Merry Christmas....

Yup!  Those are my monkeys and this is my circus... I will claim them along with all the chaos that surrounds us all ;)

2017 was NOT the year we expected it to be.  We saw much happiness and much loss.  The girls have thrived and grown through it all.  Craig and I are in awe of all the blessings God pours down on us and try not to get overwhelmed with the dailyness of it all.  

The biggest and most exciting news is that Tess said YES!  She and Logan have been together for 3 years; he proposed on Thanksgiving with both our families gathered round.  It's been a joy to watch these two grow together over the years and we look forward to seeing them build their life together.  For now, we are consumed with wedding plans and lots of shopping.  Being a family of predominately females... I don't see a problem with this, one bit ;)  Stayed tuned for more details as we get things set in stone.

We faced lots of sadness this year as we said goodbye to many of our 4-legged family.  Our precious Brody James, a golden retriever/border collie/great Pyr mix that Craig brought home (along with his brother and sister) over 10 years ago, passed away in June.  We'd gotten his cancer diagnosis in March and spent the next many weeks loving on him and enjoying every moment we had left.  He was always one of the most special dogs we've ever had and will always hold a special place in our hearts and memories.  There's not a day that goes by we don't enjoy thoughts and memories of him.  Gracie's bunny, Oliver and her last gerbil Daisy also passed away this summer.  Oliver was our very first bunny and was such a joy that we gladly opened our hearts to others because of him.  Daisy was our geriatric little gerbil, living over twice as long as most her species.  She was nearly 5 years old and we were blessed to call her ours for 4 of those years.  Mom's dog, Teddy passed away this fall as well, and our entire family feels the void he left.  Sarah was just a toddler when Mom adopted him.  Frankly, none of the girls remember life without him.  He was such a good boy and brought great joy and companionship to Mom, as well as to Mamo when she was still alive.  We love knowing that Mamo and Teddy are together again.

We added new family members to our ark this year too :)  I'm sure y'all saw that coming;)  Tess adopted Doug, a 100+ pound black lab with the personality to suit his name, back in January.  He has been a HUGE blessing to Tess as well as all of us.  He's turned out to be an awesome, laid back boy.  Sarah adopted Kyah May, a tiny black chihuahua in July.  Kyah is as tiny as Doug is huge, but they are the best of friends.  Doug looks out for his baby cousin and Kyah keeps Doug young.  Gracie was given Peaches, an adorable angora bunny in May as an early birthday surprise from her Dad.  Peaches would make the grumpiest person smile with his adorable face and crazy hair.  Of course we also got Wendy Lou Hoo, our beautiful paint pony, back in March....you've heard of the Easter Bunny?   Well, Wendy was kinda the Easter pony;)  She has been such a sweet girl and we love doting on her each day.  The girls have proven themselves to be responsible, sacrificial, and hard working as they care for her each day.  They are working to get her cross-trained from a western ride to an english hunter/jumper.  It's a work in progress, but she's coming right along.  CJ joined our family just in time for Craig's birthday in July.  He's the most adorable golden retriever you could possibly imagine.  As sweet as can be, with just enough puppy left in him to keep us on our toes.  He has us all wrapped around his sweet little paw.  Then there's little Miss Pearyle Joy, the kitten we got to keep Mom company after Teddy's passing.  She is a little spitfire!  She gives Mom endless reasons to laugh and keeps her company.  Of course, we still have Felicity, Max, and Annie, our other dogs (who are all a bit spoiled) along with Benjamin, Ginger, Smokey, Jolly, and Mistletoe our cats, Peter the rabbit and Joey the guinea pig.  There is no shortage of critters in this ark!

We are still homeschooling (our 14th year, I think).  Sarah only has one class to finish up and she will graduate.  Gracie and Hannah enjoy all the freedom and flexibility that homeschooling offers.  They thrive in the non-traditional environment with the freedom to delve deep into everything they want to learn more about.  A truly child-directed education is beautiful to see when your children love to learn and are given the freedom to do it in the way that works best for them. 

Tess loves being a dance teacher.  It's truly what God created her to be.  She spends her mornings working for Kids Educational Dance Express, traveling around town teaching educational dance to preschoolers.  I see what she does and am constantly amazed by my daughter's passion and talent.  She teaches at Greater Impact in the evenings and is also the dance and gymnastic instructor at the new YMCA in town.  Logan, Tess's fiance', is a nursing student and he works at the dialysis center.  These two are pretty busy, but when you're in your 20's I guess you have that kind of energy;)

Sarah is still working at Runza.  She transferred to a different location this fall and is really enjoying the new store and coworkers.  She is planning on pursuing a degree in early childhood development and wants to become a preschool teacher.  She enjoys teaching first grade Sunday School each week and it's been a joy to watch her prepare her lessons.... she is much more organized than her mom;)

Gracie and Hannah are consumed with their animals.  They would live in the barn if we'd let them.  They fly through their school lessons each day so they can get outside to spend time with all their critters.  They love riding their horses; Gracie is now jumping at 2 1/2 feet and is hoping to qualify for the Omaha Int'l in April.  Hannah is finally ready to start jumping and showing as well.  These two surprise us with their ability and diligence to their sport.  

Craig is still traveling the country to work with small communities; growing young entrepreneurs and helping small towns retain their population in the face of population decline.  God created him with a passion for small towns and their people.  I'm extremely proud of the work he does... and am in wonder of it all.  He's also picking his love of photography back up again and enjoying having a camera back in hand.  

I am finally able to make time to quilt again.  What a joy it's been to get back to putting needle and thread to fabric and creating quilts for my family.  

Alrighty.... that pretty much sums up our year.  We pray the Christmas season brings peace and joy to all our friends and family.  Merry Christmas!