Christmas Day, December Wrap Up and 2023 In Review

 Christmas morning. 

Boxing Day. 

Legos in the morning. 

Brunch, Starbucks and shopping with friends after. 

It's hard to believe that it's New Year's Eve already! 2023 flrew by at warp speed and as a result this little space of ours has not been tended too as much as it has been in years past.

January 2023 saw me switching from Youth Group Director to Director of Children's Ministry, yet by November 1st I had resigned as a staff member of FCC. 

Both girls began the year as students at Parker and have ended this year, once again, as homeschoolers.

Little did we know that Christmas of 2022 would be our last with Miss Gretchen. She passed in April and there has been a Gretchen sized hole in our hearts (and on my lap) ever since. 

We added Violet to our family in March. 

We added new chicks to the farm in June. 

We added another lisenced driver to the family in October. 

And we added yet another ski instructor to the family in December (congrats, Emma!)! 

There was much goodness in 2023, and some sadness along the way too, but on the whole we continued to grow as individusals and a family. It has been a joy to our return to our regularly scheduled programming as a homeschool family. Like the world is right again. 

We chatted about our hopes nad dreams for 2024 over dinner of Thai food tonight. I will share that in this space tomrrow. Tonight, we will celebrate and reflect on the year past and begin to look foward to the year ahead. To those of you still following along with our goings on in this space, we thank you! I am not sure what is instore for our little piece of the internet in the year to come, but I hope to still find tme to record our adventures and other milestones, especially as we look forward to welcoming yet another liscened driver into the family! 

Happy New Year's Eve, friends! xo

During the Festive Season

 

This year was easily the least I have ever blogged. Here is it, Decemebr 30th, and I have (including this post) blogged a total of 39 times. Before this year, the lowest number of posts in this space of ours was 127 (in 2022). This isn't to say that there have not been blog worthy events that would total in the hundreds, but it does speak to how full life is with two teenagers, a full time (paid) job, my full time unpaid job (as mama of those two amazing girls), as well as life as a wife and doctoral student. In early November I ended up resigning from my job as the Director of Children's Ministry at the church in Holliston, and we have fully returned to our church home/family in Framingham. That brought with it more downtime than I have had in a long while, though that will be short lived as I move into the proposal and disseration phase of my program starting in January. 

Our December was full of wonderful traditions. The Advent Spiral, Saint Nichoas Day, Winter Solstice (my most favorite Deemebr holiday!), cinnamon roll making (and delivering), and of, course, the Christmas Eve service. It was so lovely to be there, with a pew full of my church children, all of whom have grown into the most incredible young women and men. 

The bunnies have loved sitting by the tree as much as we do, and we are all so sure that they will be very sad when the tree comes down. Truly, is there anything more relaxing than sitting by the light of the tree before the sun comes up or after it goes down? 

It was quite a year for this family of ours. But more about that tomororw. Tonight is all about getting this blog updated so that we can go into 2024 and this next chapter, fresh and ready to go! xo