Thanksgiving

I hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the first time this year! 

Happy 60th, Mom!

When I saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew this would be a special way to celebrate Mom’s 60th birthday.  Living in 4 states over the last 60 years, she has touched a lot of lives and made lots of wonderful friends.

I sent letters to everyone I could think of, asking them to write a memory they had of mom.  We were amazed at all of the letters that started coming in from old friends, choir members, past student-teaching mentors, relatives, people who met her at Lamaze class, people who hadn’t seen her in forty years… people from every decade of her life from birth until now.

Surprisingly, we had exactly 60 people respond!  We put all their memories into 60 envelopes…

… and took her out for a nice meal at an Italian restaurant in town.  We got babysitters for all the kids and had a private room reserved for the evening.

After dinner, we surprised her with “just one more thing”…

… and we watched as she opened the letters and read the memories.  We heard some funny stories and special messages that brought back good memories.  Some made her laugh, some made her reminisce, and some made her cry. 

It was a lot of fun to collect the letters and take a glimpse at what Mom was like before kids, to see how all of these people were woven into Mom’s life to make her the person she is today.  It was the perfect, nostalgic gift to celebrate her.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

Romantic

This picture shows true romance in my eyes… Luke took the kids grocery shopping to help me out and give me some time alone in the house.  What a romantic (and brave!) man!

My God is…

All the students at Logan and Audrey’s school were asked complete the phrase “My God is…”   Their responses, in pictures, were used at our annual school fellowship dinner.  Check out Logan and Audrey’s responses.