My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

You know you have a relative who really GETS your kid when they get him his own personal hot-dog-and-bun toaster.  I think it could be his most favorite present ever!  Thanks Aunt Julie! ;).

New year, new blog post!

I don’t typically make new year’s resolutions, but I would like to resolve to blog here more often again.  I’ve missed it!

Since I last blogged, we’ve had some exciting moments – we had a surprise visit from our Arizona cousins at Halloween (well, a surprise for our kids!), we brought home a one-year-old rescue terrier mix named Summer in November, we found out on Thanksgiving that Alli and Erik are expecting her first child (we’re SOO excited!!), our cousin baby Eleanor celebrated her first year of life (yay Aunt Angie and Uncle Kevin for rocking parenting!!), and we had a wonderful, laid-back Christmas.  So even though we didn’t take any of our usual trips or have our usual parties, it was still a wonderful end to a full year!

This was our first Christmas at our new home, and it worked very well.  It was especially convenient to have Bubba and Pappy next door, so they could come over in their jammies first thing in the morning.  Bubba even bought everyone matching PJ’s!

Now as we enter 2021, with so many unknowns about what school will look like, what trips or visits will or won’t happen, we hold fast to our unchanging God, who knows the end from the beginning.

“My times are in Thy hand;
My God, I wish them there;
My life, my friends, my soul I leave
Entirely to Thy care.

My times are in Thy hand;
Whatever they may be;
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to Thee.

My times are in Thy hand;
Why should I doubt or fear?
My Father’s hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.

My times are in Thy hand,
Jesus, the crucified!
Those hands my cruel sins had pierced
Are now my guard and guide.

My times are in Thy hand,
I’ll always trust in Thee;
And, after death, at Thy right hand
I shall forever be.” – William Freeman Lloyd

I probably ought to have a running collection of pictures that typify this strange pandemic season, but I’m not sure I’m organized enough to do that!  So here’s a hodge podge of pictures that I am posting to remind myself of some of the moments that I never thought I’d be witnessing.

Starting with my kids wearing masks (but usually not wearing them properly, lol!).

Here’s Tazie striking a pose in a fabric store:

And Danny having fun seeing if he could navigate the store sightlessly:

Jim at the doctor’s for his check-up (thankfully he pulled the mask into its proper position when the doctor entered the room!):

A crazy long socially-distanced check-out line that snaked its way across the big-box grocery store:

And a “reverse parade” at the end of the school year where we drove by the teachers as they waved goodbye for the summer.   We appreciated all they did to help us have closure after the months of distance learning!

We are missing our Arizona cousins SO MUCH this summer.  Every day one or more of us sighs and says, “I miss Jon and Kate.”  It’s just hard not being able to make our normal summer memories with them, whether it’s at the shore or in Connecticut or in the big kids’ annual trip back to AZ to take their cousins home.  We’ve been so blessed that the cousins typically spend almost half their summer together every year, and we’re missing that so much.

But we’re doing our best to focus on hopefully getting together once restrictions ease up, and in the meantime, doing lots of FaceTime and Zoom calls!  Here’s Tazie loving her weekly FaceTime call from Kate where Kate reads her a picture book!  Tazie looks forward to it all week!  And Jonathan has been calling Danny every week to quiz him on math facts (although I think Danny tends to distract him pretty quickly and they end up talking sports or motorcycles more than math, lol!).

Thanks to the quarantine changing so many of our summer plans, the kids have been spending even more time in the pool together.  So much so that the big kids have already taught Tazie how to swim!  She has started to doggy paddle her way across the pool!  I’m so proud of my new swimmer, and of her awesome teachers!