My Sam.

All of my boys are . . . quite simply put . . . AMAZING!!

Each of them have a special place in my heart.  I wanted to

give a shout out to Sam!  He is such a wonderful person!

He has only needs to earn 10 more credits and he will

have his Associate's Degree.  He works hard and does an

amazing job at everything he tries.  He has had a different

golf season this year for many reasons, yet has remained

committed to his team . . . even in the most difficult 

moments.  He is smart, kind, loving, and Christlike.  He

sees the good in just about EVERYONE.  I could not 

be prouder of a seventeen year old if I tried.  He loves

me in spite of myself and is my psychologist, computer

wizard, photographer, accountabler, and much more

all rolled into one ball.

As I walk this unfamiliar journey, I have become so

very much more aware of why our Heavenly Father

has placed different individuals in my life.  He certainly

knew what He was doing when he gave me the

gift of this guy.  I continue to be blessed by him daily

and grateful for the wonderful young man he is!  I

do so wish that our Dad could be here to witness Sam.

It is difficult to imagine the milestones my boys will

pass through without their amazing Dad.  I will

continue to be thankful for my many, many blessings,

especially the gift of my amazing boys.

Missing Our Wonderful Dad.

So loved when things were JUST like THIS!!!

It is just so hard to comprehend.

Difficult to still imagine.

More than hard to believe.

We miss and love our wonderful Dad

so very much!!

Some days are much more difficult

than others . . . Yet, we are all

trying desperately to somehow

move on in our journey.

THURSDAY BONUS:  Had so much

fun facetiming with our Tim.

He is a wonderful son and I miss

him with all of my heart!  I am so

excited that he working so hard to

achieve his goals.

Zach continues to work hard at his

studies and his job.  I am so thankful

for him and how he cares for 

all of us!!

Sam is doing such an AMAZING job

both on and off the course!!!  His

schoolwork is impeccable.  He is

truly a remarkable young man.

Luke . . . what a WONDERFUL

WONDERFUL son!!!  Everything

about him is beyond words.  I

am so very proud of him!!!

BLESSINGS abound.  We are so 

incredibly thankful for our wonderful

family and friends . . . for their 

continued support and prayers.  

There have been so many who have

come alongside . . . willing to bare

some of the burden.  We are forever

grateful.

Stitches.

Rainy days in Las Vegas can only mean one

thing . . . MORE quilting.  Susan was so

kind to come over tonight to babysit hangout

with me tonight while the boys went to a

birthday party around the block.

I was excited to almost finish this quilt top!!!

There are five quilts in the hopper that need

backs, binding, and batting!!  I need to get 

on that!!!  

Before quilting time, the boys and I were

busy working in the shed and garage.  We

conquered several large chores including

putting a blanket on our hot water heater,

tidying up the shed, tidying up the garage,

and cleaning out shelves and two file cabinets!

. . . just more blessings to count as I

get ready to put my head on the pillow!!!

Today's Numbers.

 10 new pair of sox!!

1 new pair of pjs.

21 new blue cards filled out for merit badges.

7 hours in school with our Luke.

9 squares I am short on my new quilt.

8 hours and 29 minutes since our Tim's ship has been at sea.

4 people left in our crew of 7.

1 27-pound turkey . . . cooked and eaten by 3 boys.

1 boy scout meeting.

3 BIG donuts, eaten after scout meeting, per Dad's tradition.

About 107 . . . the number of times that I made that

crazy blow in and blow out sound when you really,

really, really cannot believe something.

1 keyboard moved into Tim's room.

7 loads of laundry done.

3 chapters in the Bible read by Luke and I.

17 times that I stopped and really stared at our

family picture as I went up and down the staircase.

About a 1,000,000,000 times that I counted our

many, many blessings.

Scraps.

While I am not ready for many things yet, I

am ALWAYS up for sewing.  Lots of scraps

means a pretty darn productive day at the

sewing machine!!  I put the finishing touches

on my last CHRISTmas project.  Someone

is going to be warm on cozy on December 24.

As I get ready to hit the sheets, I am 

remembering all of our many, many

blessings.  While we have a huge hole

and a wound that feels like the size of

Texas . . . actually bigger . . . we know

how blessed we truly are.  Tomorrow is

another day . . . 

Onward.comrades.

Another Blessing.

So cuuuuute!!!  We have done TONS and TONS

of reminiscing over the past several days.

We have had fun talking about and looking

through memory books, pictures, and listening

to stories about our Dad.  What a wonderful

man he was.  It is still so very difficult to believe

that he is no longer with us on this Earth, but

we are so excited and grateful that he is no

longer suffering and is with his Jesus!  

Our family is excited that tomorrow we will

have the opportunity to celebrate this

awesome man's life.

What.a.blessing. 

Blessings Abound.

Still in shock, I find myself in utter

amazement at the awesome blessings

poured out upon our family during 

such a difficult time.  My boys

continue to amaze me every single

moment of how much they are like

their Dad.  Each of them demonstrate

different characteristics of him that

make me love them all the more!!

They are awesome and I am so very

grateful that they are mine!

There are so many that keep us 

lifted in prayer and those that just

keep showing up, letting me know

that the dawn will be there 

tomorrow.  One thing I do know for

certain is that God has it all figured

out and just hasn't shared His whole

plan with me yet.  Another thing I 

know is that we are one blessed

crew and even though I may not 

understand the whys and the 

therefores, my Jesus has the whole

thing under control . . .

Difficult . . . Gonna Make It!!!

Guess who came by today?  

Pretty.darn.difficult . . . but we are so

blessed with amazingly wonderful family

and friends!!!!!

It's the small surprises that make all

of the difference!!!

God's grace is amazing!!!

We are going to make it!!

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning

or crying or pain, for the old order of things

has passed away."  Revelation 21:4

Thanksgiving Preparations.

And so it begins . . . Love, love, love our

THANKSgiving cooking and baking day!

The calories that come with it, not so much!

*Thankful for happy boys with hungry

tummies!

*Thankful for lots and lots of footsteps

sounds all throughout our home!

*Thankful that we have a brand new

home to call Command Post Central!

*Thankful for our sweet neighbors!

*Thankful for happiness in our home!

*Thankful that even though we find

ourselves in difficult circumstances,

there is laughter in our home!

*Thankful that our home will be

filled with lots of family tomorrow!

*Thankful that my sweet Tim is

happy on his new cruise ship.

Not so happy that he will not

be here tomorrow!

*Thankful that we have a home

that our boys love to bring their

friends to!

*Thankful that God has given

me tons of energy to pick up the

slack when others cannot.

Loving THANKSgiving!!!

Turkey Trot.

Seriously. Luke and I spent about FIVE hours

of our day helping Sam with his golf 

fundraiser of selling THANKSgiving turkeys!!

Super.crazy.story.

*Love that my boys help me ALL of the

time.

*Love being a close family!!!!!

*Maybe we share TMI, but I love it!!

*Love that we grow even closer in

tough times.

*Love that being a family means

that we are safe as long as we

have each other.

*Love that I live closer to all

of my family.

*Love that my little family loves

JESUS.

*Love that we have had so many

wonderful years of homeschooling

memories and experiences.

*Don't love that my boys have

grown up so fast.

*Love that they are AMAZING

young men!!

*Love that these boys love

their parents SO MUCH and

are not afraid to show it.

Loving the THANKSgiving

season . . .

THANKSgiving Week.

This card is EVERYWHERE, but so cute!

THANKSgiving week is definitely one of

my most favorite weeks of the year.  I, for

one, have a bazillion blessings to count:

*JESUS

*AWESOME family

*AMAZING husband

*FOUR of the most amazing boys EVER

*Terrific friends

*Great support system

*Homeschooling!

*Beautiful, cozy home

*A church home/church family

*Cooler weather

*Homemade whipped cream

*My sewing machine ;0)

*Fun times with friends and family

*MEMORIES

*Family Sundays

*Wonderful docs

*Chemo meds . . . although the side effects

are brutal, we are grateful for medical

technology.

*Surprises in the mail

*Cards, notes, and flowers from 

amazing family and friends

Can't wait to continue counting

tomorrow . . . 

Tuesday . . . Thinkin' About Wednesday!

 Simply put: I do not have enough hours

in each day.  What is a girl supposed to do?

 Sometimes the days meet . . . literally.

I go to sleep, just in time to wake up.

In all reality, I do think that sleep is a 

total waste of time!  However, it does

become necessary at some point.

Yep, chores are calling my name and there

is a TON of popcorn to get rid of help my

dear Prince Charming sell.  Don't get me

wrong . . . I am NOT complaining!!! There 

is just much to do and a little time in which

to accomplish it all!

Dissertationwise, my editor, BFF Kris 

has combed chapters 1-3 for EVERY 

dot and tittle.  I have been busily 

attending to the red marks all over 

minor corrections that she has noted.

Tuesday, like every single other day,

brought a bazillion blessings.  I am

blessed beyond measure.