Blessed On My Birthday!

I'm not so found of growing a year older
but I do love it when my littles,
who are now getting bigger -
 shower me with LOVE!

Soooo many blessings!

And yes-
 it was my day
to feel special
and to get lots of
TLC!

They were all so excited for Mom to open her gifts!

I love how close they get!
Personal space is not all it's cracked up to be!

They made birthday cards for me!

I love their creativity

and thoughtful hearts!

Photo bombing
is the new thing
here!

Thank you kiddos!
Now I have wonderful new refrigerator art!

This Momma got a new phone
(with a much better camera on it!),
earings and a necklace,
 and a slow/fast(pressure) cooker!

Thank you for my wonderful gifts!
I also got a moment to myself as they all went out shopping!
Thank works!

I never dreamed that at 50 something years old
I would be so blessed
with 16 kiddos at home
celebrating my birthday with me!

All the bigs called and texted birthday wishes-
 it was so great to hear from each of them!

And 5 bigs living independently
and doing their thing!
Plus 2 wonderful "in loves" and 3 fabulous girlfriends for our boys!

Thank you JESUS!

Grace and I share a birthday!
We celebrated her first and then
I had a little celebration a couple days later!

But on our actual day we were both (and the whole family)
blessed to have visitors from Minnesota come to our home!

Kind of a new fun shirt,
right!?!

Well...
BEWARE,
when you need to go to the bathroom!

Of course that didn't happen to me!?!
Wink, wink!

I Remember...

While we were in China this past December

one of our daughters

remembered part of "her story"!

It's was jaw dropping and heart breaking to hear it...

And yet...

it's such a blessing to know 

some of her past.

This post is posted over at 

No Hands But Ours!

To see this post please click on the link!

Her First Birthday~ Grace is 9 Years Old!

In China birthdays aren't celebrated.

And when you are an orphan,

a birthday... 

goes unnoticed...

So once our kiddos are home 

we like to 

celebrate them!

This was Grace's very first

birthday celebration!

And needless to say...

she enjoyed 

every minute of it!

Mom and Dad needed to get 

a post placement pic

with Grace!

Here is our first attempt!

I'm in the midst of telling Sarah

what to do... 

she snaps it a bit early!

Of course, this would be 

the best pic of Grace 

and

not of us...

Second try...

sorry Grace...

 this ones going to China!

A Mom's gotta do, what a Mom's gotta do!

The kids love to make cards for each other!

It's so heartwarming to see them working hard on their siblings bday card!

Joey is very proud of his masterpiece!

Gel pens and coloring books 

are very popular around here!

Hours of peaceful fun for all!

(Including me!)

Grace asked for an American Girl doll!

She was encouraged to go through the catalog
by her Momma and sisters!

The time for this is growing short

and we want the children to enjoy 

their childhood for as long as possible!

You might thing we are spoiling Grace...

You're right...

and it feels good!

She has the sweetest, kindest demeanor.

She asks for nothing...

She defines- easy going.

She left everything she has ever known

and joined our family.

What an awesome look of 

DETERMINATION!

Grace wanted a bike for her birthday...

We weren't sure if she would be able to ride it

but with each day

she is getting better and better at it!

Now her bike has joined the

line up of bikes in our garage!

Mary Ellen and Grace are ready for bed!

This is Grace's 9th Birthday!

For eight years no one noticed...

so now we CELEBRATE!

I used to love it when the big kids could join us

but now the are all grown up, working, most are living in different towns

 and some of them have children.

All a blessing

but still

sometime I want to live in the past...

It's important for me to be thankful 

for all the fun times we have had

but also it's important 

to move forward and enjoy the moment... the present!

It looks like Jake might be singing a bit too loud for Abby!

Since they have never blown out candles before 

they often

are not too good at it!

It took Grace a couple tries!

Getting better every day!

Grace and I share a birthday!

My post is next

and you will see 

that we were both abundantly blessed on our day!

The next morning we celebrated by going to Build A Bear Workshop!

Another experience she has missed out on...

but not any longer!

Her bear was stuffed with everything it needs 

to live a long and happy life!

God Bless You
sweet birthday girl!

Jenny and Jake got a bear, too!

Now we're done...

everyone has a teddy bear!

I think this birthday was a success!

There will be more birthday blessings on my next post!

Mother's Day 2017

Happy First Mother's Day to our wonderful DIL Caitlin!

It was such a joy to be able to celebrate with you!

Elodie is so cute!

She is such a mellow baby girl!

We went to church bright and early 

and then had a mid morning brunch!

We all made an egg dish together, cut up fresh berries

and...

ordered apple pancakes from
The

Original Pancake House!

(Per my request!)

She is interested in everything!

Especially all of the different shapes in our house-

a chandelier, rod iron railing, the echo when she makes noises

and more!

Caitlin LOVES being a Mom!

Elodie is crawling now

and she's quite fast!

Every time I was set to take a pic...

she'd head in a different direction!

Nana's got to get faster with the camera!

The children ran errands with Hubby 

and brought home a few special things!

 Balloons and flowers!

It made my day!

They made many special cards and pictures for me!

Mia made this and privately gave it to me!

Progress!

She is moving in the right direction and we are so thankful!

 All of the other children called and texted

"Happy Mother's Day"!

It was different not having Billy, Kelly, Mark and Johnny

come over for dinner.

(We did celebrate with a Mother's Day brunch in MN the next weekend!)

It was such a blessing to be able to celebrate

 with Matt, Caitlin and Elodie!

Since they have lived in Colorado for quite awhile
we missed many holidays with them.

Being a Mother 

is truly my greatest joy! 

I am so deeply passionate about 

ALL of my children!

Feeling abundantly blessed!