Happy New Year to all. I hope 2025 is a wonderful year for each of you. May this year will be filled with great blessings for you.

As we start the new year, it is good to look back on the past year. Take the time to thank God for our blessings and ask God to look over those who are suffering heartaches and illnesses … we ask for God’s mercy and his healing hands to wrap around each of us.

Like many of you, our family has had sadness and grief during this past year, but we also have had many happy times and much joy. Today, I count my blessings.

While our lives may never be completely perfect, we can definitely count our blessings. For me … although it’s been a year of many ups and downs, I deeply appreciate God’s blessings.

As I do every year at this time, I share the joy my grandchildren Jenna, Cody, Cooper and Millie bring to my life. Each year on New Year’s Eve, we celebrate. We cut up tons of newspaper into confetti … we cook up delicious food, and we set up our plastic stem glasses. Just before midnight we fill them with sparkling cider and we celebrate. We celebrate being together, we celebrate God’s blessings and at the stroke of midnight we celebrate Cooper’s birthday. With the strands of Auld Lyne Syne welcoming in the New Year, we throw our colorful newspaper confetti, we toast each other and we offer a very special toast to our birthday boy: Cooper is 18 years old on this New Year’s Day. As we do each New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, we celebrate Cooper Bartholomew. I am very thankful for these precious grandchildren I have been blessed with; Jenna, Cody, Cooper and Millie have been a great blessing in my life.

As I have every year, I feel joy within my heart as l look around the room. The smiles, the laughter, as our family and dear friends share New Year’s Eve together; once again it brought a happy smile to my face.

As the old year comes to an end and the new year begins, let us be thankful. May God bless you all in 2025.