Celebrations

September 30th has been a day of celebration in our family for 3 specific reasons:

First off, it's my sister and brother-in-law's Wedding Anniversary, 

it is also their son Scott's birthday, and our nephew Michael's birthday.

When I was young and still lived at home 

we would often celebrate the birthdays together.

Here I am with Scott as a young boy.

I'm trying to find a picture of me with my other nephew.

If I find one I'll post it here one day.

Those days were precious to me. 

Our whole family would get together and celebrate.

Now we are all scattered and it's not as easy to get together for these celebrations.

That makes me a little sad :0(

I was able to find a picture of the happy couple on their wedding day

Today marks their 45th Anniversary 

and they are celebrating on a cruise as I type this post :0)

A gift from their son and daughter-in-law who went along, too,

after all, it is Scott's birthday too! 

Here's wishing you all Bon Voyage!!!

And in the spirit of celebration, 

let me introduce you to our newest reason to celebrate

Miss Aria Rose was born to our niece Crystal and her husband Adam

on September 27th...that's right - this little sweetheart was born on my birthday!

Remember our trip to her Baby Shower

Isn't she beautiful!!!

Driving Lessons

My husband's been wanting to teach me how to drive our bus. 

and where we currently store it happens to be the perfect place

because outside of the warehouse there is a big empty parking lot.

Anyway, today was the day.

Now, I've watched him drive this bus for the past six years

but watching and doing are two different things.

Here he's going over the controls with me

Do I look ready?

Ok...here we go ---

I even backed it up. I liked doing that :0)

After a few times around, my husband pointed out this close encounter

(Do you see the tire mark path on the pavement?)

That's our cute little Kia Soul on the right side

Do you see how close I got to it???  YIKES!!!

I had been checking my mirrors but never noticed how close I had gotten!

Our bus is 40 feet long and you have to make really wide turns.

I would not have been a happy camper if I had scratched our car

or worse (I'm not gonna even think about it). 

Anyway, my hubby said I did real good. 

I'm gonna take his word for it 

because I have no intentions of driving on the road anytime soon :0)

My Birthday Day 3

Yesterday was my birthday, but the day before I had a special birthday luncheon 

yesterday I got to love on my grandson most of the day

and today we took family pictures and went out to dinner...

so I'm feeling very special and VERY loved!

Next to my God, there is nothing in this world that I love more than my family

and the only thing I really wanted for my birthday

was Family Pictures...

This is my family

 Meagan, Mark, Ethan, Me, Manny, Manuel, Darla, Sarah and Hannah

My cup of blessings is overflowing.

Thank you, Lord,  for these precious blessings in my life!

Happy Birthday to Me

 Today is my birthday

Most everyone in my family had to work today, so Lord-willing we'll celebrate together tomorrow night

but this is what I got to do today

I got to spend the day with Ethan (and with Milli)

This is what a sleeping angel looks like

  

and this is what sunshine looks like

This was a gift from a dear friend

I also got so many wonderful birthday wishes from family and friends

I am so incredibly blessed. Thank you, Lord!

Sarah's First Tea

Tomorrow is my birthday but I started celebrating today :0)

Today I went to a Tea Luncheon with my mother,

my daughters-in-law, my grandchildren (all of them to date),

and one of my dearest friends.

We had such a lovely time and this was Sarah Anne's First Tea.

She was an absolute doll, following in the footsteps of her sister Hannah.

Here are some pictures:

Master Ethan was our escort

Presenting Miss Sarah Anne

and Miss Hannah Beth

My mom and Hannah

Mom and Sarah

My delicious lunch

Hannah's lunch

Meagan and Darla

My dear friend Lois (and me)

Mom and Me

The babies loaded up for the trip home

Until next time :0)

Missing Me

The days go faster and faster it seems.

I wake up - my feet hit the floor, the phone starts ringing...

I scramble to put my face on and make the bed.

I like for my husband to see the prettier me when he heads off for the day.

That would be the me with makeup on. 

I don't think it matters much to him, 

unless it interferes with getting him out the door on time -

in which case he most definitely prefers his lunch being made than my face w/makeup.

Men are funny about food, at least my man is :0)

So today after tying up a lot of lose ends around here

I went grocery shopping - not one of my favorite things to do

but it needed to be done. 

As I was coming into the house I heard Milli howling.

I'm not sure why, she's completely deaf, but she was going at it.

I think she must have realized I was gone and she felt lonely. 

That broke my heart :0(

I'm home a lot since our office is in our home

and usually she sleeps most of the day, but today she was missing me. 

♥ I love that old girl ♥

Little Mama

Busy but productive day today. 

Got our computer back, this time with a newer and larger hard drive.
Praise the Lord!!!

(Think I may have neglected to mention it was sent out to the pc doctor again 
- he happens to be our son :0)

We got to see our grandbabies this weekend

and yesterday I snapped this picture

Hannah was tending to her sister...isn't this precious!

She was so good with Sarah!

Sarah, who is usually quite the happy, little baby

is trying to cut some teeth and was not feeling very well.

Hannah is just like a little mother.
I know she is a big help to her mama.

While we visited, Hannah told us all about first grade (which she recently started) 
and she showed us her room which she had just cleaned, and reorganized.
This is the little kitchen set we had gotten her for Christmas a few years back
I think it's still a favorite of hers

Oh how we love that little girl!

Prayers

I've been praying about some specific things lately

and sometimes I allow myself to become anxious,

but today I've had some confirmations that God is at work.

He has filled me with His peace. 

Prayer is a wonderful thing, but I have to be honest

God's answers don't always come as quickly as we'd like,

in fact, they are not always the answers we might anticipate

but God is faithful and just 

and I have learned there is no better place to be than in His perfect will. 

Today's church service was really great 

AND 

we got to see all our kids and all our grandchildren. 

We are so blessed!

Showers of Love

Went to my great-niece's bridal shower today

Here I am with the Bride-to-be and her mother - my niece Angela

The Cake

Food Table

Cupcakes

 More Yummy Goodies

The Chocolate Fountain

Beautifully Carved Fruit

 A Special Guest (Little Boo Bear)

 

The Gifts

This was the evening sky on our way home

(can you see the cross)

Thank you Lord for such a beautiful day!

I pray your blessing upon Brittany & Jeffrey and the new life that awaits them.