Blizzard Country

Well I have been trapped at home for the last two days with all the kids and a bunch of laundry. The Colorado blizzard has given me time to reflect a little and think about what I am thankful for. The neighbors are out talking to each other and I even got to let someone borrow butter, it is nice to see people digging each other out of the snow and helping each other out. We are all making sure the older people don’t have to shovel their own drive. Sometimes we don’t appreciate the fact that we need time to absorb the season and what it is about. Before our much larger family happened I used to have to tell Roman and Sierra “it is Jesus’ birthday not your birthday”, I haven’t had to say that much this year and that is okay with me, from the looks of the Wal-mart parking lot others may not have the same idea.

The other thing I have thought about since we got home from Ethiopia in June was how much we missed with our new kids. No first steps, no first words, etc, etc. A pastor who was a huge advocate of adoption once said “when you adopt a baby you get mystery, when you adopt an older child you get history”. I always felt that there was so much we missed. We did get their first blizzard, their first snow ball, their first sled, their first trip to the mountains to cut down their first Christmas tree. Can you get luckier than that?