Thankful for Family

I want to show you a picture of some really great kids! These are my boys and their cousins on the Fraser side.

(l-r back row: Jackson, Bruce, Fraser)
(l-r front row: Jake, Carley with Abby, Jared with Celia, Blake)
(Photo taken October 2008)

Carley, Bruce, Fraser, & Celia are the children of my younger sister, Wannett. Jackson & Abby are the children of my baby sister, Danielle. It just doesn't seem possible that these kids are growing up. My boys look like GIANTS to these kids. Where does the time go?

Big changes for some of these kids in September. Blake heads out to New Brunswick for college (hold on a second..... I need a moment to pull myself together..... [cry, blat, bawl, sniffle, hyperventilate].... alrighty, I'm back.... not fully put together yet, but the blogging must go on......)

(Did you get that, Victoria? The blogging must go on!)

Now, where was I.... sorry I got sidetracked..... Yes, Blake, off to college. First one out of the nest. (I must be an eagle, I must be an eagle, I must be an eagle).

Then there's Carley & Jared who graduate from elementary school and will begin the life of secondary school in September. Oh my. Was it not just a short time ago that Wannett and I sat at her kitchen table at approximately TEN MONTHS PREGNANT downing a 2 litre of Pepsi???? (Don't touch our Pepsi!) (OK, so it only FELT like ten months!)

Then there's Jacky & Frajy who are going to begin Junior Kindergarten in September at the best school in Prince Edward County.... South Marysburgh. Oh goodness, I'm not ready for these kids to start school. I remember how hard it was to watch my own boys walk to the bus with their little backpacks.

Remember how simple life was when you were these kids ages? The biggest thing to learn when you were as young as Beulah (that's my nickname for Celia) was making it to the potty on time. The biggest thing to learn when you were as old as Blake was making sure your school project got finished and handed in on time. When did life become so much more complicated with mortgages and phone bills and electricity invoices...... ?? I keep telling the boys, "These are the best times of your life; don't wish to grow up fast; enjoy these years for you'll never get them back." If we could only be like Mork from Ork (remember that show with Robin Williams?) and live life in reverse from old age to a babe.....oh how we'd appreciate the simple things a lot more.

Well, I know that the Lord tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus". So I guess that means 'at any age' as well. I am thankful for these beautiful children. I am thankful that I am alive to enjoy them. I am thankful they are healthy. I am thankful they have good parents. I am thankful they are part of MY family. I am thankful that we have a good Lord who loves us and blesses us.

Now, I must get busy and finish cleaning that dirty basement that I'm so thankful for...... I'm stretchin' it here, folks. haha.

Na Nu Na Nu