Handfuls of Blessings

Our precious daughter has turned 18!  As much as I have enjoyed every step of our children's childhood, having a teenaged daughter who has such a beautiful heart is a special joy. When the kids turn 18, they get to pick any type of cake they want.  Shae-Lynn chose the chocolate lasagna cake I had for my last birthday.  It is so good and rich! We had a great time celebrating with two other missionary families with food, fun, and fellowship.   A couple of months ago, Shae-Lynn had stumbled across some Short Best Friend / Tall Best Friend shirts on Amazon.  She sent the photo to her tall friend Abby, saying that it describes them so well.  Abby's family took the photo down to our local t-shirt imprinter, and he was able to replicate it exactly.  Shae-Lynn's gifts reflected her love for coffee, coconut, and photography.   We are so thankful for each of our children and look forward to seeing how God uses them in the future in His service.

Quite possibly, we have found a company that will alleviate my frustrations with internet that has prevented me from frequently posting.  We are giving it a try, and so far so good.  With other companies, I could only upload photos at 6:00 in the morning, and even then it would take about 30 minutes.  Any other time of the day, it would take up to 2 hours or just get stuck.  Right now, in the middle of the day,  I just uploaded 2 photos, and it literally took less than 10 seconds.  I realize this still isn't as fast as most American internet, but I am so excited and hope this good service continues.  It will really help with school work, too. My kids will admit, when it comes to meals, I am very good to them.  I am not a mother who forces Brussel sprouts or sauerkraut down their throats.  I remember once when Shane was little that I made him eat squash.  As I was cleaning up the mess of him throwing it up, I declared I was not going to be that mean mom.  Instead, I have learned t