Christmas

Because there were so many parties, so many memories, so many moments… I will just let the pictures do the talking. This was a Christmas I don’t ever want to forget.

{some of my favorites from the last week}

Larkin wrapped this for daddy… all by herself my favorite photos from this Christmas…

snow day

{with aunt Kelsi}

one with mom… she’s not happy about it either.

up next: the Christmas post. {just one more party to go first}

stomach flu

In the last week, we’ve gone from this:

to this…

I think she’s feeling better.
Christmas has begun around here… and we are so thankful she is back to her silly self.

Adoption Day

1 year ago… the best Christmas present we ever got!

 in honor of her adoption day Larkin decided to get the stomach flu for the first time.

This is a mother's love... gaging while cleaning up puke with her bare hands. (just minutes after getting her out of the bath to wash the dried puke from last night out of her hair)

girlfriend knows how to celebrate!

“Fear Not”

*I read this on Facebook last year, and saved it on my computer. I do not know who wrote it, or where it came from. After the tragedy that took place in Connecticut this weekend, it seems even more fitting to share it today.
 
Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem. Their lives had taken dramatic detours from the plans they may have made. They didn’t know what the future would bring, what struggles were to come for their lives or for the life of their dear child. Their hearts may have been filled with fear for the road ahead. And yet they stepped out in faith, trusting not in what they knew but in who knew them and called them to this journey saying “Fear Not.”

Isn’t that how things go in our life of faith? We plot our course and plan our lives, hoping for stability and safety. And yet so often our plans don’t work out, our path takes detours into places of frightening challenges, and devastating sorrows. As individuals, families, and congregations, we may face difficult journeys on unfamiliar paths. And into these moments God speaks a word of Hope. Fear Not. I am with you and will walk with you into the road ahead. Follow Me.

This Advent is a time for us to reflect upon this invitation. When the angel said fear not there was always an invitation to follow—to go in a different direction, to live a new life, to trust in a new future. Where is God calling us to live more daringly, love more deeply, serve more graciously, give more generously? May we respond with Mary, “Here am I, a servant of the Lord.”

faces

Larkin, can you smile for mommy?

or that will work.
#mysillygirl