Another Birthday - My Amazing Daughter

It seems just a few days ago that I hit publish on this post for her last birthday, and now here we are again and the year has flown!

How can it be that my girl is already 17!

She is the best and I could not be more proud of the amazing young woman she has become.  God has so richly blessed our family to have her as our own.

She has an awesome sense of humor and is a loyal fan of Dr. Who.

She shares important events with her brother and is a great friend to him.
They laugh a lot and are always there for each other.

She is really smart, beautiful, caring, quick witted and sometimes sarcastic, kind, loving,
thoughtful, talented in more ways than I can count, works hard, dreams big, and loves Jesus,
her family, and her orange cat (hopefully in that order!).

Every day I am thankful that God gave me this wonderful person and I'm honored to be her mom. 

Happy Birthday Jess!  I love you more than you can know and I continue to be amazed by your gifts and your joy in life.  Follow Jesus and dream of great things because God has big plans for you my girl!

With all my love always,
Mom

A Milestone Birthday

Once upon a time there was a baby girl being held by her Grandpa.

And some years went by... and there was a slightly bigger girl at a farm.

And she was a princess defended by her brother.

And then suddenly she was big enough to do really fun things like ride horses!

And now... today... she is sixteen years old!  How did that happen so fast?!?

Happy Birthday my darling daughter!

‘“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;

the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;

the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”’

~Numbers 6:24-26

A Happy Birthday

So it was my birthday.

 And all four of our kids were here and my parents came up... and Mom even made me a double chocolate fudge cake with lots of candles to humor the kids.

Steve bought me a beautiful pellet stove for our home.

Saffron thinks it is for her.

We had a lovely day together.  There was LOTS of laughter and that is what makes for a truly Happy Birthday in my book.  God has truly blessed me far beyond my grandest dreams.

Another Birthday

This time is my youngest child... who has some how, in just a blink, become a young man.

At around a year old he was just adorable

and oh so BUSY! 

 

And today he is twelve!  A young man. Smart and strong, kind and loving.  Still very busy!  Learning, growing and in training to be the man God has planned for him to be....  and making his mama so proud of him!

Handsome like his Dad! :-)

Happy birthday my son!
May you always be blessed on the journey God has marked for you!

“‘“The LORD bless you
   and keep you;
 the LORD make his face shine upon you
   and be gracious to you;
 the LORD turn his face toward you
   and give you peace.”’ 

~Numbers 6:24-26

Mother's Day & my birthday

My birthday falls near Mother's Day.  A few times it has even been ON Mother's Day.  It's not a big deal.  Neither day is that much of a 'special' thing for me personally.  Mother's Day is one of those quasi-Hallmark holidays in my book.  Don't get me wrong - I like to have my kids give me an 'atta Mom' and "We love you!"  But I much prefer them unprompted and unscripted.
Birthdays in general aren't a huge deal in our family.  We usually celebrate with just my folks and sometimes a friend or two for the kids and most of the time enjoy a dinner out someplace low-key.  We are not big on hype and super-fancy around our house.  *shrug* 

This year for my gift from Steve, I found a really neat necklace from a cool little etsy shop online The Adopt Shoppe.  All proceeds go towards funding their adoption of a child from another country.  Definitely a  worthy cause!  And the verse on the necklace is one of my favorites.  Jeremiah 29:11

Actually I love the whole Bible (of course!  It's God's Word!) ... but some verses really jump out to me at different times and this one has been one of those to hold onto when things are rough and when things are great too.

Jeremiah 29: 11(italics mine) - 13

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

Doesn't that sound so hopeful and encouraging, comforting and just SAFE?  Yeah... I think so too.

Blessings on the journey all~