CITIZENSHIP DAY!!!!

Today was a HUGE day for our family -- for Stuart, specifically.

Today is the day that Stuart became an American!

It was something I had said I would never force him to do when we first married. It had to be something he wanted. I didn't mind paying for a Green Card every 10 years.

But Stuart said he wanted to do it, to "belong." And he wanted to vote, to have a voice behind the taxes he pays. He said he would only do it when he could say the Oath and mean it.

And that day had come.

It was a beautiful -- if cold -- day! And we were all so excited and nervous as we headed into Philadelphia. And we were SO proud of him!

Happy New Year!!

Happiest of Happy New Years! We are SO glad that it's 2017!

To say that 2016 was not our family's favorite-most year does not adequately cover it. But to say that God carried us and strengthened us and kept us going through it is an absolute blessing and truth!

Between Emily's extended illness and emergency appendectomy and my breast cancer and Stuart starting back to college and still traveling...and the boys being hungry ALL the time...and medical bills that are drowning us...

But through it all, God was there...and still is. We know that He who controls the universe hasn't forgotten us.

A recap in photos of 2016...and see? We were even smiling.



2016: Year in Pictures