Hello, everyone!!

I have so much to say.  Really, I could probably make about three posts out of this, but it is all relevant to today, so it all goes here.

1)  We had a wonderful month with our oldest daughter, Amy!  She is now back in D.C. and we miss her greatly!  Having adult children is such a peculiar thing.  I am so proud of her and glad that she is making her way in the world, following hard after the Lord.  At the same time, I really wish she was back here, tucked away in her bedroom with her younger sister.  I think all the mamas of adult children can understand.  😉

2) I want to apologize for not keeping up with all of you and linking-up as often as I had been.  This is my first summer blogging and it was harder to keep up than I thought it would be.  Thank you for your grace!

3)  The most amazing thing has happened for our family!   Ed and I have been married for almost 27 years.  He has worked a night shift job for almost 25 of them!   Today, he started a first shift job with the same company that he has been with for 18 years.  The whole family is beyond excited!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

4) A very sad thing has happened.  I haven’t talked about it here, but my step-father was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in October of 2013.  He never smoked or “chewed.”  We just found out that he now has a very fast-growing, aggressive cancer in his brain.  The prognosis is very grim and he will be moving to hospice soon.  Please pray for our family.

5) Due to such drastic changes in our family, I will be changing the way I blog.  I had made a goal last year when I started Beauty Observed to blog three times a week.  I have kept that commitment for the past nine months.  Starting this week, I will only be posting one or two times a week which will include the Whatever is Lovely Friday link-up.

Thank you, dear Readers, for your prayers and support!