"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.


Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -- Ephesians 3:14-21 (ESV)





Friday, January 4, 2013

Happy New Year!

Wow. I can't believe that I never posted in November or December. I am a bad blogger. My apologies.

So here's what happened:

November - Thanks to a great Groupon deal, we got family portraits taken. We also got a bunch of just the kids, who are ridiculously photogenic and cute. For some reason I'm not able to upload any photos right now. I will add one later.

On November 1 I started reading through the Bible in 120 days. We extended the reading plan by 30 days and we are doing a chronological read through this time, too. I am struggling on a couple of levels - time management, discipline, and interest. There are parts of the idea of reading chronologically that are working, but the one thing that is making it difficult is the repetition. It's tough to stay interested when you read the same story twice or three times in a row.

My lovely MIL arrived just before Thanksgiving to spend the holidays with us. All of her children and grandchildren are within 3 hours of one another, so it really made sense for her to come to us. Also, we didn't want her to be alone during this first holiday season without my FIL. When she departed earllier this week, she assured me that it was a nice visit. She was homesick and ready to be back in her own home after about 6 weeks. I can totally understand that.

We hosted Thanksgiving, which meant we had about 25 people in our new home for the feast. It was a fun, boisterous time. I married into a loud, but loving family. My parents and uncle came, of course, despite the Irish invasion.

December - is a blur. I don't remember most of it. Christmas, however, was very good. While Beau's mom was with his brother for the week around Christmas, we had a fun day of just our little family. We loved preparing the kids' gifts and stockings after they went to bed on Christmas Eve and it was sweet to enjoy Christmas morning in our home. We did head west to enjoy the afternoon and dinner with Pop and Marmie and my uncle.

Beau's mom returned to us on Boxing Day and we were able to enjoy one more week with her before she flew home on Jan 2. While she was with us, Beau and I were able to see three movies in the theater: Skyfall (excellent), The Hobbit (excellent), and Les Miserables (excellent). I actually saw The Hobbit twice - I went opening day with my Dad, who introduced me to the book.

In other news, I met my goal of reading 60 books in 2012. I actually completed 61 books. Here are the last ones finished, not previously mentioned, with their star ratings:

The Giver by Lois Lowry - 3 stars
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - 4 stars
Pattern of Wounds by J. Mark Bertrand - 4 stars
The Last Man by Vince Flynn - 4 stars
Second Shift (Wool #7) by Hugh Howey - 4 stars

I set the same goal for 2013 and just finished my first book this morning - Reached by Ally Condie, which is the last of her trilogy. It was a good end of the story - 3 stars.

I'm currently listening to American Gods by Neil Gaiman and reading Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet on the Kindle.

2012 was an eventful year filled with blessing and grief. We are praying for a quieter 2013. Happy new year!

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