Happy New Year!

What an incredibly full year for our family!  We welcomed a son and brother, started new schools, licensed a driver, learned new instruments, began more jobs, and celebrated an engagement...all while still pastoring a church, taking grad school classes and keeping this big crew fed and clean.  We're so thankful to God for giving us strength and surrounding us with encouraging family and friends!

We celebrated the holidays just like our year...with lots of family and firsts!  My family flew up from Florida to join us for the week and we enjoyed watching Levi begin to get to know his grandparents.  We also got to celebrate together when Annah's boyfriend Matthew proposed!!  

Matthew and Annah flew here from Missouri a few days before Christmas and we've loved getting to know him.  He is midway through his studies to be a pastor and it looks like the wedding will be this summer!  Mia is all about the dresses we will wear (of course) and Violet wishes we could wear yoga pants (of course).  We celebrated the engagement by joining my aunt for high tea at a beautiful bed and breakfast in Vermont.  The girls loved that each person at the table got their own teapot with their personal choice of tea.  We took an additional afternoon to go wedding dress shopping and Annah found the perfect dress!  We consider it such a special blessing to have all been together when she found it as this is likely the only time all three sisters and mom will be together before the wedding.

Levi found Christmas to be full of surprises and delights. 

The sensory overload of the holidays is a lot to manage for many children.  Adopted children who have come from having very limited experiences and very few (if any) possessions often find the holidays overwhelming.  They don't understand what's happening and lack the skills to handle the many transitions, schedule changes, additional sights and sounds, and the many extra faces the holidays bring.  In an ideal adoption world, Christmas would be quiet and very, very simple.  That wasn't our week...but Levi handled most of it really well.  He enjoyed watching everyone open presents and was very content and happy with his. 

Every boy needs a stick horse!

However, his favorite part of the week was going to Christmas Eve service and singing the carols with everyone.  At.The.Top.Of.His.Lungs.  :-)  He was mesmerized by the candlelight and thought dressing up was great fun.  Biggest brother Noah decided to wear a hat like Levi.  Too sweet! 

 

The Christmas jammies tradition continues!

 We ventured to Vermont a day or so after Christmas to see my aunt and uncle and to celebrate Annah's engagement.  Levi was already overstimulated and tired from Christmas and found himself in a new place where he didn't know how to behave.  He'll learn, but it will take time.  We ended up having Randall bring him home early and I stayed with the rest of the gang for our engagement tea.  Poor little Levi cried for his Mama all the way home.  I felt so torn...wanting to comfort my son, but also wanting to be with my sister at this special time in her life. 

We got our first little glimpse of snow this week...just a trace amount, but enough for Levi to see it for the first time. 

He was fascinated and loved it.  I predict much sledding this winter! 

The biggest boys are happy and well.  Gabe is enjoying flying his new drone

and got a chance to ice skate with a good friend this week.  Noah's enjoying college break and has been busy working both his Sun Sun job, as well as working at Williams Sonoma.

Joseph's been playing a ton of bass, trying his hand at making some Christmas treats, and working on battling in the Star Wars PS4 universe.

The best moments this Christmas were ones like this

and this

and this

The ones we love

gathered close together

celebrating life and love through Jesus who gives all good things