Still here...

I just realized that I haven't blogged for almost 2 weeks!  It seems that last winter we had nothing to do and this winter we can hardly find any free time.  And of course, our only free time has been plagued with sickness.   A couple weeks ago I came down with my third (yes, third) stomach flu in the last six months.  I honestly didn't think that was even possible!  And, while my immune system was down, a nasty virus moved on in and has settled in my throat for the last two weeks.  I am finally feeling better, but it has been a long few days.  Needless to say, I can not wait for winter to be over already (hence the new springy blog background)!  I want to soak up some vitamin D and open my windows and air out all the germs!  Last weekend we went up north for our annual ski trip with my family.  Although I wasn't feeling up to par, we still had an amazing weekend.

Here are a few pics from our time up north....

Grant was so excited to have extra time to spend with his daddy.  Every time J would go out to ski, G would grab his coat and hat and beg to go with him!

hanging out on his sled

Looking for daddy on the slopes...

Hanging out inside and playing with mom mom's ski hat!

Crazy Love

Or maybe life is tough right now and everything feels like a struggle.  God has allowed hard things in your life so you can show the world that your God is great and that knowing Him brings peace and joy even when life is hard.  Like the psalmist who wrote, "I saw the prosperity of the wicked....Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure.... When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the Sanctuary of God."  It is easy to become disillusioned with the circumstances of our lives compared to others'.  But in the presence of God, He gives us a deeper peace and joy that transcends it all.

Excerpt from Crazy Love by Francis Chan

We are reading this book for our life group and as I read this paragraph, it really struck me as a good reminder to stop trying to figure out why others are blessed with my dreams and to start leaning on God for understanding and Peace and Hope that he will get me through the dark days.  I don't know where you are right now with your journey through infertility, miscarriage, infant loss, etc... but I hope this gives you peace through your dark days as well.

SNOW!!!

Snowmagedon, snowpacolyse, blizzard of 2011, call it whatever you want..... I call it a snow day!  We were lucky enough to be part of the blizzard last night.  Yes, I said lucky.  I LOVE a good snow day.  I think it goes back to my younger days living in the south.  Everything closed when the tiniest bit of snow hit the ground.  No one went to work for days and I have fond memories of sledding, building snowmen and cuddling by the fire.  When I moved up north, I quickly realized that snow days were few and far between.  I even had to walk to school in the snow, uphill for miles.... well, maybe it wasn't miles and it was pretty flat but I still had to walk to school in the snow and it made me hate the white stuff!  When I heard there was a possible storm of the century coming our way, I was so excited for a day hidden inside cuddling with my baby boy.  I was even lucky enough to have J home this morning as well- what a fantastic snow day!

We did get outside to dig ourselves out a bit so J could get to work.  Grant is usually not very tolerant of the cold, but he did pretty well especially considering I kept plopping him places to see how deep it was!

He is actually standing in the snow here. 

J teaching him to shovel at an early age!

He preferred throwing the snow over shoveling it!

Watching J finish up the driveway with a snow blower from the comfort and warmth of the living room.