tHis family tree: It's A New Year!

Happy Birthday to a New Year!!!!!!!

This was the pretty little cake that we ate as we celebrated the MANY birthdays that fell in December, January, and February for the Boggs side of the family this past weekend. Do you see the little indentions on the lower left corner of the cake? This were not intentional by the creator of this yummy cake. This was the product of an impatient two year old that belonged to one of those Boggs men. Keith Boggs, I think.....

We always go from a Christmas feast where we open presents afterwards to a birthday celebration with cake and ice cream as our dessert.

We get to see Keith's dad and siblings about 2-3 times a year, so all of us being together is extra special. There are 14 grandchildren and one on the way. Keith has two brothers (one of those a twin) and a sister. His mother passed away when he was 19 years old and now his dad has a wonderful wife who loves all of the grandchildren as if they were her own.

There is a strong bond with his family and a very sweet spirit when we get together. Praise the Lord, everyone is a believer in Christ and all are actively involved in church. What honor the Lord must receive when we can all celebrate special times together with Him always at the center of it.

All of us being together those days made me really reflect on the last 10 years or so. I thought of one of the grandchildren , who was the only grandson for a long while, has grown from being a little toddler to a young man. One granddaughter was missing because she was in another state with her new husband. Another granddaughter, still living with mom and dad, was no longer the little flower girl in our wedding, but a beautiful young woman I was made very aware that in just a few short years I will be saying this about our oldest children. Wow......

So, a New Year's Resolution has been birthed. I will purposely connect in a deeper way with my children and husband this year. I am not sure what all this entails, but I do know that I will listen more, love better, speak kinder, laugh longer, and sing louder. We will dance and draw and paint and create and cook and run and play. We will work together to accomplish small tasks that will lead to bigger tasks and celebrate in the victory together. We may find ourselves crying together, hurting together, grieving together. We will read together, pray together, memorize together, search together, and find together. Most of all, I want our lives to worship together. Worship our Creator and the One who made all of these things possible.

Here are some pictures of those special loved ones who got me to thinkin'.....