My Birthday & Counting My Blessings

My Birthday & Counting My Blessings.  As I got out of the shower yesterday and was drying off, I caught a glimpse of my bedroom and how pretty the sun was shining in on the bed.  Another Birthday, time to be thankful and count my blessings.

 

The last two years have been difficult years to navigate.  Losing Jim 2 years ago today and then losing my son Chuck 17 months later on Jan 13 this year added one more time of grief and another round of “firsts”.  A simple question “Do you have children?”  Replying with yes I have two, a son and daughter seemed so hard to say.  I’ve spent my life saying I have three, so this is hard. I feel like I have been through a wringer, but I am still standing.  I want to question God, but instead, I am learning to be Thankful for all I have and Count My Blessing.

Jim and I had 36 wonderful and happy years together.  I was also Blessed with an amazing loving and kind son.  Both of these men treated me like a Queen and I knew they loved me.  How fortunate could any girl be?  My life will forever be different, so I am learning to adjust to all the changes.

In the middle of loss, these last two years have brought so many Blessing too.  First was the birth of a beautiful little Grandson that is so much fun.  I’ve been able to babysit him a couple of days a week and watch him grow and learn.  He is such a delight and makes my heart sing.  He is 10 months old now and starting to walk.  That smile of his is the most precious thing ever.

 

Then the Lord Blessed me with a Beautiful Granddaughter in February.  She is so pretty and such a wonderful addition to our family.  She is the only little girl.  My 5 other grandchildren are all boys, so how fun to have a girl in the group.

Two weeks ago I got to meet her, she lives in Utah.  She is such a precious little angel and I loved being able to spend a little time with her.  Wish she lived closer so I could babysit.  The family all joined together for a Celebration of Life for my son in Oregon.  It was wonderful to see approximately 50 of his friends come to honor him and share their love.  Oregon is where he lived most of his life and raised his beautiful family.

When I was in Oregon I got to spend some time with a dear lifelong friend.  She (Zeila) and I were neighbors when we were raising our children.  We have shared all of the good and bad of life for most of my life.  I love that even our children are all still friends.  I found this picture from years ago to share with her – (she is the lady on the left.) the lady on the right (BJ) made up our trio.  Friends that have shared so much of life are God’s Special Gifts.

Another Blessing to count is having my Daughter, Son, and some of my grandchildren living nearby.  Having family around is priceless.  I am also so blessed that most of the rest of the family come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  This makes for a huge gathering, but so much fun.  I love to sit in the corner and just watch them all talk at once and laugh together.  They truly love each other, so these times are the best ever.  (This is at my daughter’s house 2 years ago.  I love that she can make such a big table for all of us to sit together.)

Graduations are always fun too.  Time keeps marching on and these kids are growing up fast.  This is my oldest grandson.  (Thank goodness I am over my Blonde phase.)

I am trying to stay current and fit with my health and fashion.  So I still love to go shopping and share my finds with you all.  (I can’t take a decent selfie to save my life.)  Here I am trying to share my favorite sweat pants.

Tomorrow we are having a family get-together.  We will be celebrating my son’s and my birthday.  The family out of state won’t be here, but there will be 10 of us, and there will be plenty of fun and laughter and tons of good food.

My life is full and happy, just different.  I love having my blog to visit all of you and to see what you’ve been up to.  It also motivates me to keep up with my home and decorating which I love.  I have a circle of friends that I cherish and love to visit.  It’s amazing how my blog introduced me to some fellow bloggers here in Phoenix years ago that have become lifelong and dear friends.  These amazing ladies are my heart, I love that we can get together for lunch and fun shopping days.

I have the most wonderful memories of years past and all the fun times I’ve shared with all of my family.  My life with Jim, raising my family, and watching everyone grow up and become happy and healthy adults brings back tons of fun and wonderful memories.  I am so happy to have those wonderful memories and to be able to continue to make new ones.  All of you guys have been an anchor and glue that has held me together, I can’t thank you all enough. Even though my life is different, it is still good and I am happy.  Another Great Birthday and looking forward to this coming year and making new memories.

I hope you all are Happy and can Count Your Blessing too.