Weekend News:

Okay...so...I am not a good surprise-keeper..but I actually pulled this one off! Hooray! For a couple of weeks now, Matt has known that we were going to meet his brother and sister-in-law for dinner at the Olive Garden on Saturday, the 29th. What he didn't know was that, actually...his WHOLE family was coming! There were 17 of us in all (his mom couldn't make it because she wasn't feeling well--we missed you Laura!). It turned out great though. Almost everyone was already there and seated when we walked in...so he was pretty surprised. The kids enjoyed themselves immensley playing with their cousins and it was terrific to get to visit with all of our family. The only negative was that we didn't get enough time to really visit with everyone. Still, it was a great time and I want to THANK everyone who came! You guys really made his 30th birthday a great memory for him! I couldn't have done it without you all!
***Changing subjects***
Now, for some very saddening news, we found out on Friday that my cousin, Raymond, who was 32, overdosed on drugs and had passed away. It was a complete shock to our family and the only comfort we have is that we believe he was saved. He was going through a particulary rough time in his life, but certainly no one expected anything like this. My mom left this morning to go be with our family and attend the funeral. It's such a hard situation, but God will see us all through it and we are believing for the kind of peace that only He can give at a time like this.
As a final thought, I want to leave you with something I read on Thursday night, just hours before we got the call that he had died.
"When a child loses a parent, he is called an ophan. When a husband or wife loses their spouse, they are called a widow or widower, but when a parent loses a child, there is no word to describe it."