A Brand New Year!!!

Happy New Years Eve everyone!!!! What an exciting day this is...tomorrow is a brand new year, full of new possibilities and potential! Our little ones are busy writing 3 New Years Resolutions each and later on we'll be creating a few as a family to go with them. We are planning a quiet day. Albert and I have a "date" early in the evening (actually late in the afternoon) and then we'll spend the rest of the night with the kids. Tennessee plays their bowl game tonight so that will be a huge priority in our house. We are also hoping to swing by our good friends Tim and Sharon's house, but since the kids were most displeased with us doing that last year, we may just stop by tomorrow instead. We shall see what the evening holds....


Ideally we'd like to have a family Bible study at midnight so that we can pray with the kids and let them (and us) reflect on all the things we are thankful for this year. We'll see how many little ones are left awake by midnight!!!! Hopefully at least the oldest three will be!





In honor of the New Year, I wanted to reflect on and share some of the things I am most thankful for this past year....





I am thankful for a healthy family. For a husband who works so hard for us and for nine beautiful healthy children





I am thankful for the way that my husband loves me- even when I don't deserve it. I am thankful that he asks me every single day "Angela, do you know I love you?" Every. Single.Day.In fact, I may have to do a whole separate post on just him very soon! Stay tuned...





I am thankful that I am enjoying the pleasures (and challenges) of raising both sons and daughters and getting to know the special, intimate experiences that come with each of those relationships.





I am thankful to be feeling a brand new baby moving around in my tummy...yet again. It's amazing every time. Every time. And I'm thankful that she is a she (though I would have also been equally thankful if she were a he!)





I am thankful that Jackson and I had some alone time yesterday when Daddy and the older two boys were working at the old house and all the other kids were sleeping. We made chocolate chip cookies together! One on one time with each child can become scare and its been a while since Jackson had me all to himself. He was so happy, and so proud. And his cookies are delish! I know, cause I've eaten about 6 so far...





I am thankful for the trip to the grocery store that just Albert, Sydney and I took yesterday evening. It was only to Tom's which is 3 minutes from the house and only for bottled water, paper plates and paper cups but it was still...so....treasured. We stopped and bought her an ice cream cone on the way home and watched her make a delightful, sloppy mess. Afterwards, she smelled deliciously like vanilla! With 9 kids...that aforementioned one on one time is important, and fortunatley can be carved out of the most mundane tasks!





I am thankful that tonight when I go to sleep, I will be snuggled up tight in the arms of a man that I love and am best friends with, curled up inside warm sheets and blankets, possibly with a little one or two at the foot of my bed. Throughout the night, my husband will partially wake up a few different times and pull me closer to him, pat the top of my head, or kiss my cheek or forehead and sometimes mumble something like "I love you", or "did you set my alarm?" in his foggy haze. It's priceless.



I am thankful for the grace of God, which is perfect (and that's a good thing, since I, obviously, am not). I am thankful that because of God's grace, I am still afforded new chances even though I don't always get things right, and in fact frequently get them quite wrong. I am glad for His grace daily when I mess something up, don't handle something correctly, or just plain fall short of what I say I believe. I am thankful that this grace is afforded to me, to my family, to my hubby, and to all the people that I love.



Happy New Year's Everyone! I hope that 2010 brings you peace, joy, happiness and prosperity. God bless!