To Sum Up...

The Fam

Christmas Morning: Noah taking after his Daddy

No party is complete without Baby Duncan

Nobody cried at Santa this year!

Noah continuing his tradition of sleeping with a different hat every night- weirdo :)

Little Lucy being an angel in "The Best Little Christmas Pageant Ever"

Laurel playing Army with Daddy

Trapping Beavers with Daddy

Why I feel the need to do a wrap up 2012 post is beyond me but I'll try! Perhaps it's because I want to preserve memories for myself when I'm crazy and for my children....when I'm crazy :)

We are blessed. Even in the midst of the storms and trials of life, we are so blessed. We have a wonderful family, a great church, good friends, a fabulous place to live and we have a Living Saviour who knows our thoughts and needs!
I would say the most significant events this year for us would be that BOTH of my babies "Decided to follow Jesus". Noah did this in August and Laurel just did this last week! To know that 3 short years ago, she was in a forsaken place, an orphan, completely deaf, non verbal just blows my mind. Our hearts desire for her has been for her to learn to talk & hear. The Lord has answered this. But, our biggest desire was to help her see her need of a Saviour and choose to follow Him. She did this the other night. She told me that morning she was going to do it that evening. I waited to see if she would remember and really understood what she was doing. She did. We are truly blessed.

Christmas was a wonderful whirlwind. Because we all came down with the flu the week before, we didn't get to do many of the traditions that we usually do but we still had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Saviour.

We've had some sad times too in 2012. Mike's Grandma is battling cancer receiving hospice. My Aunt Janie is also in the end stages of cancer. It is a comfort to know that both of these loved women are believers and this won't be the end for them!  My Great Aunt Ruthie is battling Alzheimers and my Great Aunt Lottie JUST fell and broke her arm. So much hurting BUT GOD is not a stranger to our pain. How comforting to know that He knows what we go through and wants to give us His joy and peace!!

Looking Forward...... exciting things happening. We are adding on to our house. We start this month and look forward to MONTHS of work! Well, not looking forward to that but rather the finished product. We only have 2 bedrooms in our house & the kids are needing their own rooms. Hmm..... might I have room for one more..... we'll just have to wait and see what the Lord has planned:) Don't tell Mike I said that ;)

That is 2012 in a nutshell. I know I'm missing so much but bottom line is that GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME. Even when things seem dark, confusing.... we must trust that he is working behind the scenes for His Glory!
                                       HAPPY 2013 EVERYONE!