We enjoyed our week in Minnesota over Christmas so much. What a blessing it was to spend time with our families and our friends! The all-night drives (though painful) were well worth it and we hope to do it again not too long from now.
We drove through the night Christmas Eve, leaving after our service here, and arrived at Tim's parent's house Christmas morning. It was such fun to see and explore their new home. What a beautiful place - we're very happy for them. (The scenic picture is from their back patio.) There is always a lot going on at the Stokes' house and our kids like to get right in the middle of it all. They loved the time there, sledding every day, horseback riding with Abbie, cribbage and other card games, staying up late and giggling with Mary, seeing their cousins Caleb, Angela, Emily, Isaac, Hannah, and even a visit to the new arrival (Cai) before we headed out of town, playing their instruments for everyone, good food everywhere, Grandma and Grandpa time etc... Partly, I just enjoyed seeing the kids reconnect with everyone. And I can't wait for Josh to send us the full Stokes family picture. . . I was just impressed that we ALL made it.
We also enjoyed our family Christmas time we had set aside with my parents, my sister Diane and my brother Eric, and my nieces and nephews (Andrew and his fiance Brittany, Jenni, Amber, and Christiano.) It was a blessing to all be together for those few hours on Saturday, sharing a meal and gifts and musical talents and just hangin' out. I'm glad we got some good pics - maybe we'll get the full family one next time. . . or at Andrew's wedding.
Not only did we enjoy our families, we also had some great time with our friends up there. We got to visit Faith Baptist and see many delighfully familiar faces, spending more time with some folks from there for lunch and dessert, etc... We celebrated Joe's 5-year old birthday with his best friend Sammy and that was such a blessing for our families to see each other and spend time together. Rachel and Ruth had play-dates and sleepovers with very special friends, we spent a fun New Year's Eve at the Chernyavsky's - the games were awesome. :)
Tim also worked on some details regarding the rental of our house there, which is where we are with that right now. It's not for sale at the moment - we pulled it off the market and are renting it until we pray and perceive the next step. As of now, our New Year still finds us in "Who-knows-ville" in that regard, but we are thankful for God's presence and promises as we start 2009 with much uncertainty about our circumstances. The only rock is our Lord God and He is unchanging.
Happy New Year and thanks to all of our wonderful friends and family for your love!
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