Mother's Day 2008

Mother's Day brings on many emotions. After I lost my mom many years ago, Mother's Day was a very sad time. Sometimes I didn't even go to church on Mother's Day because I thought it too sad. Even though I still miss my mom greatly I now have many added blessings to my life.
Besides having 2 grown children that are great friends I also have 2 great grown children by marriage that are great friends. Plus, they have each given me the greatest gift of all....Grand-children. You can't be sad when you have wonderful Grand-children. Above is a picture of Tanek. He was 2 in February and he is a joy. It is always interesting to have him around. There is no telling what he will do or say next. Pam captured this great picture for me to give Stephanie for Mother's Day. I only wish my mom could have met my Grand-children. She never got to meet any of them.

Here is Heather and my precious Grand-daughters. You could not ask for a better daughter-n-law or Grand-daughters. Any Grand-mother knows that to know your Grand-children are loved and cared for by their parents is a huge gift. So many are not. It is hard enough to have these beautiful girls so far away, but knowing that they are getting everything in life that they need and a lot of what they want is so wonderful. You can tell by looking at them, they are loved and cared for. They are wonderful, beautiful, blessed girls and it is great to see the way they are being raised. As a Grand-mother, knowing they are being raised in a Christian home and being taught about God is the best thing to be thankful for. I am looking forward to when they come and spend some more time here this summer.

Another big blessing in my life is having my daughter, her husband Ricky and our Grand-son Tanek live right here in town and get to attend the same church. It is so cool to see him come out of the nursery with a big smile on his face. He doesn't always go in with a smile, but he always comes out with one. He is learning at a very young age all about God too. I absolutely love this church. It is SO family oriented and so uplifting and encouraging. I am thankful to come here and very thankful that they also attend here. Stephanie is a wonderful daughter. She is truly one of my very best friends. For those of you that are raising teen-age daughters. Hang in there. They will one day be your best friend. She is a very wonderful mom too. Very patient and loving. I couldn't ask for more for my Grand-son either. Here are my cards and corsage from the family in Maryland. I wore my corsage to church today. There is one rose for each Grand-daughter. After church we had dinner at Applebee's with Ricky, Stephanie, Tanek, and Ricky's parents. After dinner Ricky and Gary took Tanek home and Stephanie and I had to go check out the new Super Wal-mart in Gainesville. We are going to the beach for a week and of course there were some things we needed to get. It was nice to just have some Mother-Daughter time alone. We exchanged gifts at Applebee's and I got a very nice gift from Stephanie, Ricky and Tanek. I even got a very nice gold ankle bracelet from Gary. One of the first gifts from him in 39 Mother's Days. He always said I wasn't his mother. But I guess he finally figured out I was the one who made him a Dad. In all fairness to him, I pretty much get anything I want whenever I want it. So, I can't really fault him on this one.

This picture and the one below have a story to it. About a month ago I asked Pam to take some pictures of Tanek for me to give Stephanie for her Mother's Day gift. It was a surprise to her and with the help of Papa we took him to Keystone Beach to take the pictures. As you can see

Papa was very busy on the job. He didn't know Pam would catch him. She is good. When she has her camera, nothing is overlooked. Papa actually did help some, but when we walked down to the water he thought it a good time to chill out.
Here are just a few of the pictures Pam took. I especially like this one because of the verse she added. This is such a good verse to remember as they are growing up.
As always Tanek will have his "mine" car if possible. He carried it in most of his pictures.
So as you can see I have had a very Blessed Mother's Day. I am truly thankful for what God has given to me. I am loved, and I have so much to love. Aside from my relationship with God, nothing is more important to me than the wonderful family God has given to me. I always loved my position as a mom and I still do, but the icing on the cake is being Nana. It really does make growing "mature" worthwhile. I say "mature" because I don't think I will ever think I am "old".

To all you Mother's out there. I hope you all had a Wonderful Mother's Day. Enjoy the children, regardless of their age and the Grand-children. God Is Good....All The Time!