Happy 2017!

Much has happened since I last wrote here, and things have been crazy busy. Getting ready for the holidays, teaching Signs of Safety in southeastern Missouri, the ice storm, the holidays... 

Let's start with a few pictures:

 Miss Skye broke her wrist falling off the monkey bars at school. She needed to be put under to get it set.

 She had a nice big cast for a number of weeks, then was switched to a shorter cast. She is now cast free and all healed up.

 Brie and the girls came home for awhile. They are in the process of transitioning back to their home in Missouri. I call this photo a "grandma selfie" because if I am sitting my lap is full.

I finished batman versus superman knitting for Aurora and Reimond: socks vs. scarf respectively. Both were well-received.

 (The sweater underneath I made long ago and isn't part of the package...)

Skye made us a Christmas card

The girls saw Santa:

It was put up late, but we had a tree:

The Maze kids were all home for Christmas Day, and the Soulak kids were at my mom's on Christmas Eve (we were there in spirit over FaceTime). 

The little girls were spoiled:

And the rest of us were happy.  

Eric and I both work this weekend (New Years eve and day). I had a mishap yesterday when leaving a St. Louis hospital: the guy in front of me missed the turn off to the exit and reversed into me as I was starting my turn:

 

 Fortunately we are both insured and he was very good about it. I'm hoping it won't be hard to fix because right now my door isn't happy being opened and closed, and I need a vehicle. Kind of a sucky way to end the last day of 2016 but glad it was no worse.

Reimond continues to fill my heart with pictures of my favorite lakes...  Here is a frozen Lake Nokomis, my idea of what winter actually looks like. We are all brown and dead down here.

My prayer for this new year is that we find contentment in what we have, courage to seek change and opportunity where it best supports the needs of our families as well as ourselves, and wisdom in making those decisions. It's been a hard year for so many, and we all carry heartaches of various kinds. Let's pray for a spirit of gentleness, love, acceptance, and courage for the coming year. Lord, in Your mercy, hear my prayer. Amen.