Christmas is around the bend...

Oh I am so excited to share Christmas with our little family! Emmy is at a fun age(did I really just say that?) and has the capacity to truly enjoy the celebration of Christ's birth. I have so many ideas for family traditions but have given myself the grace to be ok with not implementing them all this year. After all the kiddos are still pretty young and let's face it, this year has been a bit hard ("that's what she said"...couldn't resist).

I continue to struggle personally with trusting the Lord and feeling a bit like He dropped the ball with my mom, but even as I write that I get the sense that He is so patient and faithful even in my unbelief. I'm sure none of this makes a lick of sense, but I had an Aha! moment this morning. In the mundane nature of my morning routine -feed Boone, feed Emmy, Sesame Street, eat oatmeal and drink coffee, check email, pay bills, clean the kitchen, change loaded diapers, clean up toddler messes, attempt to clean the house and make a plan for dinner...you get the picture - I found myself listening online to Matt Chandler, the pastor of a dynamic church in Dallas as he described the latest challenge God has put in his life. He has a tumor that is very much life threatening.

Seems like God has dropped the ball with him. Then he said something that resonated and pierced my heart: "Don't you dare let what is happening to me lead you to continue believing lies and living in fear. God is faithful no matter what and He has given us the strength to deal with the cup he has poured for us. I am not afraid and I can say He is good, even as I stand to lose everything." (I'm not sure those were his exact words, but its what I got from it) I stopped in my tracks, looked out our dining room window and saw a beautiful sliver of light through the dreary clouds. I know it may sound silly, but I have always sensed God's presence most through His creation, namely the skies. I believe in my very core that He is offering me his peace in light of the loss of my mom. I am frustrated because things did not go the way I had ultimately planned but He is so sweet to remind me, a pitiful wretch, that He hears my cries and loves perfectly. Thank you for Jesus! He alone is the answer to all of my fears. Christmas is a reminder of all these things.

On to some family pics. Enjoy peeking into the Foshea world.

This is Emmy waiting outside my dad's (Pancho) room as he got ready for the day. She is pretty attached. We were waiting for him to finish getting dressed so we could go to the Houston Zoo, which was excellent!
Her Pancho. Her Aunt "Yeshey." They were so cute walking to the lion exhibit.
My sister Lesley certainly took her time taking this picture. There were many people passing by wondering who let the crazies out for the day. I kept telling her to hurry up, but somehow there was "something wrong" with the camera. So I continued bouncing around making monkey noises...
Boone enjoyed his ride and was a perfect angel the whole time we were at the zoo, as always! All tuckered out!
Thanksgiving was a ball with the Foshea side of the family. Here is Joel's younger brother James, "Pa" and Aunt Brittany or Aunt "Nee" holding the litle man. Don't you just love his little sweater vest?!?Emmy and Nana were goofing around in the barn. A true Texas girl on her John Deere tractor.It's in her blood... Howdy!A fuzzy picture of our tree. Emmy had so much fun helping us put it up. Of course she wanted ALL of the ornaments to go on ONE branch and didn't like us moving things she had so carefully placed on the tree. She was put in charge of putting the angel on top of the tree and did so with utmost seriousness and care. It was cute!

She loves singing. I tried to get a video of her singing "Jingle Bells", but this is pretty cute also. Just last night during our usual bath time show, she informed me I needed to stop singing with her. "Emmy turn." She then went on to sing her current top hits all by herself: Wheels on the Bus, Jingle Bells, BINGO, and Old McDonald. Boone laughed and laughed the whole time! It was even better because she added hand motions that led to Boone and I getting soaked from the flying bath water. I love my job!

This one is just too funny not to include. Joel's parents have some cattle in the pasture behind their house. Emmy loves to hang out with cows.