I'm Still Here! :)

For those of you still stopping by here for a visit, thank you! I know I’ve neglected my blog. Since returning from our trip to Alabama right after Christmas, Jason, the kids, and I have been sick. Jason and I are still battling it. You know the crud that just drains you of all energy? It’s that crud. Reality is that all my Christmas décor is still up. We did resume school Tuesday but it was a tough day getting back in the routine, especially dragging like I am. My voice is practically gone so it was interesting doing read-alouds (which is a big portion of our schooling and my favorite part). Joy took over with the read-alouds when my voice could take no more. I totally missed my Faithful Friday post as well. This wasn’t exactly the way I planned to begin 2012….

But……..

In spite of it all, I have so much for which to be thankful and I am! And as always after Christmas, I have family photos to share!

There's a weird shadow between us but there were few pics of just the two of us so I included it here anyway.

Colt & Amber

And Christmas morning...

Oh, and Jason surprised Joy and me with an iPad (and cover) to share between us.  :) Now my mom has always wrapped Jason's gifts to us, but since she was out of town when he came home with this, it was left up to him. We were teasing him about his wrapping skills. Well he had to go and show off.... :)  And he did it all with tissue paper!

I’m not the type to make “resolutions” for the New Year. However, Joy and I were reflecting over this past year and there were several goals last year that came to pass and it’s always good to see that happen. For me, a few of those were:

Become more active in visiting our friends at the nursing home.
Make the trip to KY to visit the Creation Museum.
Complete the Cedar Loft (that was a biggie - and we did it in 4 months).
Reunite with our friends, Kim and Chuck, from China.
Blog more.

And as I think about 2012, there are a few things that come to mind that I’d like to accomplish this year:

Learn to knit. (I can crochet so I'm hoping it won't be that hard).
Learn to sew. (Joy is getting a sewing machine for her birthday....).
Save more money.
Build, exercise, and share my faith. Share Jesus.
Take a trip to New England. (I would be thrilled if this happens).
Be consistent in visitng our friends at the nursing home.
Perform more random acts of kindness.

On a friend’s blog, she challenged her readers to think of one word that we would like to take with us into 2012. The first word that came into my mind was compassion. However, as I read on, every word mentioned in comments was wonderful: self-control, surrender, peace, contentment, release......

So what about you? Did you accomplish something for which you’re really proud of last year? Do you have anything in particular that you hope to accomplish this year? Or do you have that one word you would like to take with you, as Tiffany suggested, into 2012?

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and made lots of wonderful memories with your family and I wish you all a Happy, Prosperous and Blessed New Year! Thanks for stopping by for a visit and for sticking with me during my absence from blogland. :)