Missy's birthday was a big success. We all had lots of fun and laughter.


This is the t-shirt I gave Missy for her birthday. I just had to get it for her. In case you can't read it, it says "Oh My God My MOTHER Was Right About EVERYTHING". Just too perfect and so true!










After pizza and cake, we all enjoyed playing games. Since it was a work night we had to keep it short.












Can't have a blog without my beautiful granddaughter. Can I?











Missy's best friend E came for the party.












For our family Missy's birthday has always started the holidays. So I guess the season has begun. Monday is Patrick's birthday. It has been Missy and my tradition to do our Christmas shopping on that day. It was a great comfort for us early in our grief and is something we just continued to do. We start out at Starbucks and then hit a few stores. A nice leisurely lunch and then a few more stores. If we're lucky we are able to get the majority of our Christmas shopping done. If not, then we've had a great mother/daughter day out. What more could you ask for?

Thirty-two years ago I was blessed with a beautiful baby girl. Since then we have been on a wonderful journey. I have had the pleasure of watching her grow from that helpless baby with the big lungs into a beautiful woman, wife and mother. There have been a lot of tears and a lot of laughter along the way.

Somewhere along that journey she turned into this awesome woman that I am proud to call both my daughter and friend. She has been my rock and sanity during some of the hardest times of my life and I thank her for that. She is more than I ever dreamed a daughter could be.

So tonight we will be celebrating Missy's birthday. There will be laughter, food and games. There will be cake and candles but most of all there will be love. Lots and lots of love.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

Thank you to all the veterans and their families. We must never forget their sacrifices.

It took a few days for me to get around to downloading the pictures but here they are.

We had a wonderful Saturday evening celebrating the fact that Missy passed the first part of the CMA test. Missy, Terry, Kathy, Serif and I all went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for a delicious dinner. We've been going to this restaurant since it first opened up. The kids were little then and the owner has watched them grow up. It's always a special place to go and eat for our family.


Our girl in all her splender after a filling meal.

We all came home and played a couple of games of clue. It's nice that Serif is big enough that we can play games like this again. She even helped by rolling our dice for us.




Tuesday night we all gathered around the TV to watch the election results. This year we made the elections a family event. We watched all the debates together and went to vote together. So of course we had to watch the results together. I cooked dinner but then Terry went to Dairy Queen for us. Serif does like her DQ.

First of all I want to tell Missy how proud I am of her for passing the first part of the CMA test. I know how hard she studied for that test. I am so very proud of her.


Halloween was a big success. I got to go to Serif's school and visit while they had their Halloween party. I love the pink skull and cross bones on her shirt. All the kids had such a good time. They were all so cute.











This is our sweet pirate. Scary isn't she?















Grandma was all dressed up and waiting for us when we got to Nova's house.












Trick or treating was a huge success.













A hard evening of trick or treating can wear a girl out. She fell asleep right after we left Nova's.







I tried to get pictures of Terry's costume but, since it was all black, I was unable to get a clear picture. I'm sorry because it was awesome. He didn't mean to but he did scare a few of the kids. He was nice and went out of his way to let the little ones know that he wasn't something to be afraid of.

Halloween has always been a big holiday in Terry's family. It was his father's favorite holiday and they always celebrated it in a big way. For years they had a haunted house in their garage for the neighborhood kids. It looks like Nova has stepped into her father's shoes. Her house looked awesome. I have a feeling that there is a haunted house in the future for that neighborhood.