B.J. you lived such a good life...one that we're so very proud of you for. You were loved by so many and I know you made such an impact on so many people. You may not have changed the World for Everyone...but you sure changed the World for me! You'll be loved and missed forever!
We recieved a beautiful gift when we were blessed with B.J. He was born on May 17, 1984 in Ft. Worth Texas. We gave him the name Bobby Jack Outlaw II after his Daddy. How blessed we are to have had him with us for as long as we did.
This was taken on B.J.'s first Christmas. He was 7 months old here. I've always thought he looked like the little bug that him and his sister Amanda are riding on. LOL Just look at his little round face and chubby cheeks!
When B.J. was about a year old I found him playing with a dead mouse! Thank God it wasn't wet with slobbers!
One time when B.J. was just about a year old we were living in a trailer house (not a little one like this...I just thought this one was kinda cute) and I left him and his sister Amanda that was 2 years old together in the house while I went outside and hung laundry out to dry. Well in just a minute Amanda decided to follow me out there. That would have been alright except that left B.J. all alone and he played with the door latch on the glass front screen door and got it to lock. He was too little to know how to unlock it so we were locked out! I had to take Amanda around to a bedroom window and lift her up through it so she could go unlock the door. Thankfully she understood what I wanted even though she was only 2 at the time! Trust me...we didn't let that happen anymore. LOL
When B.J. was little he wasn't impressed at all with Santa. This picture was taken when he was 2 years old and he was sitting on Santa's lap. You can tell by the look on his face it wasn't where he wanted to be!
When B.J. was little he had this little baseball cap. He loved it! He would wear it all the time. He would even wear it to bed and I would have to wait until he went to sleep to take it off of him.
I guess the first snow B.J. ever got to enjoy was when he was 3 years old. It wasn't much but him and his sister Amanda was able to build a couple of little snowmen about one foot tall. I guess when you're a kid it just doesn't take a lot to make you happy.
When B.J. was about 4 years old we were all outside and I heard him yelling. When I went to see what was wrong he said...That snake licked my boot! Sure enough there was a snake there and I guess it must have stuck out its tongue just as B.J. walked up on it and he thought it was licking his boot.
When B.J. was little he didn't have a lot of energy to run and play like most kids do because of his kidney disease. But he was such a smart little guy. He spent much time reading books and working on puzzles. He loved both. He was quick at putting puzzles together. He had great eye hand coordination and a sharp mind. He could work puzzles that were way beyond his years. He use to love to have us time him and see how fast he could put them together.
When B.J. was just a little guy we had a Ford Bronco. The transmission went out on it and Bobby (B.J.'s Dad) put in a new one himself. Well B.J. being his Daddy's little helper wanted to help him work on it. So his Dad got under it and made all the bolts just loose enough that B.J. could turn them and he got under there and took every one of them off for his Dad. I remember how big it made him feel getting to help. And the cool part is...he really did help!
Many hours were spent playing with the little Red Barn and animals. When B.J. was a teenager he finally got rid of it but I still have the little horse. I'll never get rid of it!
B.J. loved his Army Airplane. He always kept hanging from a string in his room even after he was grown. Now it hangs in his little brother Johnathan's room and tends to "peg" me in the head when I go in there at night to check on him while he's sleeping. I can just hear B.J. chuckle everytime it does!
When B.J. was 4 years old we dressed him up as a scare crow for Halloween. I made his little costume for him. We also let him enter the costume contest where his sister Amanda was in kidergarten. He won 1st place!
B.J. loved cows when he was little. I remember he went through a time that he wanted anything we could find that had even a picture of a cow on it.
This is a picture of B.J. the year before he started school. You can tell he wanted no part of having his picture made. And when the next year rolled around...he wanted no part of going to school. The poor little guy didn't like school until he was about two months into the second grade.
When B.J. was in Kindergarten him and his sister Amanda were playing and he tripped her and when she fell down she got a tooth knocked out! "OUCH" She never did forget it either!
The Christmas Eve that B.J. was in Kindergarten we had been somewhere and were on our way home after dark. We told the kids we had to hurry and get home so they could get to sleep so Santa Claus could come. We looked up in the sky and there was an airplane going over and it had a red blinking light on it. You couldn't see the plane...just the light. We told the kids it was Santa's sleigh and that was Rudolphs nose blinking. It was too fun because they believed us. We kept telling them to hurry and go to sleep when we got home but they were so excited over seeing Santa's sleigh and the fact that he was on the way they had a hard time falling to sleep.
B.J. use to sing this little song in church when he was little. He sounded just too cute!
I'm Not Super Man
I got freckles on my nose and holes in my shoes
The wrong color clothes and a missing tooth
I'm not Super Man...God made me the kid that I am
I thank you Lord for who I am
I don't have to be a Super Man
I thank you Lord for who I am
I just want to be Your best friend.
Sometimes I trip and fall on my knees
I got skins and bruises all over me
I'm not Super Man...God made me the kid that I am
I thank you Lord for who I am
I don't have to be a Super Man
I thank you Lord for who I am
I just want to be Your best friend.
I never grew tired of the flowers B.J. picked for me. I remember most of them were just the flower with no stem and everyone of them were so sweet!
We lived on a ranch that had a horse when B.J. was little and one day we got out there riding him. I was scared of horses but I rode it with B.J. He was expecting me to be in charge and take him for a ride. That crazy horse started running and all me and B.J. could do is hang on and go with it. The horse was the one that was in charge...not me. B.J. never would ride that horse with me again!
In all of B.J.'s life I only seen him really mad just a few times. The first time was when he was in Kindergarten. He and his Daddy were play fighting and it got a little too rough and B.J. ended up getting hurt. It made him some kind of mad. He wasn't big as a minute but he was as mad as a hornet at his Daddy. He grabbed up a curtain rod he found laying around and went after his Daddy with fire in his eyes. I had to grab hold of him and let his Dad get outside until B.J. could cool off. It was really funny cause he was a lot madder than fit his size and I was afraid just what kind of damage he would do to his Dad if he got that curtain rod to make connection with him!
B.J. Graduated from Kindergarten in the big town of Valentine, Texas.
B.J. always wanted a burr cut when he was little and I finally gave in and let him have his first one the summer he was 6 years old. Isn't he cute!?!
B.J. loved his buddy Brother Jimmy. He called him his son. He is one little guy I'll never get rid of. We had an Assistant Pastor at our church when B.J. was little name Jimmy Sellers. B.J. loved this man and when he got his buddy doll he named him Brother Jimmy after our Assistant Pastor. I remember one time B.J.'s Dad went in to tell B.J. good night and Brother Jimmy was laying there in the way and Bobby picked him up and pitched him off of the bed. B.J. got so upset and came unglued on his Dad. He told him "don't you ever throw my son on the floor again!" That was one of the very few times I ever saw B.J. mad. He was just a little guy but he was ready to take his Daddy down for mistreating his buddy.
Oh he would have made such a good Daddy!
Also one time when he was in the hospital (Brother Jimmy went with him to the hospital every time) we were in the ER and he would tell one nurse or doctor that his name was Bobby and his little friend was Jimmy. Then the next doctor or nurse would come in and call him Bobby and he would tell them "I'm not Bobby I'm Jimmy and point at his buddy and say that's Bobby". And so it went like that one time he was Jimmy and the next time he was Bobby. I finally had to make him stop because he was causing them to get frustrated. LOL
Another time he was in the hospital in the Intensive Care and there was another bed in there with no one in it and a curtain to pull closed around it. Well B.J. and I put Brother Jimmy under the covers in his bed and bunched the covers up to make it look like it was him. We covered Jimmy's head. Then B.J. got over on the other side of the room and pulled the curtain closed. When his dialysis nurse (a young man) came in to do his dialysis he found who he thought was B.J. in the bed with the covers over his head. Well I had this terrible look on my face because I was trying to keep from laughing and he thought something had happened to B.J. is why I could just look at him and shake my head when he asked what was wrong as he looked from me to the bed where Jimmy was under the covers. The poor guy nearly jumped out of his skin when he finally got brave enough to pull back the covers and saw B.J.'s black buddy there. Oh man it was too funny! B.J. jumped from behind the curtain and laughed like an idiot at him. I don't think he was just overly enthused with us but it sure was funny and he took it in stride. And to think B.J. was sick enough to be in Intesive Care!
Poor little B.J. By the time he was 7 years old his little hip was giving him so much trouble. It wouldn't swivel so he wasn't able to ride a bike anymore. He had already learned to ride but had to stop. Well after he got out of the hospital we bought all the kids new bikes for Christmas the year he was 8 years old. B.J. had to use the training wheels on his because he could only push down on one pedal at a time and couldn't keep his balance. Poor little guy would hit the inside of his little knees on the middle bar over and over again and just kept them bruised up all the time. Oh but our little boy would not give up. He rode that bike up and down the alley until he got it to work for him and he learned to ride without the training wheels again. He was so proud of himself and we were proud of him too!
When B.J. was little probably around 8 years old he use to sing this little song in church all the time. It goes like this...
I can't even walk without you holding my hand.
That old mountain's too high.
That old valley's too wide.
Down on my knees where I learn to stand.
I can't even walk without you holding my hand.
We had it sang at his funeral too...so fitting for him.
B.J. gave me this card when he was just a little guy. I had always told him he was my Best Buddy in the Whole World. It looks as though he liked that idea pretty good...
On April 7,1992 when B.J. was only 7 yrs. old the Lord filled him with the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues. Then on August 16,1992 B.J. was baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of his sins! Bro. David Mullins baptized him in our horse trough baptismal tank at the Goldthwaite Evangelism Center UPC.
Thank you Bro. & Sis. Mullins for the big part you both played in helping make sure B.J. made Heaven his Eternal home.
B.J. made this Jesus plaque in Sunday school when he was 10 years old. It was a gift to his Mom and Dad for Christmas. We loved it and it was extra special because he made the U upside down. We could have pulled that little piece of wood off and fixed it but we loved it just the way it was. We still do!
This is a Mother's Day card I got from B.J.
This is another Mother's Day card I got from B.J. I remember getting these cards like it was yesterday. He made the first one in Sunday school and the other one he made at school. He was still nine years old when he made them...right before turning ten.
B.J. made this plate for me in school for Mother's Day in 1993 right before he tured 9 years old. I still have it and take it out and use it every now and then. It's a priceless gift I will treasure forever!
One night when B.J. was around 10 years old everyone was in bed and I heard a noise in the kitchen so I got up to see what it was. When I got in there no one was around but the jug of milk was sitting in the floor in front of the refrigerator. I walked down the hall just in time to see B.J. getting back into his bed. He had been sleep walking!
The only dog or for that matter the only pet B.J. ever owned was a little black and white dog he proudly named "Beethoven" after the movie Beethoven. Oh how he loved that dog! We had him for a good while and then someone we think poisoned it. It just got sick and was gone before we could even try to do something for him. It made B.J. sad but he sure enjoyed his dog while he had him.
The year B.J. was 9 years old all he wanted for Christmas was a new toolbox. He never was one to ask for a lot but he really wanted a toolbox that year. Well we got him one but we didn't wrap it and put it under the tree because we knew he would know what it was and we wanted to surprise him. So we wrapped a Mac & Cheese box instead with a note in it telling him to go look on his bed. When we got the kids all into the living room to open the presents I went and put the toolbox on his bed. We could tell as he was unwrapping his gifts that he looked so sad but wouldn't say anything about his disappointment. When he opened that Mac & Cheese box and read the note the look on his face was priceless! He jumped up and ran to his room and the next thing we know he's yelling and running back to the living room with the look of sheer joy on his face! He was so excited he forgot to bring the toolbox with him. LOL Our little boy was so happy. He never did get rid of that toolbox. I'm so thankful for such sweet memories of my Buddy.
B.J. had to use a wheel chair for about 3 years when he was little because his legs were just too weak. He could still walk in the house but if he went anywhere he had to ride in the wheelchair and he used it for school...it was just too hard on his little legs. Part of his physical therapy was to climb the stairs going up our back porch. The therapist has said he needed to do that to get his legs stronger. Well the poor little guy couldn't step up those stairs. He had to use the hand rail and pull himself up one step at a time to help his legs climb. His therapist said that was ok as long as he would do it. I remember how hard and how often he would work on those stairs. It was enough to break your heart just watching him. I can remember the day like it was yesterday that our pastor's wife came over for something and B.J. told her watch Sister Ima...and he ran up those steps, through the house and out the front door and down two steps there and came running around the house. He was hobbling but he did it. He worked so hard. You have to understand my little guy just never complained. He took what life dished out to him and made the best of it. We're talking about a little tiny 8 year old that didn't weigh but 30 something pounds but he had such faith. To him...life was good. That's why I always said he had a hard life of bad health but he had a good life. He made it good. He had every right and reason to complain yet he didn't.
B.J. was such an amazing little boy. He went from a wheel chair to running "Speed Limit" and we were all so proud of him for never giving up!
Our poor little Buddy. When he was young he walked with a waddle kind of like a duck waddles. We use to sing Weebles wobble but they don't fall down... B.J. wobbles and he does fall down! It sounds mean I know but we weren't trying to be mean. We were helping to remind him to practice not waddling. By the time he was a teenager he Waddled No More!
Our silly boy. Here he is with his two little sisters Kayla and Sarah. He was acting like he was trying to pick the bucket up with Sarah in it. He was a strong little guy and could pick it up but he wanted to act silly here.
One time our family was out going for a walk and we walked past this house that had a great big bull dog at it. We knew the dog was there but it was always on a chain and couldn't reach the sidewalk so we didn't worry when we went by. Well this time B.J. was riding his bike and just as he went past where the dog was at it came charging at him...they had moved the dog closer to the sidewalk and we didn't realize it. The dog jumped on B.J. and knocked him off of his bike and the bike landed on top of him. Thank God the dogs owner was out in the yard and ran over real fast and grab the dog off of B.J. before it could do much too him. He just had a few scrapes on him from the dogs teeth and from the bike but nothing too serious. We told the people we wouldn't press charges on them but we wanted them to keep that dog away from the sidewalk. They took him out to their place in the country and kept him there. B.J. never did get completely over his fear of dogs after that I don't blame him either. It could have been so much worse than it was.
Boys must love to torment their sisters. He would ask the girls if he could play with them or they would ask him to play and it never failed he would pull off their barbie dolls heads and put the clothes on backwards!
For B.J.'s 10th birthday we bought him a BB Gun. We always told him he better not shoot the neighborhood cats and dogs or any people with it. One day he asked me if he could go out into the park at the apt. complex where we lived and shoot a bird. I didn't think he would be able to shoot one so I told him to go ahead. I had tried shooting birds with a BB Gun when I was growing up and never was able to hit one so I thought the birds would be safe with him. I was wrong! It wasn't but a little while till here he came with a bird he had shot and it wasn't all the way dead. Lord I nearly freaked out. I told him to get out there and put the poor thing out of it's misery and to never shoot another bird. LOL He probably thought I had lost it. I don't know if he ever shot another one or not but if he did...he didn't tell me!
B.J. went to 6 Flags over Texas when he was 10 years old. While there he played the game where the guy guessed your age and had to come within a year or so of it. B.J. was 10 but he only looked about 6 years old so he knew he could play it and win. Well the guy of course guessed him to be 6 and when B.J. told him how old he was he didn't want to believe him so he asked us how old he was and what year he was born. We answered that he was 10 years old and was born in May 1984. We then went on to explain to him that B.J. had kidney trouble and that for 4 years he didn't grow. I don't think the man really believed us but he gave B.J. the prize anyway. It was a big blowup hammer. B.J. thought it was too funny and so did we.
Here B.J. is riding the carousel with his Dad. Poor little guy had to sit sideways on it because his hip wouldn't swivel so he could open his legs far enough to sit on it the right way. It didn't stop him from enjoying it though.
We use to call B.J. and his little sister Kayla and their cousin Daniel the 3 Musketeers. They always wanted to do everything together. So often if you saw one...you saw them all. One time the boys decided they wanted to ride their bikes out in the country. The only problem was is they weren't allowed to. Well this day they decided they wanted to anyway but what they weren't realizing is that by letting Kayla go with them they made a big mistake. She ended up telling me all about their adventure and boy did they get in trouble! She wasn't meaning to get them in trouble...she was just sharing about the fun she had. Those silly boys never made that mistake agin and if they did I have yet to find out about it.
For B.J.'s 12th birthday he wanted to have a Treasure Hunt so we put $10.00 worth of quarters in a bucket full of mud and let him have a "Treasure Hunt". He sure had fun with his sisters and friends finding all the money. They helped him find it but he got to keep it all. What a muddy mess they were but they had fun doing it.
B.J. made this Father's Day card for his Dad in Sunday school.
I have no idea who's underwear B.J. and Daniel put on but they were big enough for both of them!