HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAMA!!!

Today is my precious mama's birthday! For those of you that did not already know, I have the most wonderful Mom ever. I am so grateful for her and all that she does for me. She is a wonderful friend to us/others and sets such a great example for her 3 girls by the way that she lives her life..... through leading small group at church, volunteering at the church, leading a bible study at her house, faithfully sending people cards when they are going through hard times, staying in Greensboro, AL for weeks to be with a dying friend, being a devoted and loving wife to my daddy almost 29 years (!!!!), showing love and generosity to others as she makes them meals in their times of need, having our big old family over for holiday celebrations so we can all be together, throwing numerous wedding showers to celebrate her friends and their children, driving my aunt to doctor appointments and to get chemotherapy, opening her home to family friends as they evacuate their homes for hurricanes, and muuuuch MORE!

Those are just things she does for other people. She is an incredible and selfless mother...especially with her time. I cannot begin to tell you the hours she has put into us girls and our lives... softball games, traveling all over the U.S. to watch Grace play volleyball, staying up to the wee hours of the morning helping all of us study, college and vet school applications (big hours there!), watching me cheer, taking us to church and teaching us to be good God-loving ladies, watching Paige dance, teaching us that family is our priority, making life fun---decorating your cast to celebrate Easter 2006, baking/decorating Christmas cookies to leave for Santa, dyeing Easter eggs, carving pumpkins, making gingerbread houses, etc.; planning my wedding with me for a year... in HER (and my dad's) garden, no less!... which required she put off adding their new master bedroom on to the first floor because it would have messed up the yard for our wedding site, helping Josh and me move into and decorate our first home (and borrow a lot of her old furniture!), hours spent shopping for wedding dresses and then celebrating together in the parking lot when we finally bought one, planning and taking family vacations to make sure that we got quality family time together and to broaden our horizons, helping Paige get everything figured out when she transferred schools, countless hours spent shopping for, buying, and decorating the new house in Auburn where Grace will spend the next four years becoming Grace Brannon, DVM; .... I could go on for hours. People say there are angels everywhere... and we have our very own in my mama.

Mama, Thank you for everything that you do for daddy, josh, us girls, and others. Thank you for your joy for the Lord that you share with all of us and the excellent example of Christ's love that you emulate daily. I love you so much. You are my heart.