I'm grateful

Today could have been filled with tragedy,

but thankfully we had a celebration of life,

Bekah's sweet 16 birthday party.

Bekah invited several of her friends from church and school.

This is what they did from start to finish.  Their laughter was so loud sometimes we couldn't
hear each other in the other room.

Smores!!
It didn't last long because it's soooo cold outside, that is CA cold, 57 degrees.
The rain didn't help.

You can't see it, but they managed to get our 13 man tent on top of the wood beams in order to cover the outside party area. Our tarps were no where to be found. Matthew graciously did most of the trapeze work.

 Our joy in having Bekah and our other 7 wonderful kids just makes our hearts go out even more to those families that have lost loved ones in the shooting today, especially for the small ones.

I just kept thinking about those wide eyed 5-yr-olds at Abby's school that look up into my face and ask to help them find a book to check out.  The shooter took children just like them.

So I'm grateful to have experience eight 5-yr-olds in my household and

hope to experience many more in the coming years.

If by chance, one of us is taken before we are ready, thankfully there is a plan to see one another again.