Birthday Rainbow

It was Molly's birthday the other day.  She's 13.  (sob)  Where did the time go?

Shortly after blowing out her candles, Taylor came running into the house telling us there was an amazing rainbow outside.

Amazing is a gross understatement.

Seriously.

I have never seen a rainbow like it.
The colors were so vibrant and strong that it took my breath away.

I yelled for the kids to go tell the neighbors while I went back inside for my camera.

Camera's don't pick up rainbows all that well.  Even when you can see one quite clearly, it often looks pale and almost invisible in a photo.  So keep that in mind as you view the shots below.  I didn't have a wide enough angle to get the entire rainbow--which stretched in a perfect arch across the sky.  And then there was a double...

Yes!  A double rainbow above the first!  It was less vibrant but still beautiful.

As the sun began to set, the second rainbow disappeared but the original one stayed.  The light totally changed as the last of the sun lingered and lit the clouds with gold.

So Molly....  God sent a beautiful double rainbow on your birthday, which makes me remember the verse He gave me for you before we knew who you would be:

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a Hope and a Future."  Jeremiah 29:11

We love you, sweet girl!!

Sixteen Candles

The teenager celebrated his 16th birthday today. It passed rather unremarkably because his best friend is grounded. So he was relegated to spending it with the family. hee...

Jake had an eye doctor appointment today, so the Teen had to babysit--which thankfully, he was not upset about. Side note: Jake's eye tests came out fine! His eye is only affected at the outer layer. His only issue will be some light sensitivity in that eye.

We let the Teen choose a restaurant and then took everyone out to eat. The Teen got a steak and he was a happy camper. The kids made him cards and happily passed them out this morning. It was so cute.

He likes to light his own candles

And even likes to give himself re-lighting candles

Continually re-lighting...it got a bit tiresome after awhile!

He wants to get his driver's license, but we are trying to figure out if we will require him to pay part of the $700 bill for driver's ed.

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In other news, I will be taking Kate back to Children's hospital tomorrow to re-do her echocardiogram that she had last month. Her cardiologist emailed me a few days ago to say he was reviewing her echo and saw a blood-flow issue that they want to re-check. It is near the spot where they did her fontan (the actual heart procedure area). He said he is not overly concerned, although he wanted her to come back in right away. So off we go...hoping that the trip doesn't take me two hours like it has the past few times I've gone. Boston traffic... Urgh.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Katie-bug

Poor baby is snuggled up in my lap groaning--still sick.

One year ago today, we were winging our way home from China. Kate had a two-day birthday since it was the 16th in China, and 24 hours later, it was still the 16th in the U.S. She also became a U.S. citizen that day, as her feet touched American soil.

We are so thankful for our precious girl...that God watched over her and preserved her life so that she could grace ours.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet girl!

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to...

I'll cry if I want to
...'cause my husband's in Boston
You would cry too, if it happened to you.
Woo..woo...woo

haha...that song has been running through my head. It just cracks me up to think that if you had told me 10 years ago that I would be spending my 45th birthday at home with my 10 kids, I would have fallen down laughing. God is so funny!

We already celebrated my birthday on Saturday, so I was already treated to my favorite dessert ever... cherry cheesecake. My sweet hubby made two of them, so that the kids wouldn't devour it all. My parents also came over, so it was a nice day. I wish my mother-in-law could have come and shared the cheesecake with me, because it's her favorite, too!