A Brief History Lesson, with Pictures!

Fifty-two years ago today, this little baby with a ton of black hair came into the world. She was the third of what turned out to be nine kids. Here she is at 3, getting her picture made of her "all by herself."

After a while, she met a certain someone & finally decided that he was the man of her dreams...

They married, had FOUR KIDS, and lived to tell about it. And to be happy about it.(objects in the camera are older than they appear)

This little baby celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary with her one and only, by flying across the country to San Francisco for a long weekend, a trip to the wine country, a rented Jaguar that broke at THE worst possible moment, and a sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

(We kept wondering why so many people on that beach were building fires, until the sun went down. It was COLD! In June!!!)

More time passing, and there's a milestone birthday that arrives (think semi-centurian), which was celebrated with another milestone/first:

Yes, I cried. It was one of the prettiest things I'd ever seen. I cried when I saw the Pacific, too. I cry. Adjust. But I didn't cry too much - we did enjoy the weather a lot:

Then we had to come back home :(

But life goes on, & it's good We have a new puppy (55 pounds & growing)

to fill the void left by our 14-year old dog's leaving us right before Christmas

Gracie, we'll love you forever.

And, now, we're all getting fat, we're all happy, and God has blessed us beyond measure. All I need now is a little snow (school closing tomorrow wouldn't hurt) and this will be the best birthday ever!