Day 1 of 365 days of Being Thankful

Olya and Renee

Olivia and Natasha(niece)

Olivia, 20, and Olya, 19
This is the first day of my blog.  I am going to try to be thankful daily.  I wrote a thirty day blog of being thankful before Thanksgiving and I really enjoyed writing it.  I didn't know that I could find thirty things to be thankful for.  Now I am going to try to write a 365 day blog of being thankful.  Yikes!  I am a wife, married over forty years, a mom of five, a bereaved mom and an adoptive mom. I am also a mother-in-law and a grandmother.  My daughter Amy, age 18, died on May 25, 2001 due to medical malpractice.  I am thankful that I had her for almost 19 years but it will never be enough.  My youngest two daughters were adopted from Ukraine at ages 9 and 10.  Olya, age 19 was adopted in 2009 and Olivia, age 20, was adopted in 2007.  I am thankful today for the Christmas season and the New Year. Our Christmas season began with a candle lighting ceremony in memory of Amy.  It was beautiful and bittersweet. I never thought I'd live this long without her. It has been 16 years. Our next Christmas event was a trip to San Diego for vacation. We went the week before Christmas.  It was strange for us to see Christmas trees decorated in the warm climate. Of course, we did the touristy thing and went to the San Diego Zoo and to Sea World. We also met our CA friends, Bill and Shirley, at Harrahs' Casino and had dinner with them.  We got home a few days before Christmas. We had to finish wrapping gifts and baking. My son and his family came to visit the weekend before Christmas.                        




My daughter and her husband came over also to eat and exchange gifts.  We went to church on Christmas Eve.  I love that our church lives what they preach.  Everyone was asked to bring new or gently used coats, scarves, gloves, etc. and the altar overflowed with the generosity of the congregation. I always cook on Christmas Eve.  I had set the table earlier in the day because it is a hectic rush scene to get everything cooked and served after church. My sister and her family always join us for dinner. After dinner, we took lots of photos. I decided that next year, I am doing the fancy paper plate disposable stuff for dinner. I really love my good Christmas plates so perhaps I'll change my mind by next Christmas. For the time being, my sore back says disposable plates for next year!



So the question is.........................paper or china?????


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