I'm back. . . sort of.

Well, I must admit, I've been under a bit of a rock the last week or so. Between normal female emotions and grieving with the Merritt's, I've been a bit overwhelmed.
Gina's father-in-law passed away early Monday morning, his health had been on a slow decline for several years now, but last week he became much worse, was hospitalized and the family gathered and held him close for his last days. I had a chance to see them at the hospital on Sunday afternoon and it was the sweetest, most precious thing you could imagine. Steve sat next to his Dad, held his hand and regaled us with all of the most wonderful memories, one after the other. He adored his Dad, for good reason and it was clearly evident.
I love the Merritt's so much and it's just plain hard to see them hurt - -for them:

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be
gracious to you;
The Lord turn his face toward you and give you
peace.
Numbers 6:24-26

I was at the funeral home last night and my friend Mary Peters was there. Mary and I have been in church Bible study together for a while now, she's Courtney (Janeway) Peter's mother-in-law and she's just an all-around neat woman, one of my favorites for sure. Her daughter, Kayla just left for college in N. Georgia. Kayla is her youngest of 3, her only girl and her best friend. Yes, she's been facing quite a mountain - I thought K-5 goodbyes were hard. Sheesh!!! Mary Peter's knows hard!!! This is one of the big ones. So, as you can imagine, I've had her on my mind A LOT as we've been on similar paths lately - She's hanging in there as it gets a little less painful each day. She and Andy are amazing parents, I am taking tips from them as Chad and I can only hope to be such good friends with our kids in their early adult years.
Mary encouraged me to keep blogging and reminded me that she's checking for updates, so Mary - here you go, Love. I'm back, willing myself to be here, albeit a bit weak. ;)

Chanting - *My cup is half-full, my cup is half-full!!!*

Today is Michelle Bonner's birthday. She's my best friend on the planet and she is turning 33 today, joining me in the bitter cold water of 33. :)
Happy Birthday, Doll - I love you so much!!!!!!!

Other great news - my friend's Erin & Josh White from church just found out that their "son" Nathan will soon legally be their son. He's Sloane's age and they've had him in their care for nearly his whole life and he knows no other parents. Today, the judge finally terminated his biological father's rights and now they can file the necessary paperwork to officially adopt him (after a brief waiting period). How great is that!?! Doing the victory dance over here, Erin - whoo-hoo!!!!!!!! :)