Thursday, January 9, 2014

Any News on Our Timeline?

We just heard word from our agency that our children's exit medical appointments February 17th-21st. So, hopefully we will be scheduled to go bring them home between early and mid March!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

A New Year in New York

I grew up in upstate New York, and most of my extended family still lives up there. Our family usually tries to go up and visit my family every summer, but this winter we decided to make a trip up to the frigid cold in hopes of seeing some snow.

Some of my children had never seen snow, so they were very excited to make the trip. It began snowing shortly before we arrived at my mom's house. Even though we got in late at night,  that didn't stop the kids from bundling up in their snow gear and going out to play in the snow.  

Fasika making her very first snow angel.

Yummy snow.

 Snowball fights.


 Grandma Gayle got into the snowball fight.
 The next day, the kids were up and out in the snow right after breakfast (actually, I had to make them eat before they went out because they wanted to go out as soon as they woke up).
 We went sledding at one of the reservoirs. 







 Cousin Daig and Aunt Jeanette went sledding with us too!
 At Grandpa Jack's (the house I grew up in), the kids worked together to make a snowman all by themselves. I'd say they did a pretty awesome job for being most of their first times ever making one! 
 "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go..." We walked to my grandma's house (about a mile away) through the winter wonderland. 

"Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes..." 

At their Great Grandma Burghardt's house, they were greeted with hugs and hot chocolate. There is nothing quite like a cup of hot chocolate after you have been out playing in the snow. 

Then, we took them sledding down the old Toboggan Run where my cousins and I sled when we were kids, and where my dad and his sisters sled when they were kids . (Where I am from, a toboggan is a long sled; down south, some people call a winter hat a toboggan).




Other exciting news is that my "little" brother and his wife are expecting their first child this April. We are ecstatic for them. I was fortunate enough to get to take some maternity pictures for them.


Aren't they just adorable?


New Year's Eve we spent playing board games and card games until midnight. It was a peaceful yet wonderful way to bring in the new year with family.
(Thank you Blake for taking a picture of Dustin and I in the snow)

There was the perfect amount of snow for enjoyment on our trip without being too much of a challenge to get around in, and we got out of New York at the perfect time because the day we left the temperatures were below zero with a foot more of snowfall! Yikes!

Thank you Lord for a wonderful trip to New York, and for keeping our family safe on the road there and back. We are grateful for the special time with our extended family and  for the blessing of the snow and all the memories we made playing in it. As we begin this new year, we thank you for all that you have done in our lives, and we pray for You to be ever-present in our daily lives drawing us closer to you.