It is hard to believe another year has come and gone... and as truly wonderful as 2009 has been, we look forward to all the possibilities that may come with 2010.
Some of our highlights over the past year have included:
February birthdays for the girls in Florida
Easter with the cousins
Josie playing her first season of soccer
Lots of summer water-fun, including swim lessons!
Josie's first church camp experience (Yay, Jo-Ota!)
A August vacation in Florida
Time with good friends
Thanksgiving with Eric's family
Josie's first season of basketball
Christmas with Molly's immediate family - cousins reunite!
There are, of course, many others, but these are some of the high spots. I am always trying to capture the memories in photos, so here is our photo year-in-review for 2009.
May your 2010 be full of blessings and joy!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Basketball
Did I mention Josie is playing basketball this winter?
She sunk 8 shots at her first practice.
I reckon that is one of the perks of being the tallest on the team!!
She sunk 8 shots at her first practice.
I reckon that is one of the perks of being the tallest on the team!!
Holiday Hub-bub
Here we are, days away from Christmas, and I realize what I horrible blogger I have been. It has been since mid-November when I last wrote and lots has happened in the world since then.
Most noteworthy, was Thanksgiving. Every year, we rotate with our parents which family will spend Christmas and Thanksgiving with us -- all in an effort to keep the holidays as simple and stress-free as possible without running to everyone's houses each year. This year, Eric's family was on the docket for Thanksgiving, so we packed up the family van and headed south a few hours to spend the weekend with his family.
Thanksgiving was a great day, in and of itself. Eric's mom prepared a wonderful meal and Eric's brother was even able to join us for it (he brought a puppy with him -- NOT helping the whole "Mommy, we want a puppy!" issue, but cute as could be!). Josie was completely smitten with the puppy and loved every minute she spend with Eric's brother, whom we don't get to see nearly as often as we would like. Besides good food, and good family, there were good games and Josie's introduction to Monopoly. Look out world, here she comes!!! Norah, well she simply enjoyed having folks around to listen to her piano playing (read: noise making).
The day after Thanksgiving, Eric and I were able to take part in some of the Black Friday craziness. This is not something we often do -- and we never do it with kids in tow. Since Eric's folks didn't have any desire to get out in the early shopping, we took advantage of the child care and made our way into the craziness. Part of me wondered what on earth we were thinking, but we did get a lot of shopping done (not all Christmas shopping -- why not buy new bath towels on Black Friday?!).
Since Thanksgiving, we have been very busy with the season of advent. This is my first advent at this church and it comes with a lot of excitement, wide-eyes, and a huge learning curve. I continue to count myself blessed that I am able to "train" with the current Christian Educator through this season before she retires at the end of this month. Such as opportunity is rare in the United Methodist Church!
Between Bible studies, worship planning, and shopping, we have enjoyed the programs put on by the kids. Josie has done a Christmas musical at church (where she was an angel) in addition to her Christmas program at school.
Norah's program at preschool is still forth-coming, but we have thoroughly enjoyed her personal renditions of Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Norah talks about Santa daily and is very much looking forward to this event/day called Christmas. She may not understand what it is all about, but she loves hearing about baby Jesus and when Santa visted the church, she was wide-eyed and full of joy!
My folks are headed into town for a week during the Christmas holiday and we will be joined by my sister and her family on Christmas eve. We will have a house full, but we are looking forward to all the joy and wonder that the children will share!!
I promise to get back to blogging more regularly. Wait... I think I have said that before. If only blogging were as simple as updating facebook. Oh well. I do promise to make an effort to be better at blogging. If you don't think we are posting enough, join us on facebook where you can get the scoop on the events as they happen rather than waiting for us to update here. :)
Hope you and yours are having a blessed advent and Christmas season!
Most noteworthy, was Thanksgiving. Every year, we rotate with our parents which family will spend Christmas and Thanksgiving with us -- all in an effort to keep the holidays as simple and stress-free as possible without running to everyone's houses each year. This year, Eric's family was on the docket for Thanksgiving, so we packed up the family van and headed south a few hours to spend the weekend with his family.
Thanksgiving was a great day, in and of itself. Eric's mom prepared a wonderful meal and Eric's brother was even able to join us for it (he brought a puppy with him -- NOT helping the whole "Mommy, we want a puppy!" issue, but cute as could be!). Josie was completely smitten with the puppy and loved every minute she spend with Eric's brother, whom we don't get to see nearly as often as we would like. Besides good food, and good family, there were good games and Josie's introduction to Monopoly. Look out world, here she comes!!! Norah, well she simply enjoyed having folks around to listen to her piano playing (read: noise making).
The day after Thanksgiving, Eric and I were able to take part in some of the Black Friday craziness. This is not something we often do -- and we never do it with kids in tow. Since Eric's folks didn't have any desire to get out in the early shopping, we took advantage of the child care and made our way into the craziness. Part of me wondered what on earth we were thinking, but we did get a lot of shopping done (not all Christmas shopping -- why not buy new bath towels on Black Friday?!).
Since Thanksgiving, we have been very busy with the season of advent. This is my first advent at this church and it comes with a lot of excitement, wide-eyes, and a huge learning curve. I continue to count myself blessed that I am able to "train" with the current Christian Educator through this season before she retires at the end of this month. Such as opportunity is rare in the United Methodist Church!
Between Bible studies, worship planning, and shopping, we have enjoyed the programs put on by the kids. Josie has done a Christmas musical at church (where she was an angel) in addition to her Christmas program at school.
Norah's program at preschool is still forth-coming, but we have thoroughly enjoyed her personal renditions of Jingle Bells and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Norah talks about Santa daily and is very much looking forward to this event/day called Christmas. She may not understand what it is all about, but she loves hearing about baby Jesus and when Santa visted the church, she was wide-eyed and full of joy!My folks are headed into town for a week during the Christmas holiday and we will be joined by my sister and her family on Christmas eve. We will have a house full, but we are looking forward to all the joy and wonder that the children will share!!
I promise to get back to blogging more regularly. Wait... I think I have said that before. If only blogging were as simple as updating facebook. Oh well. I do promise to make an effort to be better at blogging. If you don't think we are posting enough, join us on facebook where you can get the scoop on the events as they happen rather than waiting for us to update here. :)
Hope you and yours are having a blessed advent and Christmas season!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Silver and Gold
In my younger days, I was a brownie and a girl scout. I remember well learning and singing a friendship song during those scout meetings:
This weekend, I had the true joy of reconnecting face-to-face with one of my oldest friends. I hopped on the Megabus, traveled up to Chicago, and spent a very short and fast 24 hours with her before heading back home to the Sunday responsibilities that awaited me. The bus ride was fun, but the visit was amazing. Simply put, there are some people who come into your lives and you become fast friends. Over time, the friendship grows closer and deeper. Over more time, chances are, you lose touch -- for no real reason other than life is just like that. Thankfully, reconnections happen. For a very few folks, reconnecting is about more than just catching up with what has happened over the years -- it's about picking up where you left off with the trust, the love, and the joy that you originally experienced with that friendship. I have had the true blessing of experiencing this kind of reconnection with this dear friend I haven't seen in 19 years. NINETEEN years. Do you know how much happens in 19 years?? A lifetime of events. And as much as we had each changed, and experienced very different things in life, we are each the same. I have said it before, and I say it now... it is well with my soul!
So yeah, make new friends, and take the time to really form a relationship, for one can never have too many true friends. But DO keep the old. For they just make the treasure of friendship even richer.
Make new friends, but keep the old,
One is silver and the other gold.
This weekend, I had the true joy of reconnecting face-to-face with one of my oldest friends. I hopped on the Megabus, traveled up to Chicago, and spent a very short and fast 24 hours with her before heading back home to the Sunday responsibilities that awaited me. The bus ride was fun, but the visit was amazing. Simply put, there are some people who come into your lives and you become fast friends. Over time, the friendship grows closer and deeper. Over more time, chances are, you lose touch -- for no real reason other than life is just like that. Thankfully, reconnections happen. For a very few folks, reconnecting is about more than just catching up with what has happened over the years -- it's about picking up where you left off with the trust, the love, and the joy that you originally experienced with that friendship. I have had the true blessing of experiencing this kind of reconnection with this dear friend I haven't seen in 19 years. NINETEEN years. Do you know how much happens in 19 years?? A lifetime of events. And as much as we had each changed, and experienced very different things in life, we are each the same. I have said it before, and I say it now... it is well with my soul!
So yeah, make new friends, and take the time to really form a relationship, for one can never have too many true friends. But DO keep the old. For they just make the treasure of friendship even richer.
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