Patty

Today is Patty's birthday!

Patty is a very important part of this very large family.

And a very, very important part of this smaller large family.

I wrote about Patty for her birthday last year in this post:  Patty Jo - Yesterday and Today.  And in that post are links to all the other posts I've written about her with lots of pictures that show how she's changed over the years.  Therefore, I'll just include a few more here.

And now I'll just say a little about what's been going on in Patty's life during the past year and what changes have occurred.

It's probably safe to say that the biggest change in Patty's life this year has been a mixed bag of pride, love, and nostalgia as her firstborn graduated from high school 

and started college several hours away.  Here she is with him and his dad as they prepared to depart for a few days of indoctrination.

And that change had a bearing on a lot of the other changes in Patty's life this year.  After having four kids in a variety of different sports with the accompanying practices, games, and tournaments, there's now one less at home and coincidentally there are fewer sports involved with the ones still there.

Of course Patty's still been busy.  A lot of her time in the past year has involved preparing a professional portfolio which includes an individual development plan.  This portfolio will be submitted to a review board in April.  She'll find out in May whether or not she's passed and if she has, there will be a pay increase for her and perhaps increased chances for future promotions. Since she aspires to one day moving up from Assistant Principal to Principal, she's working very hard to boost her chances.    

Then she and Dave have plans to reorganize the house and catch up on a few household repair projects.

She's also looking forward to a few college visits for Katie during her Spring break and hoping that Dave will be able to get time off to attend as well.

And of course Matthew continues to be active in Scouts and a variety of sports

And the same goes for Zachary

And the whole family was totally stoked when the Cubs won the World Series this year

and you might even say that they jumped for joy.

So it's been another busy year for Patty.  Her family is so blessed to have her and her amazing organizational skills in their lives.  But more than that, she's one of the most loving, conscientious, hard-working, and family oriented people you could ever know.  So not only is her immediate family blessed to have her in their lives but her entire extended family is blessed to have her as well.  She's loved by all and and her sweet, smiling face is welcome wherever she goes.  So Happy Birthday, Patty! We're hoping it was amazing and that the coming year is even better!  We could not love you more or be more proud of you!