Nearly A Decade of Blessings!

I started this blog nearly 10 years ago....

2011:

Started with the first thing you see as you walk in my house.... 

and ended the year with my Christ-mas tree

2012:

Started with random thoughts (including the dating world and my "best" teenager) and ended with future in-laws!

2013:

I got married!!! What a difference a year can make!

And my baby girl got married too!

2014:

Invisible challenges and hidden blessings...

And our first 2 littles!

2015:

Had a hard time being done with the holidays.... 

but ended the year celebrating!

2016:

The year of the Parker!!!

And Grands make Christmas even more grand!

2017:

Another Grand!

And thankful for my husband!

2018:

Another Grand!

Now we have a 4, 3, 2, 1 and 0!!! They all melt my heart!

2019:

Two more Grands!!!

What could be better?!

2020 with our magnificent seven is sure to be a stellar year of blessings!!!

New Year, New Reasons to be Grateful!

These were my "fireworks" this morning... really my oven element burning. I now know this type of fire gives off sparks like fireworks and can only be stopped by pulling out the oven and unplugging the whole thing.

I guess I should be upset about this or something, but all I can think is how grateful I am that this fire happened when and how it did. You see, I had been making my MIL's pineapple ham - it cooks on low all night. The fire could have happened in the middle of the night, but it didn't. It started just as I came up the stairs after being up for a couple of hours. So I saw the fire right away! What a blessing. I knew about the fire and did not mess around with my oven. (After the appliance guy replaced the element and tried to set the clock, he received a BIG shock/spark - that could have been me...)

I was also blessed in that my ham was already cooked - it turned out great, BTW!

Additionally, I had been thinking of baking a pumpkin pie for our Christmas party to go with our 2 cheesecakes - but decided not to do so. Guess this decision helped this fire to wait a little longer and may have helped me succeed with baking the cheesecake. Plus my appliance guy could come right away today - not so sure he could have come on Christmas or New Year's, etc. 

All in all, if I had to have a fire, at least this one came with blessings. Hope the year continue the way it has started - with many, many blessings!

My Girl!

I sure love this girl of mine!!!

And all of her minis as well!

Char is such a good wife and mom and exactly what a daughter should be! 

I am so blessed to have her as my daughter!

Our Magnificent Seventh!

Sophia has joined our family, and we are so blessed to have this little one!

She struggled with pneumonia  for the first little while and had to spend time in the NICU. She was a trooper and was finally able to come home... (And the staff at the NICU was incredible!)

I am so happy that her family has her home now!

So blessed to have our magnificent Sophia!

So I did a thing this fall....

and I love the way it turned out!

I have wanted a backsplash for a while now to help my kitchen stay looking clean (scrubbing white walls just doesn't get it looking clean....) I do know how to tile BUT the counter was not level in one corner! If I put in tile, it would have emphasized the uneven-ness...

So I put all my painting knowledge/experience to work:

 Several hours later...

Yeah!!!

And a big thanks to Luke for paying someone to get me black switches and plugs too!

Now after I clean, it looks clean too!

I am so grateful to be able to do some things around the house.

Missing Mom,...

but so blessed to have had her as MY mom!

This year I am officially older than my mother ever was upon this earth. It is more challenging to me to think of this than I would have ever guessed. I miss her very much sometimes. 

My mother was stupendous! (and always will be, actually!) Here are just a few visual reasons why:

I am so blessed to have had such a mother!

A Blessed Break this Fall!

This year, fall break was a week long!!! And with the end of the quarter, I got to add on to it too.

It was A LOT of driving, but Luke and I got to see all of our littles!

Including this guy! It was so great to meet Thomas and visit with his parents!

(get ready for picture overload...)

There is nothing better in this life than sleeping baby snuggles!

And the many faces of Thomas... (Luke says that he changes his expression nearly every second sometimes!)

This may be his most common one! This boy's a thinker, for sure!

I couldn't quite catch a grin, though... maybe next time!

Luke and I only got to see Claire and Olivia for literally a few minutes- but it was good to stop by! (and the new baby will be here so soon!)

And then Riley, Parker and Ashtyn...

Definitely my princesses!  (all 5!)

I am so blessed to be a grandma!