Christmas, belated.

My sister took a few pictures of us in November so we could send out photo cards for Christmas.  We loved how they turned out.  It's so nice to get a few good pictures of the whole family every now and then.  Ivy loves posing for the camera by the way!

I've been away from my blog for over a month.  All of my free time in December was spent shopping, baking and decorating.  I'm hoping to post a bit more often this year. 

We had a wonderful Christmas together.  The day was spent with both of our families.  Christmas Eve was spent thanking our God with a beautiful candlelight service at our little church.  

My heart was full of gratitude this year.  Christmas is all about family and tradition, and I still cannot believe that we have our own children to share our lives with.  While I was so happy to have our first Christmas together, I was mindful of those families who spent their first Christmas without their children.  I think about them daily, and am also reminded of the tragedy and violence that families experience every day all over the world.  Our world is broken, broken, broken.  Greed, selfishness, pride, fear and gluttony are everywhere and inside of us all.  Lately I've felt like giving up on humanity.  Can we be saved?  In my head I know that we can, but it's been difficult for me to feel hopeful these past few weeks. For now, I am trying to make better choices with how I spend my time, and what I fill my head and heart with.

"There is both light and dark in all of us. What matters is what we choose to act on."  J.K. Rowling