A proud shout out

Obligatorily photo plug of the boys:

Top L to Bottom R: Our oldest, our married 2nd oldest,
our youngest, the adorable baby, our third oldest.

And here's one of the young family:

And just because:

Always ready to embrace the coolness

I love my boys and have been proud of them for a host of reasons through the years.  Not that I would ever pretend they are angels or don't have any rough spots that tarnish their perfection.  Of course not.  But on the overall measure in this present era, they are pretty good.  So good I sometimes take it for granted that if I call on them to step up to the plate in a moment of need, I just assume they will. 

Add to that my daughter-in-law, who is about as good as one could hope for in the 'first daughter-in-law department', and that's not bad.  My son and daughter-in-law have had it particularly rough. They broke with modern trends and didn't wait until their late 20s to marry.  Then, to add to the fun of starting a new life together, they opened their own book store with not much more to go on than hard work and prayer.  Then they discovered, barely a year into the new life, that they would be parents.  Even if things were at times up to their ears with stress, it was baby fore!  

Then so excited was the baby to join us, she showed up several weeks early.  Now that was rough. I know what it was being a first time dad, and I can't imagine what it would have been spending the first weeks in an ICU with our baby hooked up like that.  When my son sat in the ICU and told me all he could do was watch the other new parents leave the hospital with their babies and all the balloons and flowers, it was all I could do to keep a grip on myself.

Yet they have shown, like my sons in general, a stunning resiliency that is to be admired.  They've certainly done better than I ever would. I know they've had help, and her family is nearby and is every bit as good and grounded as one could hope a child's new in-laws and family would be.  And, again, a shout out to our sons who have time and again dropped everything to be there when they've needed them.

But on the whole, I have to say my son and daughter-in-law have been splendid through the maelstrom.  I remember being married, being a new dad, and just getting on in life and how crazy things could be.  Multiply it a thousand times over and that's been their lives.  And yet, this:

I adore their wit and whimsy when it comes to how they've promoted their store over the years.  Yes, it's tough because they miss the extra time with the baby due to the pile of obligations that come with being entrepreneurs.  But they've been troopers all the way, and I have to say that's a blessing from God I'm willing to trade many a trivial request for.   

One of many skills our daughter-in-law has learned. That's a beat up old copy
of LoTR fixed with her new custom designed, hand crafted cover 

Oh, and as if all that wasn't enough, they decided to broaden their to-do list by embarking on writing a novel trilogy that's right up their ally.  It's still in the editing stage, but I have to say their vision for the story has even this non-fan of the fantasy/sci-fi world curious.  So we'll see. 

Finally, for the shameless proud grandpa of it, I can't deny that the cuteness is definitely strong with this one: