Birthdays galore around here

Ashley on her fifth birthday was, well, gifted with a new baby brother, the day before... she's not really warmed up to the fact that he was a gift when she speaks of that specific birthday.. But overall I think in time she warmed up to him! ha ha And she must truly admit that he would and has been a great blessing in her life. He is most accomodating that he will/does run any errand or trip up to her room repeatedly with a minimal amount of grumbling at the request of the sweet princess.

Today (Friday March 6th) Shane Gregory turns 19... and tomorrow (Saturday March 7th) Ashley Nicole turns 24.... wow, where has time gone since they first arrived, hollering and crying for food and dry diapers, smiling, rolling over, crawling, cutting teeth, pulling themselves proudly up against the furniture, than those first steps, which once they turned to a run they never slowed down.. quite frankly, it's gone quickly.

There has been more than a few times when I the mom have thought, "if I knew then what I know now" kind of reflections and hope that I would have done things somewhat differently for the betterment of relationship building.. There would have been a better balance of less "cleaning" "organizing" "chores" for this mom and way way way more time spent in playing board/table games, having conversations about life situations, biblical molding, and just sitting to read, watch a movie quiet time. But that regret being said, it sadly wasn't the real picture... some of this was done, but crammed into a tight schedule of school age responsibilities (x3), sporting events (x3), church commitments, there truthfully was not enough of the down time exacted into life.

But hopefully grace is on our side in how they will reflect on this when they are in therapy! And mercy for the mom and dad who lovingly did their best with the 3 kids under the age of 5 ~ whew!

Today is a day for just plain gratefulness in that we have reached this milestone place in the life of our family. The kids are all healthy, and being productive and thought provoking, God acknowledging, honoring young adults. They were never to be clones of us and so we are proud in that they are finding their way in life as adults. We raised them to be loving, caring, love and honor the Lord who is our savior, be independent, to become self sufficient, reliable and responsible citizens.

Ashley will soon graduate after 6 years of fulltime school with a BSN in Nursing and a minor in Psychology, she worked fulltime at Disneyland to pay for college, and has a signed contract to work for the Army after graduation for 3 years.

Shane is a freshmen 2nd semester at Rio Hondo Junior College where they have an alliance with the Rio Hondo Fire Academy. He is currently taking classes towards an AA in Fire Science. He will than apply for the Academy. He works at the Skylinks golf course since his summer before Senior year in High School. He's paying for his own college costs.

Brian who is 21 and celebrates his birthday on Nov 20th each year. (he shares his day with a Thanksgiving holiday usually). He chose not to take the route of further education after high school graduation, and has been working in the construction field since the day after graduation. He loves this profession and is determined to learn the trade, and is working within a company that allows him this opportunity and encourages his skills growth and in purchasing the necessary tools as he goes. He has been dating April Mason since Feb 2008.

Tonight we are going together for what has become the traditional birthday dinner out. Brian has no competition for his, but at this time of year they do rock paper scissors as to who gets there favorite restuarant. Shane won and picked Chili's (he's a creature of habit). Grandpa and Grandma Van Essen are joining us. Brian is in Pennsylvania this week with April and will be missed.

So happy birthday to our younguns!