Hitting the big 5- OH !

This is my Mom. She is 50. I know, it's crazy, right? This lady has more fun and energy packed into her athletic little frame than most 20-year olds I know. Call it good genes, if you want. (please! I'd like to think I'll look this great at 50!)

See how the kids just take it all in stride? It's nothing new for us to have crazy parties and wear enormous glasses.

Who is my Mom?

Let me tell you a little about her:
Her faith is real. She wants to be exactly what God wants her to be. Mom strives to be the best version of herself. She searches the Bible for truth, and can easily discern Truth from modern-day-lit-garble. (And she's an English major, so I may get some tongue-lashing for all of my hyphen uses and made-up words in this post! ha! Sorry, Mom!)

She is fun. She loves to laugh and joke around. She loves to spend time with family, anywhere & anytime.

Mom is a writer by nature, and spends much of her free time filling up notebooks with her newest (and incredible) articles.

She is tolerant and grateful of others. She's one of those sweet people that will let you out of the church parking space when you're trapped in, and then she'll give a friendly little wave. Uncommon these days.

She's physically impressive, for a 5'6" small-build little-lady. Don't even think about arm-wrestling this woman. Mom and Dad will be traveling to Florida in November for their next marathon. (By the way, on Dad's 50th birthday, he climbed Mount Evan in Colorado. Nothing gets in their way, certainly not a few extra years under the belt.)

She loves to see new places, and especially to capture them on film. They are empty-nesters, so she gets to travel with Dad, usually to Colorado, Missouri, and Mexico. They did take a trip to Europe about a year ago, too.

Mom loves nature. She instilled this in all of us, by taking us camping, hiking, swimming, caving at early ages. We camped ALL the time when I was young. When we lived on the East Coast, they took us to the Market and the beaches almost every weekend. I went rafting and water-skiing for the first time when we lived there. On the West Coast, for summers, we spent hours and hours on the rocky shore line, just soaking up the beauty of God's creation.
Enjoying nature is part of her daily life, and I'm so grateful that she passed that on...

She is "Noni" to seven grandkiddos. Four of them, below, patiently wait for cake to be served. My folks are fantastic grandparents. They always have time to babysit, play chess, take the kids to the park, play music and dance, you name it.


She loves her family unconditionally, and has accepted each new son-in-law fully and completely, with affection and encouragement. Regardless of how goofy they are... ;-)

(Fred having his "lightbulb moment." He never divulged what it was. Go figure.)
My mom is compassionate. She wants to help you, me, everyone. She feels pain deeply. If you are sick, she is the best person, hands down, to keep by your bedside. She is empathetic, almost to a fault. Others can take advantage of her, if she isn't careful.

Poor baby Ransom! He wasn't used to the confines of the Baby Bjorn. He'll love it in time. Noni gave him some lovin' after this.
My Mom is all this and more. She's still running marathons and taking overseas trips at 50. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if she takes up skiiing or windsurfing by the time she's 70!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!