32

In honor of my 32nd birthday today, I took some time this morning to rummage around and dig up some old family photos. My mother, bless her heart, didn't have time to keep them neatly organized in albums by the time I, her fourth child, came along. But she did do a good job of writing the date on the back of most of the pictures I found, so I'm impressed about that! :)

As I revealed last year in this blog, I'm not the slightest bit reluctant to reveal my age...which is a good thing, because my dad announced it to the whole congregation at the end of our service on Sunday. :) 32 feels good to me!

~ my brother David and I on April 4, 1976...I was 3 days old, and he was almost 2 years old
~ me as a one year-old
~ fall 1978...2 and 1/2 years old
~ family picture in November 1980...4 years old
~ with my brother David in 1982 or 1983...he was my best buddy growing up
~ my sister Donna, brother Doug, me, and brother David in 1993 on the day of my high school graduation

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As I looked through these pictures, a few thoughts came to my mind. For one thing, how could I help but notice the blaring characteristics of the various decades: the orange carpet and crazy wallpaper of the 70's, for example? :) Secondly, as I look at the pictures of when I was young, I thought, "How can that be me? I don't remember being that girl!" :)

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I've always thought we should honor the mothers in a special way when one of their children has a birthday, since the moms are the ones who did the hard work! :) And the dads are also responsible for creating and nurturing life. So to my parents, a big thank you on this day for having me and raising me in such a loving, secure environment. You're the best!