Family

Today is my Dad's 80th birthday...we managed to pull off a big surprise by having 4 of my sisters from out of state (2 of us live nearby) show up for lunch today...he had no idea! We had a great lunch and talked about how having 6 of 8 kids (considering how spread out we all are) together for his birthday is quite an accomplishment. Then my brother was able to surprise the girls (Mom was the only one in on that one!) by coming up for dinner.  We aren't able to see each other often, so we really enjoy it when we do. Mom and Dad are enjoying having a houseful of people.  We're loud and crazy...but have a good time together!  We're proof that LOVE makes a family and for that I am very thankful!

Blessed!

Our family was blessed (again!) today by the birth of my great nephew...my sister's first grandbaby. While I'm sad I'm not able to be there with them to hug on my sweet niece (She was a trooper! It was a long, hard labor.) and kiss on that yummy newborn, I'm rejoicing that God has chosen to once again bless our family with a new life.  My Mama told me recently that her "wealth was in her family". I love that! She understands what blessings children are and what a privilege it is to get to raise them. She started off as mom to 3 (2 for a while...I was a late surprise) became mom to 8, grandmother to 25 and great-grandmother to 11 as of today (#12 is due in December). We're looking forward to the day when we get to add more blessings to the total...

An introduction

I know most of the readers here will be friends and family who know us well, but I thought I'd do a quick post to introduce my family. John and I will celebrate our 18th anniversary this summer. We were college sweethearts and he's my best friend. We are both up for the crazy adventures God wants us to go on. We've grown up together and look forward to growing old together.

Now for the boys....a quick aside...my friends IRL know I have major internet privacy issues. I'm not a big fan of putting my kids names and faces out there for the world to see. It was a major deal when I finally got a FB account and I'm still picky about what I post about them on there. That said, I will be using initials when I mention them and I would appreciate my IRL friends and family do the same when commenting....thanks!

P is my 14yo. He's about to be a freshman in high school. (How is that possible?) Loves football and basketball, is a leader in his youth group at church. Is a great big brother.

C1 is my 12 yo. He'll be starting 7th grade in the fall. He's also into football (our Thursday nights will be interesting!) and basketball. He's a deep thinker and has a million ideas going at once. He loves to work w/ the little kids at church.

E is my 8 yo. Oh that boy! ;-) He's a funny one. You never know what he's going to say. He's a math whiz and is obsessed w/ dates. Tell him your birthday and he'll remember it forever. He did great in AWANA this yr. finishing the 3rd Sparky book.

C2 is our baby. He's 2 yo (and yes he's still a baby!) He's been such a joy. He's into animals, cars, counting and "AB's". He loves his big brothers and can be found running around the house with a various assortment of light sabers or swords. We marvel at him everyday. Sometime I'll post about the story that led us to him.

God has blessed me with my family.