The results are In!
Happy 2025!! Time is both a gift and a thief. I cherish the time spent with family and friends, and living out my purpose for this life. I look back, however, and realize that we only have a few short years until Toby starts driving, and the girls will quickly follow. Where did yesterday go?
This is a little out of order, but I wanted to highlight a fun new tradition that we were included in this New Year’s Eve. In Spain there is a tradition of eating 12 grapes (one for each month of the year) while counting down to midnight. You are to make a wish with each grape you eat, and then you will have 12 wishes made at the New Year. This is to carry through each month of the year so you have a blessed year. Paula’s mom face-timed with us as we ate our grapes (and laughed a lot). She had to wake up early in the morning to join us from Spain, but it was a fun new tradition to share with her and with Paula. We are excited to carry that tradition on in our home.
Christmas brought beautiful moments and memories to our family. We had an extra special time as we included Paula in all of our traditional celebrations. We baked cut-out cookies and frosted them. (Those did not last long!) I also baked another favorite cookie this year, which is a peppermint, white chocolate, oreo, chocolate chip cookie. I ended up making a batch of actual cookies, and a batch of edible dough per Darek’s special request. These are the only cookies we made this year and it was honestly refreshing. Unfortunately, I did not make enough to share with neighbors. That will have to change next year. I know you are surprised, but we still ended up with plenty of sweet treats in our home. Nobody suffered. Haha!
The day before Christmas break from school we were gifted 6.5 inches of snow! Hooray. Finally a little white groundcover and something fun for the kids to play in! This snowfall also gifted our kids a Snow Day from school!! They were mostly excited, despite missing the class parties and gift exchanges with friends. We assured them these things would resume in the new year, and they did. It was sweet watching the kids sled down the hill on the side of our house. They had neighbors and cousins over to sled and play in the snow, and Paula did not freeze! That is probably the most important part of that scenario.
That Friday, December 20th, I had my annual colonoscopy. Darek and I left the house, and about 5 minutes into our drive my phone alerted me that it was time to check in. WHAT?!?!? I thought we had 20 minutes before we needed to arrive. I was very wrong!! I then realized that the 15-minute early arrival was supposed to be 45 minutes. Oh No! I was praying they would still see me. I did not want to re-do that prep!! I called to let them know, and they were very gracious and kind about it. It turned out just fine since I have had so many of these and they did not need to spend a lot of time going over things as would typically be their standard. The procedure went fine, and I had 20 polyps removed! Yes, you read that right!! Where did all of those polyps come from??? I have no idea. That might be a new topic of research for me this year. Anyhow, the results came back without any concerns. Some of them were pre-cancerous and some were not. I guess it is good to know, and I will have another colonoscopy next year. I was hoping to get the 2-year clearance, but I understand why that is not an option. I would rather have the polyps removed and know all is clear each year than let it potentially turn into something dangerous.
Thankfully the snow stuck around for Christmas. We attended our candlelight Christmas Eve service, sans Toby. Norovirus struck Toby & Carina a couple of days before Christmas and Toby was still not feeling strong enough to attend church on Christmas Eve. Kaiya had it the week prior, so I think we are all good now. It’s been a while since we have had that degree of illness in our home.
Christmas morning was sweet with kids waking up early and whispering outside of our bedroom door until the 7:45 mark when they were allowed to “wake us up.” We all headed to the living room in our matching family jammies and opened Stockings and gifts. Darek made the cinnamon rolls this year, and coffee/breakfast for me as well. Once we finished cleaning up from unwrapping our gifts, we headed to Darek’s sister & brother-in-law’s home for the rest of the day. The tradition of Christmas Ribs continues, and this year I had the honor of teaching Ezekiel how to make garlic mashed potatoes. He did a great job and Darek said they might have been the best ones yet! Way to go, Zeke!
We drove to IA to celebrate with my parents on the Sunday following Christmas, and we all had a nice time visiting their church and spending the day together. My parents have been updating a cute house in Mason City and we have not been there since they moved in this past fall. It was nice enjoying their home and the company of one another. I had the privilege of making a new friend at my parents’ church, who was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. We share a similar story and while I would rather have established a friendship without this commonality, I believe God places people in our lives for a reason. I am thankful I have my experience to share the miraculous healing power that has been evident in my life. I know that it is through my own trials that God will use my story to help others. I am incredibly grateful for the good that is coming from the trials I have faced.
May God show you how the trials you have faced can be used for good.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”
