Sorry for the Brief Hiatus

So sorry for such a long break in my blog posts, but as you can see, I am OK!

I don't think I have ever gone this long without posting and I just wanted to say thank you to those who noticed and sent me comments and emails.  It was such a very busy fall for us and my New Year's resolution is to post weekly.  Maybe that is a little ambitious but I'm going to try.  I seem to think that I have to have a good chunk of time and write a pretty long post for it to be worth it.  But I'm thinking I might just try doing more frequent posts but they would be shorter.  Just snippets of encouragement or funny things we have happening around this crazy busy house of ours.  

But anyway, here is our fall in a nutshell...........

I had 2 boys playing football this fall.  Christian playing Varsity and Luke playing JV.  It was fun but busy.  I hosted quite a few spaghetti dinners for the varsity team.  This picture is from Christian's last game and as you can tell, he had been crying.  Being a senior on your last game is hard.  It was such a great season for him. Even getting a concussion and unable to play 3 games, he still made Offensive Player of the Year and All Conference Running Back.  Nothing like cheering for your boys on the football field.  Luke had a great season as well and got to play in some Varsity games too as a 9th grader. So glad he has 3 more years of high school ball.  We all love going to the games.  It's quite a family event.

Another major thing that happened this fall was that I was able to go with Christian and his senior class to Costa Rica on a mission trip!
All of my older 3 children have gone on the same trip with the Christian school that my children attend for high school.  In the past, I was always pregnant or nursing so not able to go with any of them.  This past summer Ron really encouraged me to go and I felt the Lord leading me as well.  I applied and not only went as a mother chaperon but also the trip nurse.  It was quite out of my comfort zone but let me tell you, I had such an awesome time.  I'm so glad that I listened to my husband and obeyed the leading of the Lord.  The trip was so incredible! Seeing these young high schoolers minster, bless and share the gospel with the young Costa Ricans was amazing!  I got to know so many of the girls so well and use my nursing skills.  Here are some pictures.......

My boy with the Chicos!  They loved him.

All of the chaperones. I had such a fun time getting to know these other moms, dads and teachers. 

And my littlest guy, Patrick, started playing soccer on a 4 year old team.  He was the highest scorer for the other team!  I guess we need to work with him on scoring in the right goal. 

Here he is telling me about his new friend he made.  Patrick really just wants to talk to everyone, including the coach and other team members during the game!

Well, this was a little fall overview.  This post didn't include all the bumps, bruises, fights and disappointments that of course happen in a family this size.  It also didn't include all the joys, hugs, tender moments and the great things the Lord is doing in our lives.  I promise to keep everyone more updated and my posts will be coming more frequent in 2016!  Happy New Year!