Mara Jade, nearly 8 months old

Happy New Year!

This is Mara Jade Williams 4 days short of 8 full months at her mother's birthday celebration. She has obviously become much less worried about Uncle Scary Hat because she kept swiping his hat.

What a year it has been. On the scale of my 57 years, it has been a good one.

I am sad today missing my mother, because it was her birthday, too, and wishing she could have been here to meet the her great granddaughter and share in the wonder of the past 8 months,

Today, I give thanks for the day I was given, my roof, clean water, enough to eat, the baby, my son, my daughter, the pup, my rest of my family both human and animal, my friends, my jobs, clay and photography, blip photo, the community here, the beauty in the raised voices of a congregation, the beauty of the world around us, and the 57 and 3 months of life I have had. Thanks be given. I am so very lucky and I have no idea why I have been so lucky except for the grace of god.