Wow! Has it truly been that long, since I last wrote? How time flies!!! What have we been up to for the last seven months, you ask? ALOT!!! Where do I even start? Spring came and went. Then summer came long. We went to FBFA in Virginia. While we were there, we went to Virginia beach. Now that reminded me of home. That was a first for the girls. You should have seen them, trying to conquer the waves, that was funny. Although, while in St.Lucia, they were at the beach constantly, they could remember nothing about it. They rented body boards with friends and just had fun. It felt wonderful seeing them enjoying themselves. I thank the Lord for that opportunity. I will try to post pictues later. They following week, Cleo and I went to D.C. for a youth missionary trip. That was ok. It sometimes takes me by surprise, how alike we are, no matter what country we live in. After that we went to Camp of the Wood, in the Adirondack. We always have fun. Benny did quite a bit of golfing with our pastor. As a matter of fact, as a result of the time spent with him golfing, he bought himself golfing clubs. The girls always enjoy Camp of the Woods. You do as little or as much as you want to. This time we didn't do a lot of hiking and boating as we did in the past. Anna was not at all pleased with that. We also started a new homeschool co-op, in September. That has been great. We have been to the Penn state twice last year, for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was lovely spending time with Flora, Benny's cousin. In a nutshell that was our year. Will see you soon.

Snow, Snow and more snow!!!!

I was told recently, that we are nineteen inches away from breaking the all time record of snowfall.  Isn't that amazing and to me exciting too.  I love the winter, I love snow.  I do not always enjoy the cold, but the snow always fascinates me.  It reminds me of God's grace.  The snow has always reminded me of His forgiveness, His continual faithfulness.  The snow, especially on a sunny day can be quite blinding.  It is so bright and so beautiful, so clean and so crisp, that I find myself just giving God thanks for being alive.  Well, as you can see, the winter also brings with it fun and lots of it!!  We had the opportunity to go sledding with the church a few weeks ago.  These are some of the photos taken.  Anna can hardly be seen in any of the photos.  She is such a people person that getting her to stand still to be photographed is almost impossible.  Yes.... the person who did not want to go sledding and was only going for the gilrs... un huh ...when he started he could not stop.  It was contagious!  The laughter... the fun...  Thank God for family!!

These are a few of my favourite things..... The month of January has been a whirlwind of activitites.  It seems as if we are always on the go.  The girls are still swimming, but now are also playing basketball.  Fun..Fun..Fun..   But, maybe our driver won't agree much..lol  still loves us though... so he  NOT does complain much.  We love him more.. especially when I remind him of the activity half an hour before.  So here are just a few pics.  Anna took part in the Awana quizz with Mckenzie.  They placed first.  Go Anna!! Being first in God's Word is great. 

Co-op Recital

The girls participated in their co-op recital on 12/18/10.  Annalisa was 'Bob' in the play The Christmas Carol.  Cleopatra was part of the Chorus.  They did a fantastic job,  We invited the Fosters' as our guests;  it was enjoyable having them there..

I have been trying to find my comfort ground, since I have lost weight.  Last year I went on this physical and spiritual transformation.  I studied Prov. 31: 10 to the end and I lost over forty (40) lbs and went natural.  So many changes and although I thank God for all of them,  I am now trying to find what clothes I like, what hairstyles I like etc. and the going sometimes gets a bit rough.  Prov. 31 was and still is life changing, becoming a woman after God's own heart.  Raising godly children and hearing my husband say I am a virtuous wife.  Some changes we (God, of course) have accomplished, and others we are still working on.  Hopefully, though one step at a time we are making progress.  Praise God.

Vermont

Around the first of June, we were invited to a "Run for Jesus Retreat" in Vermont.  We spent a weekend and had a blast!!  The girls stayed with their friends' (Illiana & Merika) grandparents.  It was nice to spend some quiet time with Benny.  I think the last time we did that was in December at a Couples Retreat. 
There was a concert in the park, with my friend Sonya Hines singing.  That was fun, although Anna's asthema was kicking up a bit.  The next day I participated in a 5k run and placed 4th among the ladies.  That was a highlight for me because I had never done that before.  All in all it was a fabulous weekend.
Sheldon, Vermont, seems more 'country' than Syracuse, but the yard sales were out of this world.  I could have stayed shopping all day! (Which I did, come to think about it) even Benny got into the spirit of shopping and normally that's like pulling teeth.
We, eventually had to get Anna and Cleo,  because Anna's asthema persisted through out the weekend.   By that time though, we missed them and were ready to pick them up. 

Cleo's Birthday

Sometimes, I know that the Lord has blessed us more than we can ever imagine!!  Cleo turned 12, and she is so much of a leader.  So different in some ways to me or her dad.  So much of us in her and then so much of us are not in her.  She is very independent and so knowledgeable, because she reads soooooo much.  She doesn't make friends very easily, but can be quite friendly.  Soo not like me.

She wanted a birthday party at laser tag and didn't have enough people to invite.  She needed eight and we ended up with six, but she had a great time.  How I thank the Lord for that.  Everyone surrounded her and just loved being with her.  She is a great child and I thank God for her.