An easy post

There are two posts in the works, but this one is easy to get out there while I finish unpacking, and getting caught up on random paperwork and prepping for this next school year.

Nineteen years! As I live longer myself, and know more people, I know that every single one of us has been given different sorts of challenges and struggles in our lives. (I say "given" intentionally, because I know that God uses those points of difficulty and weakness to show himself to us more clearly than we would ever see or know him if everything was "easy.") I am grateful every day for the fact that God has chosen to give me and Matt the marriage that we have. Every year is better than the last, and with the challenges that he HAS given us, it is a joy to walk through them hand in hand with this wonderful husband!! Eleven years ago God got a hold of Matt, and watching him explode to life and not stop growing in that is a gift that I do not take for granted!

And look at that: I told the kids I had my standards set pretty low this year. In past years I've tried to have us dress in coordinating colors, etc, etc. This year my request was simple - I hoped we'd get everyone in the photo. I don't care what you're wearing (clothes would be nice), or if you smile or look at the camera - just everyone in the picture [ahem, Mira, that means no hospital stay, and ahem, Reuben, no sneaking off for cupcakes before the photo is snapped!] and I got my request and then some! Our friend/photographer even managed to get Owen to take off his sunglasses and most of the kids to look AND smile. Wow.