Our family wishes you the very happiest new year... I know I am late with this greeting, but this Christmas, much like last Christmas, has been fraught with varying degrees of joy and grief. Our precious children arrived on the 18th and we spent the next day with my dearest mother who was just barely able to join us for a celebration of family and yuletide cheer.... you can see in the photo her humerus which she had broken so severely jsut a week before was breaking through her frail arm. At 78 pounds she was just barely with us. But she was thrilled to be with the family, especially with Amanda and Birdie!
Birdie is one of the joys of our lives.... so precious in everyway... delightfully bright and happy all the time!
She loved her new phone..immediately her thumbs went to work "texting' just as she'd seen her mom and dad do so much! She didnt quite seem to understnad what the big deal was with that, but she loved the phone!
Another joy is our beautiful and amazing daughter, Amanda, without whom I would never have made it through the Christmas season this year.
Our Christmas day was the 23rd this year and Birdie's delight in packages and tissue paper kept smiles on all our faces.
while Amanda and I relished our annual fire with its warm and cheerful glow!
I loved watching sweetums explore her Christmas toys!
Soon the kids left us to Christmas with Joshua's family... and we settled in to just enjoying the after glow of Christmas 2014... then on the 27th we got the call we had been expecting for some time... Mom's vitals were very low... hurry on over... but she was gone when we got there.
Thankfully, the kids were still in town..God's timing is perfect.... His will amazing.. His mercy everlasting and full of grace!
Mother passed away on December 27, two days after Christmas... she had held on for weeks just to see our family together one last time. Dad passed away last Christmas.. and now after 70 years of marriage they a re reunited at last!
My dear cousin, Pam, released the dove at her funeral.... Pam is and was so dear to mom because she lived with us for some months as a child when her own mother battled cancer,,,, praise God she is a survivor!
We were very blessed that our children were able to adjust their flight schedules and remain with us a few extra days.... I'll tell more about those days in my next post.
