Adventures in La La Land

I love taking time to stop and look back at the past year before we hurdle headlong into the next one. 2021 was not without its challenges. We experienced more death this year than we have in many other years combined (and to my knowledge, none of the deaths were associated with Covid). We experienced relationships being torn apart because of Covid fallout. I honestly have struggled through a lot of doubts in my faith this year, and I've chugged through a lot of depression. But we also welcomed new babies into our family, Justin and I both started new jobs (or positions), both we and our loved ones have made it through year two of a worldwide pandemic, and God has continued to show us grace despite our anger, bad attitudes, and doubts. Here are some of the noteworthy events of 2021 . . . 1. A major change for me this year was going back to college. Honestly, I can't believe it's only been a year. It feels like longer. Haha. I've been taking online classes full time in a

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Get ready for another long entry with a ridiculous amount of pictures!! 1. We only did two noteworthy advent activities this week. On Tuesday we revived the tradition of throwing a birthday party for Jesus. Last year's was cancelled because of Covid, but this year nothing could stop us! So we hung streamers, made  bought cupcakes, dug out some birthday candles, and invited the cousin crew over to celebrate with us. I used my newly acquired librarian skills to give a little spiel . . . Then we sang happy birthday to Jesus, blew out candles, and ate cupcakes!  My kids are getting a little old for this tradition, so it's fun to have a new generation just becoming old enough to understand and enjoy it! 2. On Wednesday, we went ice skating - well Lena, Levi, and I did. Lucy was not interested. Once again, it was apparent which kid got Justin's athletic genes. Lol. Levi could not  figure out how to move his feet and was terrified of falling. Lena took a few min