Birthday Kitten

My friend, Jana, brought cupcake to our lunch time at work on Friday, in honor of my birthday the next day. So very sweet of her! My mom made me my favorite cake, and we indulged the night before my birthday, because, why not?!

I'm not sure what I was thinking in choosing my birthday to say good-bye to our old-man kitty, Oreo. The timing was terrible! He has been sick for months now, making messes every day, and lost a ton of weight. It was time for him to go. So, the morning of my birthday, we said a sad goodbye to our sweet, old-man kitty and then I decided I needed a new kitty--that day. Greg agreed to go with me to the Vancouver humane society. We chose from a litter of eight-week old kittens. A couple hours later, we were on our way home with our new kitty! We stopped at Starbucks on the way home to get my birthday drink. I'd never heard of the "trenta" size. The barista offered it to my, knowing it was my birthday. It's huge!

We Face-Timed with Kari and Joel when we got home, so everyone got to meet and help name her. We decided on Daphne. I'm in love.

First Bday Away From Home

Joel 19th birthday, and his first one away from home, started out a little rough--had some pretty high expectations built up--but then turned into one of his best days ever. So glad he and Rebecca got to go to Disneyland for the day and celebrate. 

All-State Middle School Band

OMEA All-State Middle School Band—Greg took a couple days off work to go down to Eugene with Grant for all-state band. They took Bella, a friend and fellow all-state band member on French horn. down with them, too, as her parents are teachers and had to meet them down there later. It was such a great experience for Grant, and Greg said the concert last night was REALLY good. Grant auditioned months ago on the baritone saxophone and was one of four students in his band selected to go. (Huge thank you to his band instructor, Ann McBride, for all her help!) We’re proud of his hard work and the way he practiced so diligently. Water polo and saxophone are his two favorite things right now, and I love that he’s having fun and seeing success in both.

Jell-O Party

I received a phone call last week that broke my heart. My friend, Natalie, has stage 4 lung cancer. It's everywhere, and it is not good. In the whirlwind of doctor appointments and tests, she went on a zero sugar, low carb cancer-fighting diet, and we ladies got together one night to surround her with love, laugh with her, play games, and pray with her. We brought a variety of sugar-free jell-o, since that's one of the treats she could have and had her do a taste test. She did pretty well! We are rallying around their family, waiting for opportunities to offer our help and support as she fights this cancer. 

New Year's

New Year’s Day is for sleeping in, walking with a friend, carpet cleaning, football watching (for Greg anyway), reading, finishing another puzzle, and watching an old movie. Greg made my day by turning on The Happiest Millionaire this evening, and my kids made my day by watching it with us. 2025 is off to a good start.