2013 in Review

2013 has been a exciting year of changes and firsts. Our first child was born and watching him experience his first smile, first pat-a-cake game, first beach trip, first steps, and more, has been nothing less than amazing and we are so blessed to be Bennett's parents. Thinking back at the journey we took to meet him, the pregnancy itself, the infertility issues before, and the losses of precious family members just months before we became pregnant, I can only smile at God's perfect plan. It still doesn't all make sense to me, the way things have played out, but my heart is truly full of this unexplainable joy when I think upon the fact that we serve a God who is good, a God who is in control, and a God who loves us deeper than the seas and higher than the heavens.

Bennett's First Car!

Two years ago today, my grandfather ended the year passing from this world into the next. Just two months before that, heaven gained Jeff's mother as well. We miss them both dearly, but know that they now get to watch over us from the best seats in the house. After spending a year watching those two godly lights in our world slowly go out and dealing with over three years of infertility, I began last year, 2012, very frustrated and with low hopes. The news of our pregnancy truly could not have come at a more perfect time. And now that he is here, and 2013 feels as if it has just flown by, I love that I can not only look back upon the year with happiness, but also forward, to 2014 and beyond, with a peace knowing that our lives, and our precious Bennett's life, are in God's hands. That He already has a perfect plan for us, whatever that may be. 2013 was far from perfect, but overall, it was a year of blessings and adventures.

Bennett's First Visit From Santa

I've heard people say that you will be ready for each season as it comes. I am loving the season we are in right now. We are in the wonderful season of life! Yes, there have been some tragedies and losses along the way and that is a normal part of living in this world, but I LOVE watching my friends and family members our age getting married and having babies! What an exciting season we are in! We gained a new niece yesterday and just getting to meet a new life for the first time and watch as her new parents took that giant step into a new stage in their own lives was priceless.

Poppo, Bennett, & Elliana

So, here's to 2014! Whatever it may bring!






For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to bread down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8