What a year!

As this year comes to a close, we have so much to be thankful for!  And we stand in such awe and amazement at what the Lord has done in our lives in the last twelve months!

As we began 2015, we were making the cross-country move from Ohio to Las Vegas to begin our new life there.  We thought such a major move would be our big news of the year!  Adoption was not anywhere on our radar and we were months away from even beginning the process.  Yet tonight, as the year comes to a close, we have a new son sitting in the living room by the fire with us.  Just days ago, my boys and I traveled halfway across the world to come home after spending almost five weeks in Ukraine!  Only the Lord could have done such a marvelous thing!

We made it home on Christmas Day.  It had been one of our prayers to at least be with Toby on Christmas and to hopefully be home soon after.  The Lord answered that prayer in a HUGE way by getting us home ON Christmas!  It was not easy.  The boys did okay on the long flights, but the transfers and waits were exhausting and by the time I walked into my husband's arms, I was a blubbering mess. He said I was like a battle-worn veteran coming home from war.  Yes.  It was so special to have some dear friends there waiting for us at the airport.  Toby seemed so pleased to see his Papa again and meet his sister, Sarah!

We enjoyed a nice, quiet family Christmas on the 26th!  It was so special to have Sarah here with us (wishing Jake could have made it, too, but he had work commitments).  Even though we all didn't fall asleep until about 3am, the boys were up early and ready to celebrate!  (Forgive me for the poor quality photos - our good camera lens broke, so I've had to improvise with our iPad for now!)

Since Christmas, we've just kind of been "cocooning" as a family.  Josh had to return to work, so the five kids and I have been learning the new rhythm of our family, learning the foods Toby does and does not like, learning how best to discipline and train him how to behave in a family.  He LOVES all the Legos and Star Wars toys that are in the house and can spend hours constructing things with Lincoln Logs.  He also really enjoys being outside in the snow.  Despite our temperatures in the teens, he spends long periods of time outside, usually with Jack, pulling the sled, collecting icicles, making snow balls, swinging on the tire swing and falling into the snow - all the things 10 year old boys SHOULD be doing in winter!  Then, he comes inside for his new favorite thing: hot chocolate!  

Toby has also had lots of firsts!  Too many to even list here, but among them were his first American haircut by Mama and his first time decorating Gingerbread cookies!
We celebrated New Year's Eve with a "picnic" dinner of Swedish meatballs and a dessert of cream soda - Toby's first ever.  He called it a "kids beer".  :-)  

We look forward to all that the Lord has in store for 2016!  We have seen again and again that He does far more than we could ever think or imagine in our lives if we are willing to trust Him and take leaps of faith!  It is so worth it!  May you be blessed in this new year and come to know Him in even deeper ways!  

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