A Life of Gratitude

Tonight we celebrated the end of 2019 and the end of a decade. So much has changed for our family in the past ten years. It's really amazing to look back and consider all that God has done in mine and Bryan's marriage, our family, and our individual lives. There really is so much to celebrate! We started off the night with a countdown chain full of fun activities. Each kiddo got to tear two links off of the chain.  Our first activity was to make New Year's Eve Joke Tellers. I remember making these little folded contraptions when I was little but we called them fortune tellers, or something. These had cute jokes inside and the kids thought it was great! Next, we prayed together as a family over 2020. I always love hearing my family pray! Hearing them pray over the year to come was very special.  At the perfect moment the door bell rang and the pizza had arrived!  The next chain link told us it was time to make New Year's Party Hats. O

I bought this set of prayer cards a few weeks ago and I have to say, I really love them. The cards offer simple suggestions to help kids develop a well rounded prayer life. It's so nice to hear my kids praying intentional thoughts instead of just reciting the same quick prayer each night, as if to get it over with.  Tonight, the card suggested for the kids to pray for their future spouses. I have prayed over each of their spouses many times but I've never even thought about having the boys pray for their future wives or Allison pray for her future husband. It is incredibly sweet to hear a 5 year old pray for the little girl that will one day be his wife and an 8 year old pray that he hoped his wife had a really good day. The boys didn't seem to think it was weird to pray for their wives, but honestly, it felt somewhat odd hearing them pray for these people that will one day join our families. But when I think about impact childhood has on adults, I realize how im

We've been celebrating Christmas for the past several days and have had so much fun! We enjoyed special church services, family gatherings, baking cookies, opening gifts, and eating lots and lots of food. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the past 4 days... Today I am grateful for all the beautiful memories we've made over the past few days. It really has been a VERY Merry Christmas! I am also grateful for all the precious people I have to celebrate this special season with. They make every day so much fun. Most of all, I am incredibly thankful for the real reason we celebrate.  To think that Jesus willingly left Heaven to be born into our world so that He could save us from ourselves, is really overwhelming. It's definitely worth celebrating! "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15

It just wouldn't be Christmas without Moravian cookies! I've been making these cookies every Christmas for years and years. As kids, my brother and I went to my grandma's house every year to make Moravian cookies. Once I had kids, I took them to my grandmother's house to make the cookies. Now that Grandma is in Heaven, I make Moravian cookies with my kids. I have my grandmother's rolling pin, cookie cutters, and cutting board to make them with.  So, its really special to me to continue this tradition! As we took turns rolling out dough and cutting out cookies yesterday, Dylan nonchalantly told me the history of the Moravian cookie. I have no idea how he knows the history of Moravian cookies but honestly, I am blown away by all of his knowledge every day.  Did you know that the Moravian cookie dates back to the 18th century? The tribes would use very expensive spices to create a dough. They would all take turns rolling out the dough, everyone in the fami

This morning, on the way to church, Evan asked Allison who her best friend was. She said, without hesitation, "My Mommy is my best friend!" It was the first time I had heard her say anything like that. I looked at her and said, "Oh, I love you, Allison!" She replied, "I love you too, Mommy. You're my best friend!"  My heart nearly burst!  While we were at dinner this evening Allison continuously wanted to hug me and kept begging her Daddy to take pictures of us together. She is absolutely the sweetest little thing! She brings so much joy to my life! The boys had to get in on all the hugs too! This afternoon Bryan was laying grass seed and hay in our backyard to patch up some muddy spots where our dogs have dug up the grass. While he was spreading the hay, the wind was blowing the chaff through the air. It reminded me of illustrations I've read in the Bible about the threshing floor.  A threshing floor was a large

I've wanted to bake some Christmas cookies over the past few days but haven't gotten around to it. I didn't really feel up to making anything this evening but the kids were begging to help me. So, we made Chocolate Overload Cookies. Evan, Tyson, and Allison lined themselves up along the kitchen counter on stools and took turns helping me add ingredients and stir the dough. I was really surprised by their willingness to share and take turns! It makes my heart a little sad to say this but, Dylan is a preteen now and doesn't always want to help these days. He definitely enjoyed eating the cookies later, though! Today I am grateful for my 3 little helpers. Honestly, as most moms will tell you, it can be a lot more work to have this kind of "help." And this evening, I really didn't feel up to any extra work. But I decided to allow them to assist me and I'm so glad I did. They had a lot of fun and really did a great job working together. The

 This evening we visited the Christmas Country Train in Denton, NC. This has been a family tradition every Christmas for years. Its always cold but still so much fun for the kids! This year we visited Santa while we were there, too. They also added several rides and fun experiences for the kids! We really had a great time together. Today I am grateful for a wonderful evening with family. I truly enjoy spending time with these precious ones. I am also thankful that we have this fun tradition with my dad. Christmas traditions are very special to our family. We look forward to these events every year!