Mandy has Graduated!!!

"Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12

Well, we wrap up another busy week or so. I am a little behind posting but I spent 3 of the past 5 days at the hospital. All is well, however. Routine tests are being performed on Abigail and praise the Lord in that so far everything is looking good. She was a little trooper for her MRI and ultrasounds.

Mandy graduated on Saturday, May 30th. While she is not my daughter, we are a very close family and have always co-parented each other's children. I feel like another child of mine has graduated! We had a wonderful celebration after the graduation ceremony with family, church family and friends. For anyone who has helped put together a graduation party, you know it is a lot of work. Our family is so blessed with having each other to lend a hand so we share in each other's burdens and tasks. With 3 of us sisters pulling together and preparing the food and decorating, it all went smoothly......except for one little hitch of one of the crock pots not working so the scalloped potatoes were raw. There was plenty of other food so no one seemed to mind.

John and Melissa head off to the Oregon coastline on Tuesday for a short vacation before the baby is born. I am envious! The Oregon coastline is one of my favorite places in the world and I hope to take my two little ones there some day. Six more weeks and our first grandchild should be arriving! How exciting for John and Melissa. Our whole family is eagerly anticipating her arrival.

Abigail absolutely amazes me at how quickly she has learned the English language. She is much happier now that she can communicate with us. She is a feisty little girl with lots of personality. Shane is still quite jealous of her and I am hoping that he will get better with this over time. He loves her but having to share mom and dad with someone after two and a half years of having practically having us to himself has been an adjustment.

I would be remiss not to mention that this week, on June 2nd, marked the one year anniversary of our dear mother's death. We have made it through all "the firsts". Those of you that have lost someone near and dear to you know what I mean. A close friend of mine told me to expect all "the firsts" to be difficult and she was right. The Lord is gracious and we are doing fine. That is not to say that I don't miss my mother every single day. I can close my eyes and feel and smell her presence. Daddy celebrated his 68th birthday today. I know it was not much of a celebration as we buried mama on his birthday last year. We, girls, made him dinner and a pie and visited with him this afternoon. We sat on the front porch at the home that we grew up in and watched our children play in the front yard while we visited with our father. It was peaceful and the weather was lovely. It breaks my heart to know that once we left, he spent the remainder of his birthday alone and I am sure, thinking of his wife of 47 years and missing her.