Good bye 2011

Sorry I did not post in Dec ... to be honest I was just not in the mood ... too many emotions and just generally not feeling well. 2011 has not been my favorite year, far from it! So I am very happy to be leaving it behind and pray that 2012 is filled with love and peace and blessings for all.

A few pictures ... cause I'm feeling guilty

Our Christmas Photo for 2011

Christmas Eve With Cousins

Christmas Morning and Stocking Chaos!

Christmas Day With Other Cousins

my view today

Not feeling very well today ... tired beyond belief ... rather dizzy too ... but we needed a few things so I drug my sorry self, in fuzzy pajama pants and sweatshirt to the grocery store. Mary wanted to hold my list ... but when I gave it to her she looked at me said "mama, i no can read this". So we made her, her own short list with pictures instead.

Sending Cards To The Troops

Our boys school has been collecting cards and candy to send to my friend Monty, he is an Army chaplain serving over seas. Today I picked up the box and was really happy to see it FULL! Its a small school, but we still managed to collect over a hundred cards and some yummy treats for the men and women serving our country who don't get to come home for Christmas this year.

Sometimes God answers prayes like this:

Be Still My Soul

I have a confession to make ... its been a very long and trying year ... oops, I guess you knew that part ... but I am feeling very convicted that I am having such a hard time feeling thankful this year. I guess its hard to combined grieving and thanksgiving. But the Lord calls us to be thankful in all circumstances

"Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
-1 Thessalonians 5:18

I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
- Psalm 7:17

So I am doing my best to move forward and make the conscious choice to voice and pray thankfulness and gratitude and I am learning from others around me that it is possible to give thanks no matter what circumstances we are in.

Would you please join me today in visiting and encouraging a sweet mama. Her name is Courtney and her baby it Tripp. Her life is hard right now, yet she shares her spirit of faith and trust and thanksgiving with the world in her latest post:

Prayers Please ...

I have been following a beautiful blog for a while ... they have just recenlty returned home from eastern Europe with their newly adopted nine year old daughter. And while they are once again home on U.S. soil, they are not quite home in their own home yet as she is so severely malnourished that she needed to go right from the airport to the hospital:

Yes, you read that correctly ... this sweet girl pictured here, snuggled in her mommy's lap is nine YEARS old. She is one of the fortunate ones to be rescued from the life she was living ... many more remain in the orphanages and they need our prayers ... they need our attention and our voices!

James 1:27 tells us "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Well, the world polluted many people in this little girl's country into believing that because she was born with a disability that she was worthless, that she should be shut away and nearly starved on the 4th floor of an orphanage. I guess the world did not realize that God himself had other ideas ... he has a plan and a purpose for this sweet life and her whole family! Their story is a beautiful one. Is it all flowers and roses? Is it always smooth sailing, of course not! But they are doing what God has called them to do and they are doing it in HIS timing ... that my friends is a beautiful beautiful story! Please join me in following their blog:

The Blessing Of Verity

a calm and quiet thanksgiving

In goes the bird:

Let the StarTribune Turkey Coloring Page begin!

And yes, I knew enough to go buy two papers,
so we would have two turkeys to color

(yes, we know ... most indoor pictures seen of Z are of him without a shirt. Its just the way it is with him, he gets itchy from his Masto, so its just more comfortable for him to be without)

Daddy and Rosebud "researching" the adds
in the paper and online ... because her schooling is getting to a
point that she needs her own laptop

Guess we should pay attention to
the other parts of our meal soon:

Allen and O and Z on smashed potato duty:

The smashed potatoes getting a little more smashing because one little girl felt very offended at being left out of the precess and cried that she never got a turn to smash potatoes (she never got a nap today and it is really starting to show)

Turkey almost done!

Everything on the table ... and me with my Coke!

Kids opening their favorite fuzzy grape juice



"Cheers!"



The reason our Princess was not in the last picture ...
she fell asleep waiting for the turkey to finish


And I am pretty sure this song sums up my thanksgiving thoughts:

So, what did you do on Thanksgiving Eve?

A shopping we will go ...

They saw Santa, threw pennies into a fountain, ate treats, bought some clothes and then doll stuff and then Legos. I guess thats a pretty good afternoon at the mall!