Graduation Celebration AND 18th Birthday Party!

My daughter graduated from high school and turned 18 in the same week.

Recently, we celebrated both milestones together 

with a come and go afternoon party for family and friends.  

She loves the color yellow and sunflowers, so I went with that for the theme.  

I ordered her birthday cake and cupcakes from Sam's Club.

The day that I picked them up,

they had graduation cookies available in the same colors as her cake.

I just couldn't resist. :-)

I made a good choice - they were yummy!

I served water, lemonade and coffee to our guests to go with the sweet treats.

I used my daughter's beautiful senior portraits to decorate with.

And I made several banners using this fabulous website.

We are hoping all her wishes come true! :-)

Memorial Day 2012

"The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree."

~Thomas Campbell

Veteran's Day

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."  ~Cynthia Ozick  

September 11th

"This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world."

from President George W. Bush's Address to the Nation

delivered September 11, 2001

Oval Office Washington, D.C.

NEVER forget.

In Memory

March 1, 2010

Your Loved One Lives In Your Heart

May tender memories soften your grief,

May fond recollection bring you relief,

And may you find comfort and peace in the thought

Of the joy that knowing your loved one brought...

For time and space can never divide

Or keep your loved one from your side

When memory paints in colors true

The happy hours that belonged to you.

~ Helen Steiner Rice

"The angels are always near to those who are grieving,

to whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hand of God."

~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book

by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Wildflower Bouquet" by Katie Rostine

Veteran's Day

"We often take for granted

the very things

that most deserve our gratitude."

~Cynthia Ozicke

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Heading Home" by Thomas Kinkade

Never Forget

September 11, 2001

65 years

Several years ago my family had the privilege of visiting the beaches of the Normandy Invasion at the sites of the American D-Day landings - codenamed Omaha Beach and Utah Beach. The following pictures were taken by Mr. H.

June 6, 1944 D-Day

"a mighty armada crossed a narrow strip of sea from England

to Normandy, France and cracked the Nazi grip on western Europe"

Omaha Beach

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II cemetery and memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, that honors American soldiers who died in Europe during World War II.

The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel. It covers 172 acres, and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. The graves face westward, towards the United States.

Pointe du Hoc is a clifftop location on the coast of Normandy. It lies 4 miles west of Omaha Beach, and stands on 100 foot tall cliffs overlooking the sea. It was a point of attack by the United States Army Ranger Assault Group commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder, "Rudder's Rangers".

Utah Beach

THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO ITS SONS

THAT LOST THEIR LIVES

IN THE LIBERATION OF THESE BEACHES

JUNE 6, 1944

There aren't words to describe the feeling of standing on the very ground were so many brave Americans gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Remembering the Fallen

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

~Lt. Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Poppies on Wood" by Wendy Wegner

"12"

At 2:42 AM on November 18, 1999, the partially completed Aggie Bonfire, on the Texas A&M University campus, standing 40 feet tall and consisting of about 5000 logs, collapsed during construction. Of the 58 students and former students working on the stack, 12 were killed and 27 others were injured...

Those that lost their lives will never be forgotten.

"there's a spirit can ne'er be told"

Please, Thank a Veteran Today

Freedom is not free.

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget

that the highest appreciation is not to utter words,

but to live by them."

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"The Brightest Star" by Lee Teter

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag

of the United States of America,

and to the Republic for which it stands;

one Nation under God, indivisible,

with Liberty and Justice for all."

Patriot Day

September 11, 2008

Never forget...

Memorial Day

"Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided Republic."
~John A. Logan

"And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me."
~Lee Greenwood