Greetings!

My goodness, it's been way too long since I've written here. Honestly, I've been too tired to type... not literally, but too tired to sit down and get my thoughts together in a coherent way.

Life is so very, very good here. God continues to prove Himself faithful day after day.

Life has also been very, very full for the last couple of months.

By the numbers:

• Eight family members' stuff packed and moved to another state.
• A couple of hundred boxes unpacked (mostly.)
• Four visits from out of town guests.
• Fifteen inches of snow, a 35-year snow, which mostly snowed us in for two weeks.
• Two major leaks in the roof caused by ice dams.
• One Christmas.
• One Nasty virus working through five of six children over the course of a week (a dozen throw-ups, lots of diarrhea, three runny noses, one ear ache, one case of shingles...)
• One ruptured appendix.
• Five days in the hospital.
• One six year old birthday.
• One gas fireplace repair.
• One water softening unit removed from our home.
• One visit from the DishNetwork repairman.
• Five super-fun evenings with new friends over for dinner.
• Two new drivers licenses.
• Four new license plates.
• One mortgage refinance.
• One new, very large job.

It's all good. This week is finally shaping up to be "normal," which is such a timely blessing. We're actually "doing school" for the third day in a row, which is so encouraging! We almost have a routine established! Wow!

God is so kind to stretch us and grow us and take us where we never imagined we could go. We are all still thrilled to be here at Jubilee. Mary is healed up and eating and playing again. We're all finding our way here. I couldn't be happier and more at peace.

But I could be more rested...

Mary's birthday, a couple of days after she came home from the hospital was fun. The kids made masks for the party.

Here are a kitty, lady bug, and golden retriever:

Here are the cute faces behind the masks:
Mary decorated her own cake with a couple of containers of colored sugar. It was very pretty... and very crunchy. Just the way we like it! Sort of like eating cake at the beach.

Thank you so much to all who have been praying for Mary. It was a wild ride, but she seems none the worse for wear now that it is over. We are so thankful!

I'll try to post more often. I have lots of great pictures to share and daily adventures, too!