Happenings in the Land Clan: Rebekah's 6th birthday

Yesterday was Rebekah's 6th birthday. What a day it was...

Typically in our house birthdays are a huge deal. The birthday child gets a special day of doing whatever they want, eating all their favorite meals, and planning and baking a birthday cake with mommy. However yesterday was a tough day. Rob and I went to the funeral of a Police Officer during the day while the children played at Grandma's house. It was a long and emotional day for us. I'll never forget the sight of the blue lights from the line of police cars over 5 miles long escorting the Officer's body to his grave, the sight of hundreds of officers standing at attention to honor him, the way the police helicopter flew over the graveside after the 21 gun salute sounded, or the sound of bagpipes playing Amazing Grace and Taps. We didn't tell the children about the tragedy, so once we finally arrived back at our house that evening we needed to switch to celebration mode for Rebekah. I am thankful that Rebekah still felt that she had a terrific day since spending the whole day with Grandma is a real treat for her. When I finally arrived at Mom's late in the afternoon to pick the kids up I asked Rebekah if she'd like to stop at the ice cream store to pick up a special birthday cake...her response was, "No Mommy, I want to cook my cake with you!" I bribed her (and felt horrible about it) with being the special cook for Peyton's birthday in 10 days since Peyton is too young to be upset about missing her special birthday cooking with Mommy and we stopped for the ice cream cake instead. Then we went home and ordered pizza for dinner. Finally, we celebrated 6 years of Rebekah's life while feeling so grateful for the blessings of our family and feeling sadness for the family across town who's celebrations will forever feel the hole left from the loss of a husband and Daddy.