Addie turned 7- and Grandma Betty

Addie has asked for months when her birthday was going to be, and then the count down began. She would give great sighs of disappointment saying "IT" was never going to get here. Friday night she had two friends in, Jessica and Lauren, and she invited her sister Kate to attend just a small party. Fun was had by all as they ate tacos and decorated cupcakes, played a couple games and enjoyed the evening. Addie loved the gifts the girls gave her. Then Sunday morning, 3:30 a.m. I felt a nudge next to my head and I opened my eyes to have Addie ask me if I was awake, I said come on get in bed so she crawled over me to very happily say "it is tomorrow, it is my birthday, now I am 7". And then giggles! She did not go back to sleep! Thankfully Claude loves naps and they laid down latter in the day and she did nap.

We had grandpa Tom and grandma Bev in along with A. Carrie and U. Randy, brother Eric and brother Andy also came and we all enjoyed breakfast along with birthday cake! Claude and I got Addie a new bike and an adding machine that has a roll of paper in it...she loves anything to do with numbers, cash registers, money...and we were on the A list with the gifts...then grandma and grandpa gave her their gifts, along with a cell phone that is not activated but you can still use it with the lights on and to take pictures and boy they were on the AAA list! The phone has not left Addie's hands! Total delight!!!

On a different note our sons Grandma Betty passed away Sunday morning. Just about the same time Addie and I were awake and she was excited that she was 7 finally. When Betty first got sick and Addie and I were saying bed time prayers Addie would always interrupt me and say don't forget to pray for Grandma Betty to walk faster...at that time Betty was very ill, yet was able to still get around just a bit and I know Addie meant for her to get better so she could walk faster...but for me I prayed that Betty would not suffer this the end of her time here, that she would be able to "walk faster" to God and be thru with the physical pain she had. As her cancer progressed I was able to sit and hold her hand and pray for her, to care for her, to offer her daughter in-law Leanna time to sleep. (Betty is a former mother in-law of mine). Betty was a Christian from a very young age, and one day she even told me with a sigh, please tell my boys I am going to God. I promised I would and that I would sit and hold her hand while she took that journey. As days, weeks, even months built up she hung on. She shared bits of stories with her family, Alex and Eric went and sat with their grandma when Leanna and Keith would leave....they were so good with her. Alex telling her one night Grandma it is time to go to sleep and until you do I am just going to sit here beside you...I think he sat there all night as she never went to sleep. Eric sat with his grandma again last Thursday night and I waited until 7 pm to text him and say are you doing ok? He said yes, just sitting here reading my book and holding Grandma's hand, she is sleeping and is calm. What good grandsons they were to her. I am so glad that one of my memories of Betty is when she traveled to Germany with Claude and I and the boys to visit Alex when he was stationed there. She said so many times that she had never thought she would ever get to travel like that. Precious memories! Please hold her family all in your prayers. Betty told me one night that her hardest job ever, and here she started weeping, was being a mother to her sons. I told her that she was a model to us all, not only as a mother but as a lady and that she should have her hand in the air cheering her success. Betty Williams was a very good lady, mother, grandmother, sister and a friend. We will all miss her and her lessons of baking, painting and being gentle.