Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2018!

The crazy almost-Super Moon over our neighbor's house (across the street from us) last night

We don't know what to expect in the coming year, but I have high hopes that it will be full of 

JOY and ADVENTURE!

My parents arrived from Minnesota on Friday, and we had the blessing of sharing a Christmas feast and a gift exchange.  It was a wonderful evening full of precious people and memories!

Here's a snippet of the fun:

Our New Year's Eve was calm and quiet, with lots of "Columbo" and lots of cat snuggles!

Claude

More Claude:

Juvy

Stephen & Allistair keeping each other warm

awwww!

I was feeling under the weather after all the activity and work over the last few weeks, so I have had a few quiet days in a row now.  

Yesterday Greg was kind enough to head over to my parents' to help set up cable, wi-fi, etc.

New Year's Eve always seems strange and arbitrary to me, and I don't like that there's pressure to reinvent ourselves (and stay up until midnight!)

I don't want to reinvent myself; I want to continue to be transformed into the ME I was originally meant to be!  I'm okay with that being a little bit at a time.

This coming year, as always . . . 

I want to continue to follow Jesus and be as much like Him as possible in what I think, say, and do.

I want to continue to enjoy life as much as possible. I'd like to be healthy, content, and joyful.

I want to cherish the precious people in my life and show them the love of God.

I want to be courageous in how I pursue the mission He has given me 

(to introduce kids with special needs to Him in any way possible - right now via the Chirp Curriculum and the Chirp YouTube channel.)

This morning we had a lovely slow morning.

I made buckwheat pancakes (with blueberries and chocolate chips!) 

and did a couple of Sudoku puzzles.

It was a great peaceful way to start the new year!

I hope you also had a peaceful start to 2018!

What are you aiming for in this coming year?