thankful.

"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful."
Colossians 3:15

whew! it's been a long time since i last wrote. i hope everyone had a wonderful christmas with their families and loved ones! we were snowed in illinois last week and it ended up being a great time spent with my in-laws. johan and i left tuesday to beat the snow (that came on wed) and had planned to come back on friday due to my classes starting. but the blizzard hit MN, so we ended up staying till sunday. hehe. we had great company in jeremiah, sam, geu, riley, and kameron too! i felt so special because this time around kameron liked me a bit more and would play with me and give me hugs!

on christmas, we ate, relaxed, and lots of pple ended up taking naps including myself. haha. i literally wore sweat pants ALL WEEK! hahaha. i was quite lazy! one of the days we were in IL, we helped my in-laws move some stuff out of their garage since they bought the home in rockford. it was a lot of work, but i wish we could have done more to help them out. they've really done so much already, but it seems like there's still a lot to fix and pack up at the old house. it was fun seeing all the stuff sam, sharon, johan, and jeremiah kept while growing up. we found old coloring books, stuffed animals, tennis rackets, power rangers, and my favorite: old bright red trucks that johan and jeremiah received from their grandpa. =)

now that we're back, we have lots to do before the new year gets here. my classes started already, and since johan is on winter break from school he's working full-time to get us a little more money. thanks johan! i love johan a lot because he asked his boss if he could work full-time to earn us more money without us even discussing it (he usually works 32 hrs/wk). thanks for being so thoughtful hubbie!

i feel really thankful and blessed as this year is coming to a close. our families are healthy and everyone is doing well. even if things could be better and everyone across the board could afford to have a little more money in their pockets--all is well and its all because of Jesus. many thanks to God for always looking after family, friends, and loved ones. we couldn't afford to give everyone gifts this year, even the little nieces and nephews, but everyone was very understanding and we are truly appreciative of that...thank you God that during times where we have little, it still feels like we have so much! =)

have a great week as we prepare for the new year!

God bless,
p