Wintertime Blessings

I have been meaning to put pictures up from this winter for a while now. I realize that these pics are in no particular order, but they do highlight different events from our winter thus far. We have had two, good snows, for which I have been very thankful. I have missed snow since moving back from Minnesota. I haven't missed snow in April and May, but I have missed the snow. The previous two years we did not receive much (if any) snow, so this year it was a double blessing to get it twice! The kids enjoyed sledding in the first snow along with snow man building and throwing snow balls. The second snow was a very dry snow that was really only good for snow angels. We managed to build a somewhat pitiful looking snowman in it though. Another big event from our winter has been bringing a puppy dog home. The kids named him Ryder, and he is a mini goldendoodle. He's been a lot of work (as most puppies are), but the kids have had a lot of fun with him. Finally, the rest of the pictures are from Christmas time. This past Christmas was very sweet. We were home in SC for a number of days, and we had a great time celebrating with family. The picture of the kids with my Daddy is especially poignant. Of course we had no idea at the time, but this Christmas turned out to be my Dad's last Christmas. We lost him on January 4th. I have grieved for him in ways that I have never grieved before. Yet, I am not grieving as one who has no hope. I do have hope that he is whole and with the Lord. I am so thankful to have this last picture of him with my kids, but man it hurts every time I see it. It is hard to believe he is gone. I hate to end on a somber note, but it really has been a hard winter. But, even amidst the hard, I don't want to fail to see God's blessings.