Who Said 13 Was Unlucky???

Well, for some strange reason, I am not allowed to make this Facebook official, but she told me I could blog it! (???)  Hey, who am I to argue?  However I am thrilled to announce grandbaby #13, currently known as "Avocado" mostly because mommy and daddy haven't come up with a name that will be worthy of the princess this little one will surely be!  Avocado is, well, it's kind of funny.  When we were in Hawaii for Chris and Kassi's wedding, we had lunch at Bubba Gump.  The waiter was a hoot, and his name tag said Avocado.  When Kassi found out she was pregnant she started calling the little one Avocado, and it seems to have stuck.  Poor baby.... since it's a girl, not a boy!  But it makes us all happy (and makes us wish we were in Hawaii again!).  She is due to make her appearance in early October, but who knows with this one.  She's done things her own way since she was no bigger than the period at the end of this sentence.   Kassi is seeing a midwife and plans to have her in a birthing center.  It's going to be an exciting ride.  Chris is out of the military and deciding where to go to school so we get them around for a little while.  I will surely cry when they decide to leave, because we have all gotten extremely attached to having Kassi and her sunshine back with us for a while! 

So, our family continues to grow in the most amazing ways.  These grandbabies are... there are no words for how amazing they are.  Each with their own amazing personalities.  It is so fun to watch them grow.  Thayne has the most tender heart and if it's been very many days in a row without seeing them, he starts telling me we need to see them.  He's gotten soft in his 'grandpa' years which is probably why he recently insisted we get a play house/swing set for them.  One much nicer than he did for his older kids (yes, we heard about how spoiled the younger kids are, but we couldn't help it that the younger kids were born the same time the grandbabies were being born).   Life is busy.  It's sometimes overwhelming.  There is so much going on in everyone's lives, and often we get pulled in to the whirlwind, above and beyond the normal whirlwinds of our own life.  Last week, we had plans to get out of town overnight for our anniversary, but heard Kimi was planning to come and spend the weekend.  Thayne just shrugged his shoulders and with a goofy grin on his face, he informed me that this whole crazy mess was my idea!  He always tries to turn it around on me!!!  haha  

Honestly, I have a million dreams, a million hopes, a whole bunch of 'stuff' I want to be working on now.  But I know that in the end, the love these babies show to us, the hugs and loves and kisses and squeels of laughter, well, isn't that what life is all about anyway???

13 is the perfect number to round out the year.  Our arms are full... you should see our hearts!

Did I say 11 was great? What I really meant to say is....

If 11 is great, a dozen is even better!!! 

Yes, a dozen grandbabies. 

Garrett and Tiffany gave me the best birthday present.

An ultrasound picture of our next grandbaby,

due in August!

And she's a girl...