Rebekah is 1 today!!!!!

well, a year ago this time, i was trying to get a new baby to learn how to eat. she was a little over 4 weeks early and had some trouble figuring it all out. micah and anna stayed the night with the hawkins and bekah, bret and i stayed at the hospital. that first night someone is alive and breating on their own.....it is just priceless. almost like sacred ground. words can almost not describe it. a person who was not "here" yesterday is "here" today. and life is forever more changed. it is so exciting. and a bit scary. thoughts are racing through your mind as you wonder what will this person grow up to be like, can i do this, can i love this child enough, can i give her all she is going to need, and why, god, are so gracious to bless me with another beautiful, healthy, adorable child? it is such and awesome yet intimidating responsibility. and you just mostly sit in awe staring at that new person you helped to create and every now and then you notice a tear fall at the awesomeness of it all.

thank you God for rebekah. she is such a joy to us. she reminds us of the joy you call each of us to have. draw her close to you and never let her go. may she always love you and receive the love you offer to her. may she love others with her whole heart and receive the love that they, too, offer.

thank you God for friends and family that you give us that we can place her in such a great cloud of witnesses. may she always be encouraged by them and know there is no place she can go where she is not loved by someone.

tonight we celebrated her birthday with our family here in texas. i ended up going with baked spaghetti. it was cheap and easy and fed all even leaving some leftovers. baked spaghetti, salad, fruit salad, rolls, tea, lemonade, cake and icecream. i made the cak and bret iced it and decorated it. he did a great job. it was good and everyone was so wonderful. we had a good time and bekah really started to enjoy the party when she opened presents. before that was a bit questionable to her. she didn't know whether to laugh or cry with so many people around. thank you to all who were here to celebrate with us. you are so special to us. thank you sara for calling to wish her a happy birthday. she just grinned while you were talking to her. she was exhausted when the night was through and though i wanted to just hold her for a while and reminise, she was ready for her bed, so i will just have to do that tomorrow. love you all.
summer