in his class to celebrate all of their accomplishments this year.



***************I cleaned out his book bag last night and started to cry as I saw all of the things from his classroom that were there since he started school. It is so hard for me to believe that he is done with kindergarten. Well, he is excited about summer, but is anxious about what next year will bring.

*****************Here are some pictures of Wyatt's class and Graduate Sunday.Some of the pictures are of Wyatt's shirt for the last day of school. The front says "School is out for the SUMMER" and on the back is his class picture. Wyatt helped me create this cute shirt.

~~~~~Well we hope everyone has a great SUMMER BREAK~~~~~

God is great!

Todd has been trying for the past several years to get on at Cherry Point, either civil service or with a contractor. Well, by the grace of God and a some help from Tony he received the phone call yesterday morning that he has a job in the fiberglass shop with a contractor. This could not have come at a better time.
We have been praying about this for a long time. God does answer prayers in his time not ours. Thank God for this blessing.

Warren's First Beach Trip

Warren had a blast during his first trip to the beach yesterday. We took him and the other kids up to Cedar Island Beach. It was a beautiful day for the beach. I wanted to share these pictures.




We stayed at Cedar Island Saturday night and captured a picture of the beautiful sunrise over CI Bay Sunday morining.

The Dash

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
And spoke of the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little line is worth.


For it matters not, how much we own,
The cars, the house, the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;
Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what's true and real
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect
And more often wear a smile,
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is read
With you life's actions to rehash
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

Linda Ellis

(This picture is sunrise over Cedar Island Bay, My Granny loved to look out and see this. This poem was read at her the graveside today, I wanted to share it with everyone.)

Granny's Eulogy

I am going to do this tomorrow at Granny's funeral with the Grace of GOD and Granny as my guardian angel. Please say a prayer for me that I can get through this with out breaking down.



A Celebration of Life....


Bernice Arlene Daniels Brittingham was born on March 30, 1925 to Arlie and Maude Daniels in Cedar Island, NC. She had four brothers, Edwin, Frank, Durwood, and Neil and one sister Gloria.
After marrying her beloved husband Bill they moved to Philadelphia for a short time, but it was not long before she was back on Cedar Island. Bill’s job would take them to Kinston, NC for a short time and then they came back to Carteret County. They spent several years raising their children in Morehead City before returning to Cedar Island. She and Bill were married for 31years. In that time they raised five children: Ralph Waide, Robert Derwood, Sandra Ann, Billie Jean and William Eber, Jr or “Buddy.” She was also proud of her grandchildren and if our math is correct there are 15 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.
Arlene held numerous jobs over the years. She worked at the shirt factory for sometime, before her and Bill opened the “Toot and Tell-It.”After returning to Cedar Island she worked at the Driftwood for over 20 years and Snug Harbor for 14 years. Her favorite of all would most likely be clamming.
Often in the summer time you could find her over on the banks shoals with a clam rake. She loved to be there and most times would catch almost as many clams as the younger men folk who had taken her clamming with them. She had her own clam rake and would know in a moment if it was missing, often calling Buddy to see if he happened to know its whereabouts.
Arlene dearly loved Cedar Island, but she also loved to travel and anyone whose has seen her refrigerator magnets knows that. However, her favorite destination was Springtown, Texas. Here she would stay for several weeks visiting with her daughter Billy and her family. Of course the highlight of this trip was spending time with Jessica. She loved Jessica and all of her grandchildren, with all of her heart and soul and they have been on many adventures together throughout the years.
In later years Arlene’s health started to decline, but it did not slow her down very much. She suffered from Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency causing her lungs to become weak. She was often short of breath, but she would just keep on going. She was recently hospitalized and after being discharged from Carteret General she went to Snug Harbor. However, before she could begin rehab she would find herself back at Carteret General. She was recovering from surgery but, she became weaker each day. On April 19th she was just too tired to fight anymore and went to be with her Lord that she dearly loved.
If you could use only one word to sum up Arlene’s life that would have to be: Amazing. For she was such an amazing mother, grandmother, mother-in-law and friend to many. We’ll surely miss you, but we know you are with us each step of the way, until we meet again.

In Memory of My GRANNY

This post is really hard to write, I have been trying to do this since Saturday night. My beloved GRANNY passed away Saturday night about 9:15pm. She was a fighter through it all and tried hard to rally back. However, her tired and frail body could not keep going any longer. She will be missed greatly by many of us, but we know she is at peace now. She has been waiting a long time to join Grandaddy Bill on the other side of those Pearly Gates. I have no doubt that this is where she is now, walking with him hand in hand.


I was amazed by the number of people in her hospital room the night she passed away there must have been almost 20 of her closest family members there to bid her a final goodbye.


She was a good Granny and I know how much she loved her family. Her service has not yet been scheduled due to family coming in from out of town. I will post her arrangements later.

Tag--I guess it's my turn!

10 years Ago:
April 1998: I was finishing up at Pamlico Community College with my Associate in Arts degree, which did not mean much by itself. From there I had a good summer and prepared to move to Greenville. Fall of 1998 was one of the roughest times of my life. I was so home sick and stressed at starting Nursing School at ECU that I thought I was going to lose it. I threatened on several occasions to pack my stuff and move back home. With the good Lord's help I made it through and stuck it out.
December of 1998 Todd and I became engaged and life just kept getting better from there.

5 things on my To-Do-List

1) Housework: mopping, dishes, dusting, vacuuming, LAUNDRY, making beds, cleaning toilets and tubs, etc.; it just never ends (this is a to-do-list all by itself)
2) Wash and vacuum my truck
3) Get my self as organized as I was before I had kids (Ha--yeah right)
4) Spend more time with my family
5) Become a better Christian

Things I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire:

1) Pay off all of our debt and our families debt
2) Build a beach house at Cedar Island
3) Hand out money like it was candy to deserving/needy families
4) Build suitable entertainment for the youth of this county
5) Buy Todd the Truck he has always dreamed of.
6) Start traveling

Bad Habits I have:

1) Tuning people out if I'm not interested
2) Being a little anal about having things in their place
(of course you would not say that now if you saw my house)
3) I'm sure Todd could tell you a lot more, but I can't think of any right now.

Things Most people don't know about me:

You may already know this? I am truly dedicated to caring for God's children. I believe that children are the greatest miracle ever and that they all deserve equal treatment and opportunity. I am disgusted at the way some adults can treat an innocent child. I hope in the future that I can make a difference.From my experience most of these worthless adults are allowed to continue abusing and neglecting their children. This creates such a viscous cycle, where these children grow up believing that this is the way children are suppose to be talked to and treated. It just makes me sooooo MAD!


I am also considering going back to school in the next 4-5 years to become a nurse practitioner. I keep talking about it, but I am not sure if I really want to go back to school. It was hard the first time and now I have a family and a full time job (which I can't quit--either one --just kidding).

Places I have lived in order:

Cedar Island, NC
Beaufort,NC
Greenville,NC
Beaufort,NC
Bettie,NC
Otway,NC

Jobs I have had in order:

Hostess/Cashier/Waitress/Caterer at Capt.Bill's
Jarrett Bay Boathouse Gift Shop
Carteret General Hospital
Carteret Children's Clinic

Wishing I was there now!

I can't wait for our first trip back to the Cape this year. We did not get to go last year since Warren was just an infant. Well, we plan for him to get his sea legs this year. Today it was so warm, I just wanted to hitch up the boat, jump in the truck and head for the boat ramp. Of course you have to first stop at Food Lion for some fried chicken. What would an afternoon trip to the Cape be without fried chicken.
I just imaging being there now. Warm sand under my feet and a cool breeze blowing by (well unless it is the end of July or August, then it is hot sand under your feet and a stifling hot breeze blowing by). I'll take either just to be there. Just being out on the boat seems to resolve all cares and worries at least for a short while. It won't be long and we will set sail.
I can't wait to see what Warren thinks of the boat ride and beach trip. I am sure he will love it as much as his big brother does. Wyatt just can't wait to try out his new fishing rod that the Easter Bunny gave him.

Just wanted to share this beautiful picture of the Cape that we took about 3 years ago.

First T-Ball Game

Wyatt had his first T-ball game today. We unfortunately do not have any pictures. I was helping Todd keep his kids in batting order and from picking flowers out on the field. I totally forgot to take any pictures. Todd was not suppose to be coaching, he was suppose to be helping. Some how he ended up coaching without any helpers. Well, except me. We really enjoy doing this. It can be very frustrating at times, but mostly very rewarding. Maybe after next Saturday's game we will have some pictures. Maybe if Sissy is there she can take some pictures for us.
Not to brag or anything, but Wyatt did so good today. He really seems to be interested in T-ball. Soccer is just not his thing. He hit and fielded good today. Who knows in 15 years he may be in the PROs. I hope he rememebers his Mama---HaHa!

Happy Easter

We hope all had a Happy Easter. Warren had a great time. He was too small last year to really enjoy it. This year he got to have some M&M's for breakfast. This is a really special treat, because you can only do this on Easter and Christmas.

Wyatt was excited to wake up Easter morning to discover that the Easter Bunny had come and brought him a new fishing rod and tackle box. His tackle box served as his Easter basket and was filled with fun and sweet treats. He even had some grubs in there to go trout fishing with his dad.

Warren had fun at his first Easter egg hunt. He preferred to discover what was inside each egg instead of finding the eggs.

Wyatt loves hunting for Easter eggs, this was his second egg hunt this Easter. He had a egg hunt at Shevans Park with this class (they had a really good time).

Todd and I are so truly blessed to have these two very healthy and happy little boys. We are enjoyng every minute with them. I hope everyone had a great Easter.

"Grandaddy" or "Big Grandaddy"

We got the call about 3:00am this morning that Grandaddy (Todd's Grandaddy) had passed away. He has been at Snug Harbor for quite some time now and has not really been "living" since Granny passed away about 2-1/2 years ago. He missed her terribly, but he misses her no more. I know that the two of them are walking hand in hand down those streets paved with gold.


I told Wyatt about Grandaddy passing (BIG Grandaddy as he refers to him) when I picked him up from school today. I did not want to upset him before going to school today. I told him that Big Grandaddy had died last night, but he went up to heaven to be with Jesus and Big Granny. He questioned me with: When is he coming back down? I said, Baby he is not coming back, but he is OK he is happy now. He thought for a few moments and said...."Well, I guess I am going to have to send him my picture on balloons too. For Christmas we sent Big Granny one of the boys Christmas pictures on a bunch of helium balloons up to heaven. I guess we are going to have to get some more helium balloons to send some more pictures up. This conversation showed me just how much wisdom these little ones have and just how innocent they are.


I am sad to think that Warren will never know his "Big Grandaddy", he only got to meet him once. But, he will surely know how wonderful a man he was. Todd told me last night that he thought of him as a daddy. I responded to him, surely you do he was the only daddy you ever knew. He was much more than a grandfather to Todd and his siblings he was the male role model and father figure they never had. He will truly be missed by them and many, many more!

Wyatt's "OUT OF THIS WORLD" Party

Finally---here are some pictures from Wyatt's Birthday Party. He had a great time. His cake turned out really well. My mom made it and then it was a group effort to decorate it. It did not take nearly as long to make this as it did Warren's thank goodness.