Christmas 2015

I finally feel like I have time to do a little blog writing.  It's been a very busy Christmas, but probably one of the best Christmas's we've ever had.  Our first get-together was my side of the family.  This is a picture of my sisters and my dad and mom.  We haven't taken a picture like this since I was a little girl so it's kinda special to me.

Then we got a big family picture which we haven't done since Amos was a baby.

At our house we took the annual girls photo.  Such lovely and godly young ladies!  I so appreciate them!! 

We had our family Christmas with the married children and their children.  Arthur kept them entertained giving sled rides.

We gave Anna and Esther each a doll for Christmas with nighties.  It was fun seeing how excited they were and how they quickly went to go try them on and put the matching ones on the dolls.  They wore them the rest of the day.

Arthur got a new "toy". A small tractor for maze work.  Another new way to give sled rides without the sore muscles! The boys loved it when Arthur got stuck trying to go through the deep snow.  It's certainly not a snowcat!

Maybe it was the nice weather or something, but Arthur decided he wanted lights on the house and so he and Miriam headed out and had it all done in about an hour.

I had my 50th birthday on the 27th followed by our anniversary on January 1st.  Arthur bought me this gorgeous bouquet of roses for our anniversary and gave me a nice Canon 5t camera for Christmas.  Finally, nice pictures and not blurry ones!   

We got a picture of our seven daughters! 

Finally we had Arthur's side of the family get-together.  The girls always enjoy having sleepovers together and we also had a family wedding shower for Hannah.

So, after all that, including things going on at church, we can finally sit back, and look at another year.  We did not send out Christmas cards this year as some of you might have noticed.  I was just feeling a little overwhelmed with the steady go, go, go pace we keep.  Last year was actually one of our harder years with a lot of pressures on all sides.  I'm praying that this year, even if it is another one full of pressure, that we will rely even more on God's promises and enjoy the peace that only He can bring.

Have a wonderful week and may you enjoy God's blessings in abundance this year!