It’s that time of year when we celebrate the birth of our wonderful Lord and Savior, Jesus and to reflect on the events of the past year.  He has truly been our Prince of Peace in a year filled with changes.

2015 was a very eventual year for us. In March we decided to list our house For Sale by Owner! This was quite the undertaking. First we rented a storage unit and filled it with all of our non-necessities to free up space. Most of April was spent keeping the house as clean as possible for (sometimes last minute) home showings. De-cluttering the house with two kids at home was quite the task! It normally included Lucy playing by herself in her room and Bridget playing with toys in a pack n play while I frantically ran around the house picking up toys and spraying windex and air freshener! We would then vacate and go play at a park until I got the call from the Realtor that the coast was clear! We were SO thankful when we got an offer about 2 weeks in. Our tasks then changed to paperwork and finding a new house! This was the fun part for me. We found the perfect home only about 2 miles away. It was unoccupied so we bought it early so we could do some quick renovations during the two weeks before we moved in. Of course, this time of renovations and owning two homes at once overlapped our highly anticipated yearly beach trip to Hilton Head with my family. There was no way we were going to back out of that, so I just went prepared to answer renovation questions from the beach!

This year was the year of going to the beach! We visited Destin, FL with Jason’s family in late September and had a wonderful time. The weather was absolutely perfect! The girls spent most of their time making sand castles and playing in the pool. Me and the girls returned to Hilton Head in October with some of my family and it was amazing to see how much Bridget in particular had grown just in the 4 months that had passed since she first experienced the beach in May. Whereas her first trip she mainly just stuck her toes in and was wobbly on her feet, she was practically running through the waves in October!

I continue to stay at home full time with Lucy (3 1/2) and Bridget (1 1/2). I am learning to embrace this role and my days are full of tasks such as: feeding, dressing, and bathing the girls, doing art projects with the girls, doing homeschool activities with Lucy, breaking up sibling fights, etc. You can see who my life seems to revolve around… 🙂 I have really enjoyed time getting to know my mom friends better during play dates and other get togethers. This season of my life has also given me time to cook more and learn about Christ-centered parenting, home-life, and activities to keep young children occupied. I have always hoped and prayed that I would get to be a wife and mom and the Lord has granted that desire! I count it as a true privilege to be the one who wakes my kids up every morning, plays with them at home, and gets to be there during the sweet sleep “post-nap” time.

Jason still enjoys his choice of profession as a Physical Therapist. He enjoys connecting with and building relationships with many of his patients. He has even had the opportunity to share the hope of Christ with some of them! This summer he changed jobs and now works with GRU (Georgia Regents University) Health. He has enjoyed getting to know his new co-workers and is thankful for the opportunity to continue to learn and grow as a therapist. One of Jason’s passions is helping to lead and teach our Young Marrieds Life Group at Warren Baptist Church. With this group of people we have been able to work together on various ministry opportunities. One was building a well in India through the Never Thirst organization, and another opportunity was assembling care packages for a homeless ministry. Jason is a great dad and enjoys playing with the kids as soon as he comes home from work. In his (pretty limited) spare time, he loves reading and planning firework shows – the most recent “show” was for New Years Eve!

Lucy is full of personality and more talkative than ever! She amazes us with the things she talks about and remembers. She has entered the “Why” stage and her questions definitely keep us on our toes. Her favorite movie is Frozen, and it seems about half of her toys are related to the main characters Anna and Elsa. She loves arts and crafts, coloring, and helping Mommy cook. She enjoys being a big sister but still can’t quite grasp the fact that Bridget is younger than her and may not play with toys in the same way as she may want her to. Although they find many things to fight about, they also play together well a lot of the time. Their favorite games include hide and go seek, playing with their babies and strollers, and making forts. She is a true joy to have in our family.

Bridget has been such a fun addition to our family. She has really mastered walking and is now really into climbing, exploring all areas of the house, and even running. She is always attempting to do everything she sees her big sister Lucy doing. She sees no reason why she can’t successfully do everything Lucy does. Her favorite activities include playing outside, swinging, taking baths, brushing her teeth, puzzles, and coloring with Lucy. Recently she has started to rapidly add words to her vocabulary. It seems I hear her say 1-2 new words every day! Even though she is almost as big as Lucy, Bridget is still my baby and I enjoy cuddling with her every time she lets me. However, she won’t be the baby for long, as we are expecting a third bundle of joy in June 2016!!!!!

Every Christmas I am reminded of the enormous gift of the tiny baby Jesus, born in the stable so many years ago. Because he humbled himself to birth, life, and death as a human, I have been given the incomprehensible gift of a relationship with Him in this life, and the promise of eternal life after death. I depend on this relationship every day as I’m dealing with my worries, struggles, and temptations. I’m so thankful that the God of the universe is just a prayer away and is sovereign over my life. I hope that you also know the hope that is found in Jesus Christ and that you understand the amazing love he has for you.

Check out our 2015 Family Video here.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. – 1 John 4:9-11