My Birthday!!

 

Feb. 20th is my birthday. This year, I had a great day. All of my children, as well as my Mom and Dad were able to join us at our house. John let me sleep in, and I slept until 10:00. It felt so great. I haven't slept that late, in I'm not sure how long. (I'm such a night-owl, I have a hard time getting enough sleep). The crowd started rolling in around noon. They watched the game, while Beth, Greg (her boyfriend) and I took a road trip with Abbey and Elijah. With all the commotion, they couldn't sleep for their nap. I knew that they would be impossible to deal with without a nap. So, I used the tried and true baby sominex-the car. It worked like a charm!

We had a lot of food, most of them my favorites...

 

We had the obligatory birthday singing and candle blowing. This year I had a little help!

We took lots of pictures....

My gorgeous girls

Abbey and my Mom

My cutie-pie boy

Anna and John

Elijah and Beth

Dad and Mom

Greg (Beth's boyfriend)

Our whole family, I'm so blessed. Words can't describe!!

Some of us got tired of all the pictures and tried to express their displeasure

  

But, I persisted and look how nice they look

Handsome devils, aren't they? 

But, don't ask to take their pictures more than once.

That evening, Beth, Greg, John, Jr, John Sr. and I played cards. It was a lot of fun, but would have been more so, if I had won. 

At the day's end, I reflected on all the miraculous blessings God has given me. Days like this one are times when I just fall to my knees and thank Him for giving me more than I could ever deserve. Above all, I'm grateful for John and how he has helped/allowed me to have my dream of a big family, and how he loves me and them through it all. As I told him, I love it when they are all home. But, when they aren't here for some reason, I'm just as happy to be here with him, by ourselves, and that's pretty darn special, isn't it?