5 Girls Later

Jessica and John's Wedding

2011-11-20T18:08:00.001-07:00

Too Old for New Years

2008-12-31T19:07:00.002-07:00

Why is it that all I want to do on New Years Eve is go to bed early? If I know that I have to stay up until midnight I have to take a nap at about 5:00 pm so I can stay awake. It feels like it is the longest night of the whole year just waiting for the ball to drop. The funny thing is that I stay up way past midnight almost every night. It is only on New Years Eve that I struggle. When our kids were little we use to fake them out and set the clocks forward a couple of hours so we could go to bed earlier. It didn't matter to them that they were the only ones outside with their pots, pans and wooden spoons making lots of noise in celebration of the New Year. They believed our neighbors were all crazy partiers who couldn't tell time when they started making noise two hours later.
I guess I am just getting too old to party on New Years! Good Night!

I Have The Sweetest Girls in the Whole World!

2008-12-14T19:06:00.003-07:00

I have the most wonderful girls! They are so sweet and thoughtful.
Yesterday they successfully pulled off a surprise I will never forget. My 50th Birthday was on Monday and my only request was to stay home and watch a movie with a warm fire burning in the fireplace. It was a perfect night. Lacey is planning to have a formal Christmas Dinner Party on Tuesday and announced to everyone that she had a very busy week and the house needed to be cleaned on Saturday. I had not been feeling well so I slept most of the day waking up occasionally to some yelling from the cleaning Patrol. We had plans to go out to dinner at the Pagoda with Todd's Mom and Dad for my Birthday. All Day I kept asking if we could change the date and go another time, but the family insisted that I would feel better after I ate some Pagoda. We picked up Maga & Papa and went to dinner. It was great as usual. We took them home and as we walked in our back door I was so ready to go back to bed, when I heard "Surprise"! I looked in the family room and saw many of my sweet family & friends gathered. I was in a state of shock and then I felt so humbled that these wonderful people took the time to come see me on a cold snowy December night. Wow! I hope they know how much they touched my heart with their love. All night long came visits from those I love dearly.
What a special night. The girls had everyone write on a card about a special memory they had of me. Their thoughts and this night will be treasured forever. I Love My Girls!

I Love Christmas!

2008-12-14T16:54:00.004-07:00

I am a Christmas Junkie! I Love Christmas! I have always said that Christmas should be two months long. Halloween should be in September so Tick-or-Treating can be done when the fall nights are still warm and coats are not covering up those cute costumes. Thanksgiving should be in October, when the harvest has ended. That is what the celebration is about. And Christmas should be celebrated November and December. It is hard to get excited about Thanksgiving when all the stores have already got you hooked on Christmas. I am always ready to put my tree up before the Turkey Dinner is served but my family keeps telling me I can't. So you know what I do the day after Thanksgiving? Put up the Tree and all the other Christmas Decorations. I decorate almost every room in the house, put garland up the stairs, and lights in every window. I love lots of white lights. When I was little there was a house close to our neighborhood that had millions of little white lights everywhere. Even the trees and bushes outside were covered. I remember dreaming that someday I would have a house like that. I still have not seen that dream come totally true but every year I keep getting a little closer. I need to get a cherry picker to get to the top of my trees. I still believe it will happen!

Despite that fact that I love to decorate for Christmas. What I love the most about this time of year is The Spirit of Giving that seems to be contagious this time of year. We all seem to take a closer look at those around us and realize there are many who need our love and support and we then we do something about it. I have always thought it would be such a different world to live in if we could feel that way all year long. I believe our hearts desire to give this time of year because of our focus on Christ. We celebrate His life and remember the great sacrifice He made. It is a time we feel loved and blessed. And because we have been given much we want others to feel those same feelings. Everyone deserves to feel loved and blessed!