Romans 12:1-2

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2

Sunday, November 25, 2012

The 12 Pictures of 2012


For our Christmas letter this year, I am posting pictures from each month of the year. For more family highlights (if you're interested) click on posts on the side bar of my blog for each month.
 
This year has had its ups and downs with me working again (2nd grade - lots of changes to teaching!) and my sister's cancer treatment (she was actually cancer free 5 years in May - this is a new unrelated one).
 
Through it all, God continues to remain faithful and sustains us with His presence and peace.
 
We give Him thanks for our time together and all our wonderful friends and family.  Through it all, we remain richly blessed!
 

Hubby and I went away together in January.  We spent a few days in Tampa and saw friends (and "met" a new one - Winter of Dolphin Tale).  This is Hubby with our friends (he was in our first youth group!) after we had dinner on the bay.  I was safe from the pelicans since I took the picture!


Every February, we visit family in Texas.  This is what the boys spend a lot of time doing there!
 
L. received his Arrow of Light award from Cub Scouts in March.  He's active in a Boy Scout troop now.
 
Easter was on M's 13th birthday this year and Hubby's family from ABQ came to visit.
 
We went to Joplin in May.  It was the one year anniversary of the devastating tornado.  Hubby ran the half marathon and L the 5k.

Our family vacation was with friends on a cruise to Alaska in June.  We spent time in Portland with them afterwards too.  This is the four of us in Ketchikan.

This is what the boys and I were doing literally RIGHT before finding out Aunt's leukemia diagnosis.  Hubby had church meetings at a resort in Missouri.  We left early for me to be with Aunt - Hubby took the boys to a local water park.  Aunt is 2/3 finished with treatment now.

M is an 8th grader this year and L is a 6th grader. 
 
My niece was born in September!  Everyone in the family says this was the highlight of the year (vacation was a close second.)

We went to Kansas City in October for fall break.  Hubby has a friend he runs marathons with.  We enjoyed eating at an Austrian restaurant with them and then the four of our family attended a large downtown church before going to the Market and coming home on Sunday.
 
We had a pretty low-key Thanksgiving and I loved it that way!  The next day, Aunt helped us decorate for Christmas and Hubby and I did some shopping together.  We all actually REALLY took time off and it was a nice break.
 
I hesitated using this picture because the boys have already changed so much!  But, it's the best family picture we have of the year.
 
Merry Christmas from Our Family to Yours!

2 comments:

  1. Hi my long lost bloggy friend!
    I'm so sorry that I have not been by here. My dh has been fairly ill / hospitalized, etc. and I just have been on overdrive and functioning in robotic mode. I always have you and your precious family on my heart.

    God's Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was so good to hear from you. You and yours have been in my thoughts and prayers too, but I haven't had a good way to contact you. I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. I know better how to pray now though.

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