Good bye 2017...hello 2018!

Here is it New Year's Eve 2017.  Today was Sunday and we both were sick enough we decided we'd better not go to church.  We just spent a restful day at home, napping, keeping warm and comfy by the fire, just taking it easy.  I got all the birthdays for the coming year on the calendar and into my planner.  I got the family dinner schedule for the new year laid out.  Paul was sicker than me.  I had started this disease the day after Christmas.  He's just getting going.  We talked about some goals for the upcoming year.  Our big New Year's Eve party was a shrimp cocktail, some sparkling apple/pomegranate juice and a few games of King's Corner before bed.  It felt just fine.  Just what we needed.  This has been a very hard year in so many ways with all of Bean's problems and time away from us, but it has also been a very good year with him having the opportunity to also move forward and start on a path back to better mental health.  Derek and kids have also made some big steps toward recovering from the loss of Lenae.  I'm pretty sure she had a hand in all of these good things in some way.  Paul's mom has had a very hard year and us with her, but she too has also had some good things when she could have easily left us or been seriously impaired. So, all in all, I will be grateful for this year as another chance to spend time with our wonderful family watching them move forward and being grateful to be a part of it.  Life isn't easy and it isn't perfect, but life is good! Our thanks go to Heavenly Father for watching over us and blessing us in more ways than we ever know.

I'm going to end this year's blog with the picture that Paul painted for this year's Christmas gift to our kids and his siblings.  Here's what he had to say about it:  "This painting is of Lenae, Tasia and Derek.  It comes from a photo taken at Family Camp. It says to me that Lenae is leading the way to our next adventure."   

I hope the coming year's adventures will lead us to many more wonderful blessings from Heavenly Father, and I hope we will be true and faithful as we also face the challenges that life is sure to bring to help us grow.