can't wait for a year when all of us get to Sloan's together. it's been a long while, so that will be amazing. it's gotta happen. one day. still, this day at the end of November was still pretty great! and so is the tree that's bringing such joy in the family room all day long...i really do love it!
here are a few of the favourite photos!
Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! I hope this season brings peace and joy and refreshment for your souls! ❤
for these three it was a beautiful and crisp day for a run. i was a walker and cheering spectator. a great way to start a Saturday!
a few fall stragglers that i wish to capture here. good memories. the kind to keep.
Christmas 2023. it's upon us, isn't it? and with all the world's chaos and hate and pain i very much struggle to reconcile this with our relative peace and comfort and immense privilege here. here, where i'm shopping and planning and wrapping. here, where i create sweet treasures and traditions and good holiday feelings in this small little bubble that is our life. it's this paradox that we are obligated to face, and that i cannot ignore. my son rides Christmas trains and cruises down ziplines after a festive pony ride, while children across the world are released from the darkest captivity, only to learn that one or both of their parents have been murdered. the stark contrast of mothers burying their dear innocent children caught in the horrors of war, while i'm crossing off items on my kid's Christmas wish lists. while we wrestle with high grocery costs during an already expensive season and millions of others can only hope for long-awaited humanitarian aid trucks to cross the border and deliver the very basics they need to even survive.
i could go on and on with the unfathomable comparisons, couldn't i?
yes the season of Christmas does and will still hold much joy for me this year, i imagine~ as it should. for i have clung to the Greatest Gift ever given, and i'm grateful for all that means in my day-to-day journey of life. still, i'll wrestle through the uncomfortable heaviness that lingers in knowing that so many have had their worlds upended and shattered into millions of pieces. that so many, if fortunate enough to survive, face a lifetime of trauma and loss to work through. it isn't right, it isn't ok. it isn't yet how it will one day be...
until then, in this desperate world that keeps right on spinning, i hope and pray God's love and comfort and peace pierces through the darkness of their reality to carry them and hold them extra close, this Christmas and way beyond. that it rests on them like a warm blanket on a bitter cold night.
Emmanuel, God with us...Matthew 1:23
...except this one was cruel. long, cold, wet and grueling. over twenty-three kms from start to finish. six and a half hours to completion. accurately named The Beast. especially this particular weekend.
so astonished and proud of their grit and strength. Jeff even dislocated a finger half way into the race and put it back into place himself...yep, all by himself (gulp) before carrying on and finishing the rest of the course. crazy guy.
way to go Hannah and Jeff. so inspiring!
below~ a few of my thanksgiving gifts. not all are here, but more than half of the bunch!
whoa, do i ever love this song. it's a keeper, a "poignant ballad" written by a mom and dad to their daughters, and it most certainly is filled with lyrics that echo my heart for our three daughters too. it captures the depth of love so well. i really hope they feel it and know it~ way down deep.
beyond that, it also speaks to me on a personal, even deeper level. that the very God who created me and loves me fully (even still) also carries me. always. and i feel it.
enjoy, it's pretty special.
I Will Carry You by Ellie Holcomb
another year of cross country for her school. super challenging and somehow through the pain it's also pretty rewarding~ after the races at least.
i love the way her running pushes away personal obstacles, stretches past her perceived limitations, and gives her a great outlet for school and life stressors. not to mention her killer strong legs.
way to go Layla!
in the interest of time, or lack of ;) , and because there's something so special to me about this picture below, i'm posting a "throwback Tuesday" photo this week...
AJ wasn't even home yet so he's not seen in the picture. sorry AJ, next throwback k? yep his adorableness can't go unmentioned either.
i was in the thick of it here, raising littles, and yet i really did enjoy most of this stage. actually and for real. there was so much fun and funny mixed in those years...they totally had my heart~ and somehow each one in their own unique way still entirely does...strange how that works.
another year underway...
preschool
praying these two have fun this school year, and of course learn and grow lots at the same time!
