A Lot Happens In A Year

Holy laziness! Has it really been a year since I've posted. I blame it on pregnancy. I blame it on old age (I am now nearing 34, after all), I blame it on...life. I chose to spend the past year with people and not sitting at my desk for hours on end. I've lived life. WITHOUT a blog. But I would like to keep up on posting these things that happen in the Slegers home. Here is a little note I had prepared for our 2013 Christmas family newsletter that never went out. I'll do my best to update things that have changed since I wrote this: DATED December, 2013 I am sitting in the car, enjoying the quiet of three littles resting as we travel to Georgia for Mom's graduation. This allows time to reflect on our family and this past year... We started the year, as most do, with great expectations of another year of blessings. Another year of pressing on toward the goals we felt the Lord had called us to. Another year to become closer as a family. Another year to do and be better. 2013 has been a big year in the Slegers household. We have been covered in blessings beyond our imagination and are constantly shaking our heads in disbelief as the Lord answers prayer after prayer. (As if we expect him to fail or just pass by without giving us a second thought.) Chris is our first example of God's favor. The weather in Oklahoma has been unusual this year. As a dent guy, your work is usually based on bad weather. If it doesn't hail, you don't usually get to work! Well, Chris has been so busy this year with hail and occasional dents and dings. God has provided for EVERY need and many wants! We are nearing the end of the year and Chris still has several hail cars lined up for when we get back from Georgia and it's DECEMBER! Who has hail work in December!?! Totally a God thing. Chris is still heading up our church's evangelism ministry, Evangelism Explosion. His desire to teach others how to share their faith is almost as strong as his desire to share the Good News himself. He pours his heart into this ministry and the others involved. I'm sure he would tell you how each individual brings something special to EE and how spending time with them sharpens him. I am one blessed woman to have such an encourager as the head of our home! Hope (that would be me) is still enjoying her role as wife, mother, worship leader, Bible study leader, Mary Kay consultant, teacher...you get the picture! It has been a challenging year for me as we were surprised to find out in early March that I was pregnant...again. With.a.baby. Those who know me well, know this is big - as I don't handle pregnancy well. Once again, God granted us favor and he granted me strength to keep leading Sunday worship at our church throughout my entire pregnancy (up to the weekend before baby arrived)! Collin turned 5 this year! Am I old enough to have a five year old!? He is growing up so quickly. I guess that saying, "Blink and you'll miss it!" is quite appropriate for the childhood years. His favorite things right now are: Legos, Mario (wii) and basketball. This kid loves him some basketball! If he can't play it outside, he pretends to play inside. If he can't play inside he wants to play basketball with Daddy on the wii. His favorite NBA teams are the OKC Thunder and Chicago Bulls. He also loves to swim in our pool and is excited to announce he can now swim (in the shallow end) without his life vest, AND he can jump in AND he can swim UNDER WATER! Collin has also begun Kindergarten this year. He is pretty excited, as we made the decision to homeschool this year. Grandma Pat is doing the majority of the academic studies and she is very happy with how much Collin is learning and retaining in his studies! Little Nicholas celebrated his 1st birthday in April! His favorite things are his "inka" (blanket), his "maw-ma" (Grandma), dancing and BALLS! He can spot a ball a mile away and his dance moves are quite a site to see! Our little "force to be reckoned with". He is Mr. Independent and Mr. Adventure all in one. I consider him my mini me. Nicholas is just like his momma! His strong will and love of music is quite a mirror for me and we are so enjoying the little man he is turning in to. Sweet Audrey made her long-awaited appearance on November 2, in the early morning around 2 am. She is a very good baby! Being so new, her life consists of mostly nursing and a whole lot of sleeping! It's amazing how much she has settled in to being a member of our family. Her big brothers are so good with her and VERY protective. Even Nicholas will say "why-in" to tell Mommy that Audrey is crying and run to her rocker and try to give her the pacifier...although he usually sticks it in her eye or her ear! What a busy, quick, exciting year it has been! We are really looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us next year! OK...just to remind you that was from 2013. I am NOT pregnant, nor do I expect to be in the near future (or ever). Also, Nicholas is now celebrating his "Terrific Two's!" and has a vocabulary that amazes me. Although, most people are sure he's speaking Chinese. Collin is celebrating his 6th Birthday this week and our precious Audrey is now 8 1/2 months old. I suppose I'll end this post with a couple pic's from the past 14 months.