Happy Birthday to our Sweet Heather!

 

Today is Heather's Birthday!!! Yay!  

Happy Birthday to you Sweetie!  We love you so very much and are so very blessed to have you as our daughter. :)  You have brought so much joy and laughter to our family and of course you blessed us with the cutest grandson in the entire world! ;)  You are an amazing mommy to Bradley and such a wonderful wife to Chris.  We are so thankful to God for blessing us with such a beautiful, sweet, kind, funny, loving and talented daughter.

All our love,

Jeff and Debbie

Healing Music

 Today I have struggled with fighting a bad migraine and dealing with the realization that there is nothing I can do to "fix" and make a sad situation better.  Hardened hearts hurt not just the person with them but those around them also.  My heart was heavy, tears were flowing and then I heard this song "Does Eyes" by Merle Streep.  It immediately started to sooth my troubled soul and hurting head.  I then loaded George Winston's Forest album up on Spotify and began to listen to it.  The tears began to flow again, swept up with the music.  Tears of frustration, sadness, "what could and should have been", heartache and the hurt of trying to protect those I love...tears that I have been holding in for far too long, trying to remain strong.  Soon those tears turned to ones of healing...of letting go and realizing that I just need to give it all over to God.  I let the music carry me away, rocking me gently in the ebb and flow, taking me to places of beauty and healing.  My soul began to be calm once again and clarity came to me.  I thank God for beautiful music has the power to heal and sooth the wearied and hurting soul.



I don't want my friends and family to worry...my relationship with my husband, kids and grandson  is very strong, good and supportive.  Everything is fine between us. :)  This post is not a reflection of my relationships with them.

I am Married to a Quality Man

I have always felt blessed to be married to my wonderful husband.  He is such a loving husband, father and grandfather, good friend, great uncle and friend.  He is the kind of guy that is there for everyone and will give you the shirt off his back.  He has that quiet kind of strength and does not try to bring attention to himself and his accomplishments.

Yesterday I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting the father of one of my adorable 3rd graders that I have in class when I substitute teach.  We were visiting after school when his daughter invited me to come to her volleyball game and to future basketball games.  He asked me if I lived in one of the neighboring towns and I told him no but that my husband was born and raised there.  He then asked me my husband's name and it turns out they went to high school together. :)  He was 2 year behind my Jeff in school and shared some wonderful memories that he has of my husband.  He told me that Jeff was one of those really nice and good guys with a big smile back in high school and he remembers him as being a good bowler also.  I cannot tell you how much it warmed my heart to hear his impressions and memories of my husband back when he was a teenager. 

I met my husband when he was in his mid 20's and even before we spoke I knew he was a quality guy.  There was something in the way that he carried himself that made me immediately peg him as the kind gentle man that he is.  He was so different from most of the guys that I knew and had been meeting in college and I was determined to get to know him. ;)  Well, I managed to get his attention and we "clicked".  After some missed connections due to us going in different directions for about 6 months, we met up again and both us knew at that moment that we never wanted to be without one another.  We got engaged the following Summer and married the Spring after that.

My husband truly is my best friend.  He has been there for me through thick and thin and has shown me unconditional love and accepted and supported me no matter what life has thrown at us.  He has sacrificed so much over the years for our family and has been an amazing role model for our sons on how to be a real man and work hard for your family.  Our sons have many of the same wonderful qualities and the work ethic of their Daddy and watching Chris with his own son, I can see that he is the same gentle and loving Daddy to Bradley that Jeff is.  It was so nice to hear that even back in high school, my husband was the kind person that he still is today.  Yes, I married a quality man and am so blessed!
  
  

Celebrating the Last Few Days of Summer

 

Summer is coming to an end.  It seems that most of it was a blur for us this year.  Many weddings, projects and just general business kept us on the go.  We never did make it down to the river, go camping, or tackle some of the huge projects here at home that we had hoped to get done.

Jeff and I decided a few weeks ago to just stop and really relax for nice dinner and enjoy it out on the back porch.  He grilled up some carne asada that I had been marinating in a red wine sauce and also grilled some zucchini from our garden.  Meanwhile, I made some garlic mashed potatoes, got some baby carrots out and popped a loaf of garlic bread into the oven.  It was so nice to just sit out there in the evening sun with the day cooling down enjoying our meal and each others company without any distractions.  We both realized that the season of us being able to dine out on the back porch is quickly coming to a close with the onset of Fall and that made us cherish that time even more.

As much as I love Fall, it being my favorite season, I am sad that Summer is coming to an end.  There was so much more I wanted to do but not enough time to do it.  Next Summer I hope to make a few things that I missed out on this Summer priorities.   This weekend though I will enjoy another wonderful Birthday Barbecue in honor of my DIL Heather's Birthday before the weather gets too cold. :) 

Being a Grammie is Wonderful!

My happiest moments are spent with this little guy!  There is just something magical about being a Grammie that can turn the worst day into the best day the minute I hold this little guy in my arms.

Big Shoes to Fill!

Salt Water State Park in the Seattle, WA Area

Ducks resting after eating their fill of yummies found in the tidal pools while a gull sits in the background.

Seagull waiting for the tide to go out more so he can find some goodies to eat.

A little wave action going on...I have missed this and the smell of the salt air.  It was so good to be able to just "be" while there.

View of the beach area.  I would love to live in that house right there at the end of the beach, so peaceful!

Kekoa in the foreground playing with the clam shell that I found, Cade in the background with another shell and Christie sitting on the log supervising the whole thing. :)

One of the many treasures Cade found!

Cade's recreated tidal pool complete with shells and a sand dollar.

View of one of the tidal pools and an anemone when the tide was going out.

I love the color on this green anemone...so vibrant in person!

My birthday hubby Jeff and I enjoying the ocean breeze. :)

Jaysn and Jeff enjoying the sunshine.

Kekoa mastering climbing up the chain ladder with some coaching from his daddy Eric (my baby brother) and mommy Christie looking on proudly.

A very happy and proud Kekoa!

My baby brother Eric's gorgeous family!  Christie, Cade, Eric and Kekoa.  Are those little boys not just adorable? :)  Love my family!

My oldest son Jaysn with his cousins Kekoa and Cade.  They all had so much fun together even with a 21 year age span between the oldest and the youngest cousins.