Christmas

We had a fantastic time on our tour through Central California. Lucy had a grand first time in the snow. We thought she'd be all done in 5 minutes, but she was out for more than 90 min and wanted more.

I thinks he likes it. =)

Geeky Cracker hats at Christmas. =)
At Aunt Amy's on the trampoline on Boxing Day. =)

Sadly Lucy picked up a flu bug from her cousin and was sick last night. She's totally fine now, but today was my turn. I still feel pretty lousy, hoping that a night's sleep rights the world. I must take a moment to praise my husband up and down... since Lucy first got sick, he has been uncomplaining, cheerfully picking up the slack and then some. I had the day pretty much to myself to sleep and recover. What a good man!

From the Homestead

Vacation finally begins once we all get settled in at Grammie's house. It is probably my favorite vacation destination. Good food, good company, childcare, a place to just be lazy and comfortable. It has been beautiful here because of the rain--blue skies and autumn leaves and green.

Let me back up, though. We did our "get one free" trip to Sea World the other day for Steve's birthday. Perfect day! Gorgeous weather, no one there, well-behaved kid--doesn't get a whole lot better than that! I stinkin' love Sea World--that Shamu never fails to impress. This is Lucy looking at a heron standing on a Walrus' back.

Back up to Tuesday, this was Lucy's "Christmas program" with her pre-school playgroup. They all lined up against the door at Mrs. Katie's house and recited Psalm 23, then sang "O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing," and "Heark, the Herald Angels Sing." Correction: the other FOUR children did all this lined up nicely against the door. Within seconds of this picture, Lucy bolted from the stage. But then she couldn't resist reciting from the sidelines.

It was a very long, very busy week which included the memorial service for my college friend, Jason, who was killed in a car accident a few weeks ago. So needless to say, it is just delightful to get to Grammie's house and be with her and "Grumpa."

Yesterday we visited with my grandfather and Aunt Cindy before Grandpa Mick and his wife headed out to AZ for Christmas with her family. We had a nice time, but I have yet to forgive my Grandpa for giving Lucy a harmonica for Christmas.



Today we are thinking of a quick trip to the snow, if we ever get off our duffs, so that Lucy can see some real snow. Tonight is a get-together with my amazing best friends from high school. Then hopefully we will get to see my dear cousins for aebleskiver before we head to San Luis Obispo on Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas, all!

Joy and Sorrow

This Christmas season has been so strange and surreal. It really has been one of much joy and much sorrow. So much joy--a friend who miscarried earlier this year is now pregnant and doing great! Another friend accepted a referral to adopt a son from China! Another friend has two days to go before their court date to adopt their two precious children from Ethiopia! Great joy!

And great sorrow. A friend from college was killed in a car accident last week, as a young driver evaded the police and led them on a high speed chase. The car smashed into Jason's car, ending his life instantly.

And then updated news that a friend from high school is losing his wife quickly this week. She has battled cancer for 23 months. They discovered it just as she was about to deliver their third child. She delivered early so that they could begin treatment right away. A year later, they celebrated his birthday, and the end of her treatment. Only days later, she began to lose feeling in her right arm, and discovered that the cancer had spread to her spine. It looks like this is likely the week they may lose her.

And at home my dad's friend and field boss who worked on our farm for years and years lost his senior-in-high-school son to a car accident only days after his son's best friend was killed in a car accident.

But in the midst of all this I think I have never been more aware that God is who he says he is. Sovereign. Good. Unfathomable.

And in the midst of it all, one of my great joys is watching Lucy delight in the Christmas season. She has been a fan of all things Christmas throughout the whole year, and to watch lights going up and decorations making appearances has lit her up! We go as a family to Home Depot just to look at all the Christmas kitch. Most wonderful to my heart, though, is hearing her little voice singing "Heark, the Herald Angels Sing." Glory to the newborn King indeed!

Home again, Home again

Oh, so wonderful to be home! I won't say "in my own bed," because we had a SWEET bed up north. My in-laws parked their trailer out front and gave us their room--they have one of those amazing Sleep Number mattresses, and MAN it was nice.

I was so delighted to get home and head to our last Mugs of the year (that's our moms' group at church). I brought a fantastic potato casserole (thanks, Mandi!), and just enjoyed the company. The next few weeks are surprisingly open. Lots of little things sprinkled in, but thankfully not super packed. It just felt good to put my suitcase in the garage for awhile. =)

I can hardly believe we all were smiling in this picture! Don't you love the little black jumpsuits all the little girl cousins have?

JJ on the floor with ALL of the kids! What an aunt!

The girls having brunch together.

This is pre-Thanksgiving at a Potty Reward outing. Notice the double-fisted spoons.

The day after

Oh, the yummy goodness that is Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful that our family enjoys each other, and gets along. On both sides, too, which I think is rare and wonderful.

So today we are all still around, with the exception of an on-call brother-in-law, so the kids are playing in various parts of the house while lazy adults sit on our hineys. Presently I am tucked into bed to keep warm (it's freezing here! What a nice change!), while Lucy is playing with Steve's grandmother's dollhouse. I love hearing the little stories that come out of her mouth while she plays.

I am wondering if I will ever be hungry again. The moment there seems to be an ounce of room, I seem to find some bit or piece of something yummy. Cold dark-meat turkey, a slice of summer sausage, a bit of the roll that I left half of last night, some apple cobbler. Apparently I am grazing and preparing to hibernate. This is when I wish for a detachable stomach. Kind of like a vacuum cleaner bag. Just pop a new one in and continue to inhale. =) I'm hoping for a nap-time for Lucy so I can get a little nap. I still haven't quite forgiven her for waking up at 6:00 this morning--or for the head butt that landed squarely on my nose.

Getting ready to go North

We head out tomorrow early, early. Looking at Google traffic, I'm glad we made this decision. It was RED all the way from our house up to the Grapevine, which means a 6 hr. drive would've taken more like 8 or 9. So tomorrow we should have smooth sailing if we leave early. We've done it once before, and it's nice to just fly. That said, we are trying to pack up the car and get the house in decent shape before we leave. Sadly I feel less than industrious, so I'm hoping I still pull it all together in time to get to bed early.

Baking in the oven is my favorite apple crisp. I'm a little bummed because I had quick oats and not regular old fashioned oats--the latter really makes a better crisp. But it's also hard to go wrong with brown sugar and butter. It's my sister-in-law's favorite dessert, so I am bringing it for Thanksgiving. I've never been a huge fan of pumpkin pie, so I'm glad there will be something yummy there for Jen and me.

I'm so looking forward to Thanksgiving. I am always sad when I hear of people who don't like turkey. It's just one of my favorite meals (if the turkey is made right--dry turkey is icky). I love the stuffing and turkey and rolls especially. The green beans are good. Everything else is ancillary. And leftovers are part of the wonderfulness of it all. I always read these magazines that tell you what to do with leftovers, like casseroles and stuff, but I'm like, dude, you just EAT them. Super yum 2nd time around.

Out of steam! Goodnight, all!

Much better

Wow, I was cranky last night. MUCH more ready to be thankful this week! Starting with the unbelievable smell coming form my oven. Chicken roasting with peas, onions and mushrooms. And on the side (give it a chance, now): brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon and onions.

I cheated and pulled out the Christmas tunes today, because it was overcast and is supposed to rain soon. To me that is the beginning of "winter."

Here's something I'm especially thankful for this year:

The week's air quality

This was what the air looked like last Sunday when we got back into town. You can't see all the ash all over the parking lot from this shot. It's kind of washed out.

This is what it looked like on Monday morning. The wind was blowing everything beyond us out into the ocean. The rest of the week was somewhere in between these two as the winds died down.

This week is full already. I'm finding myself committed to lots of small things that are causing me to head in lots of directions, so this week is a busy one, and not sure how it will all play out. I'm trying to get my house in order in the midst of it all, as we have people staying at our house while we are gone for Thanksgiving. They are gracious and wouldn't care if the house was messy, but I like to have it clean (or at least cleaner than it is presently). Plus, I prefer coming home to a clean house after being gone. Oh, to have the days back when I hired a Biola student to clean twice a month! Maybe someday. Just feeling behind on lots of things when I'd been working to get ahead.

Ugh, not a promising way to start out a week devoted to being thankful! I promise, it's there under the griping. It'll come out this week, I think.

But otherwise, Palm Desert has been...

... quite fun! Always delighted with how much fun it is. Here are a few quick pictures.

Hiking--that's right kid, work off that energy!


Painting a VW bug at the Children's Museum.
Playing in an Indian shelter at the Living Desert.

The sign behind her says, "Animal Temporarily Off Exhibit." Not so sure about that.

Last year, same location (totally miss that outfit!).

All kinds of crazy

Well, if you don't live in Southern California, you probably still haven't missed the news about the Southland crackling away in the Santa Anas. Unlike other fires in the past, we are somewhat connected to some of those affected. You likely heard about the extensive damage at Westmont College--the dorm my sister lived in was partially destroyed, along with several other structures. Most sad to me were the faculty homes. These poor families trying to make it on Christian College salaries finally get faculty housing built, only to lose it. It sounds like Biola is working to love and encourage Westmont, which makes me glad.

Friends in Yorba Linda (only 10 miles from us) have evacuated their home, and we don't yet know anything about the state of their house.

The fires are so close this time that the air will be thick for some time, and our yard will be covered in ash. I remember a few years ago when there was a bad fire, I saw an ant trail going through the ash in our yard... it was this strange white path through the gray. We are still in Palm Desert and head back tomorrow, so we will see in person how that will be. The freeways are a mess because of all the fire closures, so it will be interesting to see what round-about way we have to take to get home. Steve had to leave tonight (that's another small story), so we'll see how it goes for him. Anyway, that's our update. For out-of-town friends wondering if we are worried about our home, no, we are definitely pretty far away. But we do know people, and friends of friends who are in that area. I haven't heard yet, but I believe there are many Biola people in that area. We'll see.

So if you hate summer so much, why are you going to the Desert?

We are in Palm Desert the rest of this week. Why, in the name of all that is good, would we go to the desert when it just turned to Fall-ish weather here? Because it is just sooo beautiful! Steve's folks have a time-share out in Palm Desert, and have invited us to come each year for as long or as short as we like. The place we stay is just amazing and comfortable and beautiful. We've discovered that there is a surprising list of very cool things to do there, and every time we've gone it has been fantastic. The photo above is from a hike we did pre-Lucy out in Joshua Tree. I'm hoping we can take her on a short hike this time, as she really seems to love hiking.

Oh, and the a/c is fantastic, and doesn't show up on my Edison bill. That's why.

It's a good thing this isn't a craft blog

If it were, I'd be in trouble (with whom, I know not) for so rarely posting on what I'm making! But since I know the Ry-bear reads, I don't feel so bad keeping my fabric-y side a little more sparse. =)

These are some of the projects I've been working on since July. I've had so many gifts for Fall birthdays as well as prepping for Christmas that I've been pumping them out faster than I can take pictures. Missing from these photos are the cute little bbq-chef aprons I made for two little boys. They were gray with bright yellow bias-tape trim, and a little flame-print fabric for the front slanted pocket. I've been pairing the aprons (boy and girl) with a spatula, spoon, or rolling pin (made for kids, of course), and adding a Betty Crocker Warm Delights mix in. It's basically a pop-it-in-the-microwave dessert, and is a just-add-water deal, so minimal mess, but the kid feels like he or she is cooking. The girl version of the apron... this is for my niece, Abby.
In the background, the Warm Delights that will go in with the aprons. I actually got one of these free, thanks to moneysavingmom.com... she pointed out a deal where I could sign up for a freebie!
A little red smock that will be paired with paints and brushes for a birthday party. A duplicate is going to my niece, Ava.

A backpack for my solitary nephew. =) It's a one-strap, drawstring top backpack with a large square bottom. Inside is a lego kit and a lego magazine (which came free!).
Up next? Hard to say. Depends on what I get done after our little forray out to the desert this week.

Veteran's Day

3 years ago, nearly to the day, Steve and I were in Washington, DC for our "babymoon" before Lucy came. We made the trip up to Arlington on our last day, which I felt was a fitting end to our sojourn into the land of the law. I'd been there before, but it seems to move me even more as I get older.
It's not even simply that lives are given for our safety and freedom, but that they are given honorably, cheerfully, for me as I sit here, for my husband and daughter who are sleeping quietly in the other rooms. For that little girl especially.

I am so privileged to know a living veteran quite well, who has risked and served with honor and excellence and integrity. I'm so incredibly proud of her, and proud even to share her name.

She heads to Iraq in December, and oh, how I will miss her! She has become a dear friend, as she has quietly let me into her life during those seemingly small moments while I chopped onions and sauteed asparagus. Still waters do indeed run deep. So on Veteran's Day, I want to say thank you to my dear friend and sister-in-law, who goes out to serve once again. She is as the military should be--one who does her job with a heart's desire to be of service to her country. Thank you to her, and thank you to all who have served. Godspeed.

The Musician

Just thought it was fun that my kid picked up how to play Winnie the Pooh. =)

I'm Jennifer Earle, and

16 Meals

This weekend I got to try out Once-A-Month cooking with my dear friend Mandi and her good friend Jen (with whom I also went to college!). I'd been turned off to it for some time for two very good reasons, I thought. 1.) My mom tried it when I was a kid, and we all hated the recipes. It seemed like way too much work for what we got, and 2.) I love to cook, and didn't want to give up my favorite recipes. Well, Mandi ain't no fool, and she and Jen do 16 freezer meals (8 meals twice for each family) every 2-3 months, and just pull out a few meals each week. BRILLIANT, I thought, and signed on the dotted line. For $120, I got 16 meals that serve 4 people--two of those meals are salmon, by the way. I was really impressed at how organized they were, but also how easy the day really was to cook. Remember those awful group projects from college? Well, this is like my reward for that. Three women working together, eager to pull her own weight and get the job done well. I highly recommend this, though I do need to reserve judgement until we've eaten the meals. They all looked really good, though, and I think it's going to be a keeper for us. They use Recipezaar.com, by the way, if you are interested.

Here was our menu:
Farmer's Casserole (eggs, ham, potatoes--we used tater tots)
Sweet Salsa Chicken (for use in tacos or over rice)
Beef Noodle Bake (looks really yummy, a bit like a stroganoff)
Creamy Chicken Noodles (with broccoli)
Tortilla Casserole
Orange Chicken (apparently just like Panda Express's Orange Chicken)
Baked Ziti (always a fav of mine)
Honey Ginger Salmon

Not bad, eh? Some of them do have some night-of prep, but not more than a few minutes, really. Most you thaw, stick in the oven, and throw a vegetable on the side. BIG kudos to Mandi and Jen for all their work getting so good at this.


*Note: Not a meal made on Saturday

Sarah Palin stops in La Mirada

I love that I still get to decide what Lucy is for Halloween. I especially like the Family Theme costumes. Our neighbors across the street were the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, and Alice. We did a few houses in our neighborhood, then headed off to the sauna that was Candyland at Biola. The one all-girls' dorm decorates their hall in Candyland decorations, then the girls that want to participate dress up their door and hand out candy that's donated to the floor for the event. It's a huge event, and I loved seeing how creative the college students are with their costumes. My favorite was the Minnesota Grannies. Especially cute when an accent is part of the costume.

But here's the scary part of Halloween for us. And this isn't even including the enormous spider that made an enormous web right by our walkway. (We left him up, since he decorated for me.) About 3:30 we discovered a little water in one bathroom, and about 2 inches of water in the other. La Mirada has city trees lining the street that interfere with the pipes, but we are not allowed to take them down, nor does the city claim that the roots have anything to do with the entire city's plumbing problems. So as I'm cleaning all this up, (are you ready for this--not for the squeamish), I discover a plastic bag that was housing something in the bathroom that is full of baby cockroaches. Yep. Happy Halloween, everyone. (They're all dead now.)

But in all, a fun Halloween. And now, Happy Reformation Day to you all. I think I will pull out our Pope bust and our Martin Luther bobblehead to decorate. (I do indeed own both of these items, FYI.)

A REAL Pumpkin Patch

One of the things I enjoy about coming up to my parents' house is the open wonderfulness of the Valley. Space! Imagine! I'd been wanting to go visit this wonderful pumpkin patch, located on a Christmas Tree farm, but discovered that they only did school groups during the week. However, my clever cousin called and gave them my sad story... "My cousin really wants to come, and she's only in town during the week, is there anything you can do for us?" Actually, I don't know if that's how it went, but hey, we got to go! We had a blast with my cousin and her daughter, who is 9 months older than Lucy. There were some fears--not totally excited about the bumpy tractor ride--but in all it was right up her alley.


The Valley is both ugly and lovely right now. Lots of dead things, the air is just full of dust. I can feel it in my mouth and throat. But the fields with the carpet of orange leaves make my heart skip a beat. The days are warm, but the evenings and mornings are nice and cool. It really is Fall!


Hanging out with Mr. Fisherman Pumpkin Guy



















Don't get too used to those bars, kid.

Making Meals

This has been the season of bringing meals to people. Since I quit my job to stay home, I've come to know more of the moms at church, so I've been added to more and more lists. I'm generally pretty glad to help out in this way, and I know how much it means to new moms. However, with so many just past and so many coming up, I am in need of a little variety from my go-to meal. I have a few ideas, but I'd really like to know what meals you love to bring.

To jog your minds, here are a few I've brought in the past:

* Spice-rubbed BBQ chicken (not thermally spicy, just herb-y spicy) with veg. and bread
* Sage Pork Chops from Everyday Food, oven-roasted broccoli and parmesan rice,
* Linguini Marvini with Chicken (from Real Simple), with pan sauteed green beans

I love bringing some of our most yummy meals because I feel like I really want to congratulate these moms. But occasionally these meals can be a little frantic to prepare in the last few minutes. This is especially true because I have to get them done early, before Steve is home, and during "the poison hours" with Lu. I worry about bringing lasagne or salad because I wonder if they get a lot of that. So hard to tell! I've thought of borrowing their crock-pot, making the meal in it (with a crock-pot liner, of course, so they don't have to clean it!), and bringing it early in the day so they can eat whenever. But then that means two trips to their home, which gets tricky, too.

So what are all your meal-bringing secrets?

P.S. Just as I was writing this I literally got an additional request for meals to bring!

"Daddy Go to da Ore-Port"

Daddy is off to Orlando for a few days for Educause. Last year's conference was in Seattle, so we all went together and stayed with my sister while Steve conferenced. We thought about going with him and doing the Orlando stuff, but I don't have any desire to do all that on my own with Lucy. So instead, we will head to Grammie's tomorrow to go play there, while Bud holds down the fort here.

We're going to do the whole pumpkin patch thing at this beautiful farm out near my parents' house. It's actually known nationally as a Christmas Tree farm, and was mentioned in Real Simple a year or two ago. Very cute place, and I think we'll have a grand time.

October, while a fickle month, is losing out to the change of seasons. I am putting off the Things To Do for a bit while I enjoy my coffee and Lucy's special blend of tea (must be Earle Gray) out on the patio table. Lucy graciously supplies the sugar. It has been so nice recently that we headed out to the beach on Saturday. It was a perfect, perfect day out there, and so good for my soul to sift through the sand with Lucy's little sifter, and pick up tiny shells, just for the therapy of picking them up. Lucy and Steve, of course dug their customary hole in the sand, which resulted in a nicely exfoliate butt for Lucy. It was a hard day on both ends, so the beach in the middle was medicinal.

And so off we go with our day, ready to pack up for a week of being spoiled. No objections here, except that I always feel that something missing when Steve is gone--like I've forgotten to lock something or turn something off or return something or drop something off. But I also love being apart for a few days because it is so much fun when we come home to each other.

Pooh's 4th Quarter Forecast

If you pay attention to the Pooh index, and believe me, we do around here, things are looking up. See below:

In other news, I tried my own version of Real Simple's Slow Cooker lasagna. I'd say it was rather a winner! It sounds really odd and mushy, but really it was just right. No pre-cooking the noodles, either! My one major criticism is that you don't get the browned cheesy top, so next time I plan to turn it up to high for the last 1/2 hour, then stick it under the broiler for a bit before serving. But otherwise, a keeper! Oh, and definitely recommend using an oven bag or slow cooker bag for easy clean up.

Spent the evening sewing. I sooo need to get some pictures of what I've been making, but the birthdays and such have been coming up so fast I'm forgetting to snap a shot first. I was working on a little backpack for my nephew, into which I will be putting a Star Wars lego set, and two lego magazines that I subscribed to for free (thanks, moneysavingmom.com!). I plan to also subscribe him to the magazine, but I got the first two sent to my house so that there would be something to put in the backpack. Now, to crochet a sweater for my youngest niece...

On tap tomorrow: going in to my old work to help out with a project there for a few hours while Lucy is at Mrs. Katie's, and then Girls' Night Out #2 with Bible Study Girls! Seriously, 4 Girls' Nights Out in a month--wahoo!! No blue cocktails this time, though... I think I'm over budget on cool girly drinks. =)

Grr.

I canceled my order. They emailed me and said I couldn't have their free gift.

An amazing deal

I've been reading a blog called moneysavingmom.com, and she pointed me to an amazing deal. I had to pass it on. I'm getting 5 pounds of ground beef from Omaha Steaks for about $0.36 a pound. Like delivered to my door, shipping included. The deal is outlined here, at a different site. It seems complicated, but really it's not bad. One thought... if you use my recommendation, and two people buy stuff from my recommendation, I get a little incentive, so here's my link to the Omaha Steaks website to start with. Hope you'll enjoy it!

EDIT: Looks like they fixed the deal so that there is a minimum. =( You can check it out and see what you find, though.

Weekend becomes a Monday

We had a busy weekend... two birthday parties for three kids (one party was for my favorite set of twins!), then Bible Study on Sunday, then girls' night out for me tonight. Oh, the fun! I'll let the pictures show you. =)

Lucy's new favorite ever thing is bounce houses. I can see why! There is a Tigger in all of us, I think.
The second birthday party included a real (retired) firetruck ride! Lucy cried most of the ride... but hey, firetruck!


And a little party for me! See my "party in a glass"? There was a fake ice cube that lights up blue, making it the best ever fun drink that I have paid way too much for.

Once

Tell me just by looking at this picture that you don't want to see this movie. I mean, really. We bought the sound-track. Obviously, we had to. I have this void in my life where I know music fits. I hear lots of music that just pains me because it's so cliche, so poorly done, so overdone, so underdone. But the music from this film just settled into my soul. The movie was beautiful and simple and quirky. The perfect way to begin my weekend.

Mii Fit!

This isn't me (Mii), but it's a picture of my favorite Wii Fit game. Seriously, when I'm working against the clock trying to get those flippin hoops to spin! spin! spin! I don't notice, a.) that I'm sure I look like Cloris Leachman (see here if you don't know what I mean), and b.) that oh-my-goodness, I'm exercising! When I run, I may generally enjoy it and feel good that I did it, but I definitely feel like I'm running.

This thing really appeals to my OCD side (inherited from Dad), in that I want to try juuuuust one more thing. I have no problem getting to 30 minutes (they count all minutes that you are actually doing an activity, not the time in between), and just when I think, "Well, I'll wind it down," Lo! A new activity is unlocked! So I must try it! And then, well, I ought to "cool down" with something I know. And I certainly can't quit on THAT lousy score, so I must do it again! So before I know it, it's midnight on a day I professed to be tired, and I feel fantastic. Will see how the year progresses with this thing. Prospects are bright.

Jenny is smiling

I freakin' love my birthday. It's a chance to celebrate things I love, to indulge a little and relax a little and have some fun. Friday was Birthday Part One. Lucy was at "playgroup" and so I went and got a pedicure, something I haven't done in years. As I told my mother, I "relaxed the hell out of it." (Then my mother promptly reproved my language.) Then off to my new very favorite ever store, Ann Taylor Loft to spend my squirrelled away pennies (some of which came from my recent opportunity to work a bit) on updating and replacing some dying wardrobe items. Oh, what fun! And 20% off to boot! After a lovely time at Bible Study and gift opening at home (Wii Fit takes the cake!!), we went to bed to prepare for Birthday Part Deux...

Oh, San Diego, how I have missed you!
The Bud Clidgesdale with our little family.
Waiting to watch the sea lions do "Thriller."
This looks like something out of Hilights magazine: "What's wrong with this picture?"
This never happens... clearly she had eeked every ounce of fun out of the day possible.
This one is worth clicking on to see the original picture... I love my camera!
We ate junk all day (shared ice cream, popcorn, churros and lemonade), and then ended with burgers from Islands with Rybear and "Shaaaaayell." What a wonderful, perfect weekend. Only one more Birthday Fun item to go: The traditional birthday cookie from Mrs. Fields, free this time because our Valentine cookie was so bad that they gave us a gift certificate for the next one!

So many thanks for the well wishes. I think it's funny how I always forget that birthdays come with love from others, too. I'm glad God put you good people in my life!