Christmas Season

Well, it is that time of year again. WOW - what a difference a year makes! This time last year, we weren't even bloggers :). Since then, ourselves and a lot of our family members blog to keep in touch. Last Christmas, Tim and I were still getting settled into our house and beginning to think it may be time to start a family. Well, here we are Christmas 2007, and we now have little Drew with us.

About this time each year, we do a "year in review". This lets us rethink what we experienced and learned from the previous year, and what we'd like to improve on or do differently in the upcoming year. (It also makes for something to pass the time while we drive across the country for the holidays) :) Anyway, we really enjoy remembering the highs and lows from the past year, especially in a year such as 2007!! Tim and I have had two amazing life-altering years here lately. In 2006, we got married, and in 2007, we had a baby. It just doesn't get any better than that! Here are our 3 stockings. Tim is Santa, I am the snowman, and Drew is the elf.









We really do have a lot to be thankful for this year. It is so easy to forget how lucky we are and how blessed we are for all that we have. This year, more than ever before, family has taken a new meaning. The holidays are always about family, but now since Tim and I have expanded our family, it has a very special meaning.

It's amazing how much having a baby will change your life. Things that you never really thought about before suddenly become very vivid. One thing that I've noticed is Christmas songs, especially the old classics of Away in a Manger and Silent Night. I couldn't tell you how many times I have sang these songs over the years, and I know they are about baby Jesus. But this year, they have new meaning.

After having a baby, suddenly I'm filled with emotion over what Mary must have felt having no place to have her child. You sing the lyrics "Away in a Manger, no crib for His bed", but I never really thought about before what this truly meant. I know things were much different all of those thousand of years ago, but the passion a mother has for her child stands throughout time. I could not fathom being in labor and not having a safe place to have my child. And, then having my child and having no place to put him except in a stable. It gives a new appreciation as to what Mary must have experienced on a physical/emotional level. Of course, this not even considering what she was experiencing on a spiritual level.

Anyway, I know I'm getting a little deep, but so goes being a new Mom - still full of emotion! That is another thing that I've realized. I was already a sentimental person, but WOW - it's on a completely different level now.

Well, Tim and I want to say Merry Christmas to everyone. We hope that you take time this year to remember the past year and soak it all up before 2008 is here and everything is new. Remember to be thankful for your familes and for everything that you have been given and to give back to others. Many, many people are not as fortunate as most of the people who will be reading this blog.