That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need...
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| Nana and her Grandkids :) |
Fall and winter bring with them cold and dreariness, but also holidays and family. Though the aspens are bare and the air frigid, we are reminded each time that we walk into our warm home that we have a shelter to keep us out of the cold and safe from the falling snow. Though the holidays can be stressful and full of long road trips (approximately 26 hours of Thanksgiving driving if we want to talk numbers), we are so grateful for that time we get to spend with our families. Though they may drive us crazy at times (and I'm sure we do the same to them), it is great to be around them all, to share hugs, laughter, and our stories of the year. The food we share is not too shabby either. :)
Great song:
"Gratitude" by Nichole Nordeman
We have been quite busy lately. We are both taking classes. Jeff finishes out his semester today! Then Jeff will be getting his wisdom teeth out next week (I'll be sure to document any loopy comments from a drugged husband...). Christmas is right around the corner, so lots of baking for Ashley! Our theme this year is German. We are pretty excited about that one. Lots of yummy meats, pastries, and gingerbread cookies! I hear beer is sort of a popular German tradition too... is that right? :) We can't wait to spend more time with our families and share some delicious food.
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| Gotta love these kids! |
The adoption process is moving along. LOTS of paperwork to get through still. We are about halfway done with the paperwork, so next will be our home study interviews, then more paperwork to turn in for our dossier. (In case you haven't heard already, we are adopting from Ethiopia!) This is going to be a lengthy process and our next big step will be a long waiting period, but we are ecstatic. It is probably about a two year process, so hopefully we can keep our spirits up throughout. Prayer would be greatly appreciated, and prayer for our future child that we will get to provide a loving home to someday soon. We pray for him/her daily.  |
| It's illegal not to include pics of your carved pumpkins! |
We also might be moving again... Not really looking forward to yet another move (I think this is number six for us, maybe), but this one will be a little more permanent. We are looking into buying... so we'll see how that goes. Great investment right now with the market how it is. Of course we have to trust that the market improves before we have to move again. Once Jeff graduates seminary, we'll have to see how things with the Air Force go from there. If we do move though, it needs to be rather quickly because we would have to completely redo our home study interviews if we move after all that is complete.Needless to say, our lives are pretty full right now. All the more reason to be grateful for each and every little piece of it. Though things have not turned out how we expected them to (and they probably never will), we still have many reasons to be thankful. We know that we are blessed and we can't take advantage of that fact for even a day.
A way we were able to share our own blessings was through Operation Christmas Child this year. Not only were we able to pack a shoebox or two of our own to send to children all over the world, we were also able to volunteer at a processing center this year and help pack and ship the boxes out! Our processing center in Denver was set to process over 700,000 boxes! Most of those will be going to Mexico and also some Native American Reservations here in North America. Last year, the total sent out around the nation was something close to 8.5 million boxes to over 130 countries around the world! Just the thought of a couple of little children somewhere on the other side of the world opening our presents to them is so exciting. I wish we could be there to see their smiling faces when they open their gift! Maybe one day. :)
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
