Thoughts?

I don't know. At first I saw a resemblance, now I am not so sure.  The nose for sure, eyes not so much, mouth maybe.

side by side closer inspection - same nose and mouth but the eyes are slightly different as Kallie's turn down on the sides, and that slight difference makes all the difference 

Along the same lines, I posted the picture on the right on FB along with some other pictures Andy found of my college friends and me.  Immediately I got two responses that from friends who saw Savannah in that picture....I have seen a resemblance between us in other pictures but not so much that one.  Here we are side by side.  I still don't really see it.  My chin is sharper, and my eyes are set further back. I concede that we do have the same nose, cheeks (aside from her dimples), and foreheads, but I don't see her when I look at that picture of me.  I sent this picture to Savannah and asked if she thinks we look alike.  Her response: I hope so.  That's really sweet, but Savannah is so much prettier than I ever was.  I was always the ugly duckling among my sisters though people often said I looked like my mom.  Looking like my mom is quite a compliment as she was gorgeous.  I guess that just proves that you can look alike but not have the same level of attractiveness :)

We've made it two weeks into 2017

We've been so busy.  It's hard to believe that all of this has happened in just two weeks.

Andy's mom visited to celebrate Christmas.  I am not sure what happened to the boys when we took this picture.

This is what determination looks like.  Julia wanted a room makeover for Christmas.  When that did not come through, she prepped and repaired her walls herself and then went bargain hunting with the little bit of Christmas money she had.

Plan A consisted of a gray, teal, and coral palette.  The walls have a lot of blue in that gray, and the teal does not look so great next to it.  Julia bought a cheap white comforter to replace her teal comforter and a gray tapestry instead of one that included teal.  She decided that instead of teal being a primary color, she will go with navy.  Her plan is a navy blanket and coral and navy pillows to accent her bed.  She has a hashtag wall hanging that is gold now, but she will spray paint it navy. It's still a work in progress, but it's coming together nicely.  I love the color of her walls and am hoping to paint my bedroom walls with the same color within the next few months.  Getting used to this softer look after the hot pink that Savannah chose ten years ago will take some time.

Too funny not to share - This is what happens when you get out of bed too late to look at anyone else before you get in the car.  Middle school siblings dressed alike for church---so not cool.  #firstworldproblems

Savannah returned to school.  The tree stayed up far too long as  I kept missing opportunities to take a picture of all four kids in front of it.  I never actually enjoyed the tree this year.   I finally snapped this literally moments before walking out the door to return Savannah to campus.  She returned with mixed feelings.  Savannah is excited about her schedule, but she definitely has a challenging and heavy load.  She also returned with heaviness over a few situations.  Her best friend spent Friday night with her, and they had a blast.  Savannah's campus friends hit it off well with E, so I think momentum is moving in the right direction for a positive semester despite the grief and pain she carries.

Julia cheered her last basketball game.

Because it was the last game, Julia brought her Instax camera and took a picture with it for each of the girls to take home.  That's a generous gift given the price of the film.  I get it, but I don't get it.  These cameras are all the rage among these middle school girls, but the quality of the pictures is pretty terrible.  It's kind of funny that they are using cameras that have not been in regular use since their grandparents used them.  For some things the old way is best. I don't think this is one of them.

It took until January 11th to get it, but Julia finally got her big Christmas gift - an automatic curling iron.  The picture does not do justice to the curls she had left on the way home from school after a rainy day, and she did not even use hairspray.  Truly amazing!

Our fun niece Kallie turned the big ONE. She certainly seemed to love her party.

She climbs everything.

Julia loves the little ones, and they love her right back.

Maybe this should be kept in the private, family archives, but you know, if you fall asleep at a party, you just might take some abuse.

I attended a terrific women's conference - so very good for my soul.  If Kelly Minter and her team bring Cultivate your way, go.  I bought my ticket with some reservation because even though I love Kelly Minter, I did not plan to go with a friend or a group.  I just did not feel like getting that together.  The message and worship were terrific, but grief comes in waves, and the grief did overcome me on my way home after the first session.

As I said before, the reminders can be surprising.  Tessa talked bottles with her sister-in-law tonight as her sister-in-law is expecting her first baby.  I remembered that Dad bought Zach's first bottles.  They were a generic set of six bottles that I might not have picked out, but they ended up being my favorites, and Zach, Savannah, and Julia all used them.  My dad would just show up with surprises like that sometimes.  We still have the doll carrier that he left in Savannah's room one time and the doll that he left in my house for Julia when we were in China to adopt her.  I miss him so much, and the grief was renewed this week with the anniversary of my mom's resurrection day.  I am grateful for the parents I had, but the height of love determines the depth of grief, and I am in very deep.

In other news I spent the last two weeks learning much about settling my dad's estate.  I wish I had known weeks ago what I know now as we would be further ahead in the process.  Our delay in doing things that I either did not realize we had to do or thought I needed documents that I don't have yet to get them done could prove to be costly.  I have mixed feelings about choosing an executor of an estate now as Andy and I need to redo our wills. It's a thankless job, and you cannot satisfy everyone no matter how carefully you follow the instructions you have been given to be fair.  I don't wish it on anyone.  Is it not enough to grieve without bureaucracy and legal work to do?  Does legal paperwork really have to be so complex?

Work has been difficult too.  I am faced with the task of interviewing candidates while dealing with a schedule change that seems to be insignificant but has proven to be a pretty big game changer for taking care of my family.

Zach decided to take the semester off of school.  He needs to make up some financial ground and plans to return in the summer.

It's a new year, and I heard something this weekend that went something like this;
Help me to hope when there is no reason to hope.  That's kind of where I am in a lot of moments right now.  In other moments I am able to celebrate the moment.  I can't have any expectation that this will be a good year, but I will seek joy.

Ringing in a new year!

We did not make resolutions.  We simply enjoyed a game night.  We watched the Mariah Carey debacle online after the fact.  We stopped the games long enough to watch the ball drop.

We are hoping for a new year filled with hope and joy.

As for resolutions...I will continue with my resolutions from last year - new flooring in the living room, new furniture would be nice too.  Reality check - we won't be able to afford it, so it's really more a dream than a goal.

I plan to kick start the year with five or six Jazzercise classes the first week and hopefully end the first month with 15-20 classes.  A busy May and a full month of illness in September derailed my 150 classes for 2016.  Hopefully this year will be better.  Andy is toying with the idea of a Y membership so that he can swim and minimize the damage he continues to do to his already messed up knee.  If he does a family membership, I will likely leave Jazzercise.  It's been good for me, but we cannot afford memberships at two gyms.  

I will start the year with a conference for women.  I hope to dig back into a really good Bible study that got pushed aside the last couple of months of 2016.  

May God bless us every one in 2017!

Happy New Year from this growing crew!!!