Gratitude

I have to admit...when my world gets shaken up a bit I have the greatest support team.

I am feeling so much better and the hole in my heart is slowly healing.

I had friends, old and new, calling and sending gifts of love letting me know that I am in their thoughts.

Every day I would get random texts asking if I was surviving.

My family called and cried with me.

And through it all I had Jeff making me laugh.

I'm not going to turn this into a sappy post, instead I'm going to post how I know Jesus loves me:

Its kinda hard to tell but on my way down to my dads the day after Cheri's death I spotted a midget motorcycle gang.

Token's like this are few and far between.

click here to read Cheri's obituary....

I wish I knew how to cut and paste it to my site but I don't.

stop

With all the crazy events happening in my life I've stopped to notice the small things.

Like Emily showing her dog Molly the shirt I made with a picture of Molly on it. I don't think she'll ever take that shirt off.

Garrett's joy at me arranging for him to be babysat by Trenton and Austin for a few hours this afternoon. I've never seen him so excited.

And Abby's excitement at wearing a new outfit today.

All of these things would have happened regardless of my circumstances but because someone near and dear to me has died those reactions of my children are what keep me going.

Now I know that when I feel numb inside my hearts starts to melt with my kids smallest joy.

The end of an era.....

so we all know the story of Brownie/survivor the cow:

If you don't remember he is the only survivor of the eight cows that died when Dip and Dot decided to be farmers. THE ONLY ONE OF EIGHT. Sadly, they were just the beginning of the story, "Death on a Farm". Well, Dip and Dot, aka: John and Jeff, sold the entire farm, Brownie included. The farm is no more. In fact, Brownie is probably sitting in someones stomach right now (unbeknownst to Emily who thinks he is alive and well on another farm. We had to tell her that when we got a call from her teacher because she had been crying all morning. When I asked her about it she said that she was looking at the encyclopedia under "C" and came across cattle and it made her so sad. So I told her that he was still alive so that I wouldn't have to pay a psychologist in 10 years. Yes, I'm a bad mom for lying to my kids.)

On the flip side of the coin we now have her pup living with us who I tried to bathe to get the cow patty smell out of.

It was not a pretty sight and I'm terribly sore today (plus she still smells).

She's never seen the inside of a house before let alone a bathtub.

So farewell farm.

It made for some good stories.

But I don't think I'll miss it much.

Emily Claire turns 9

Em woke up this morning to a new scooter...

She was so excited about it she didn't even want to open anything else.

More pictures to come as the day goes on..

Happy Birthday Em!

Well except this from Aunt Jill. It was pretty cold outside....Thanks Jill for saving the day!

for anyone that doesn't know what that is its a fish water bottle....