A shout out to our Grandmas. . .

This week both of Ella's grandmas will celebrate a birthday. Since we know that they are probably the two people who check this blog regularly we thought we would send them a special birthday wish! It is Grandma Draper's birthday today (her 35th) and Grandma Holbrook's birthday (her 35th as well) on Friday.

We are all so grateful to have these wonderful women in our lives and only wish we could be closer so that we could spend more time with them. Hopefully there will come a day. . .




My mom, Grandma Draper, is my favorite person in the whole world! She is so loving and caring for all of her kiddos and she has always been such an example to me of the kind of mother I want to be. If there is one trait I could pick that would describe my mother it is that she is a peacemaker. She is always so selfless and does everything for the good of others. I hope that I can be as good of a mother to my children as she was/is to my brothers and me. She always is sending such fun packages out to us (mostly for Ella) and we will often be found waiting by the mailbox for them. These little gifts let us know that she is thinking of us and always brighten our day. We sure hope you have a Happy Birthday today and know that we wish we could be there with you to help you celebrate!



On Friday it is Brad's mom's birthday. She always is teaching us how we can better serve those around us as she is always doing some new sort of service project and encouraging us to do the same. Of course the biggest service she has rendered was in raising her children. How she made it through all those years of raising her children (especially Brad and Jeff) is beyond me! When I hear the stories of the kind of little boy my husband was I cringe and cross my fingers that our kids will get all of their behavior genes from me (since I know I never caused any trouble at all). If by some mistake or twist of fate they end up acting like their father I'm sure I will spend countless hours on the phone with Arline looking for any words of wisdom that will help me get through! All kidding aside, we want to wish Grandma Holbrook a Happy Birthday and want her to know how much we love and appreciate her.


We are so thankful that Ella has two Grandmas that love her so much and are SO genuinely excited to be her grandma! I am so glad we know how much they love her and miss her and we promise to always remind Ella of that fact as she grows while we are away.

Happy Birthday you two!!