Thankfulness December!

Christmas is over and a whole new year is waiting to be welcomed in.  It's amazing how much can happen in 365 days--how much life can change.  I am thankful for God's faithfulness, provision, goodness, and love that never fails.  Unbelievable.  We are people who constantly fail.  We forget.  We are selfish.  We decide to be lazy "just for today."  And yet God never decides to take a day off.  He never makes complaints.  He is just good and loving over and over.  We forget to notice the contrast.  As we welcome in 2016, may we give our focus to Him and living in a way that causes Him to increase.

1. Getting home safely!
2. Landing in Seattle and finding clouds...and rain...and cold
3. Power outages.  While this reminds me of all I am blessed by in life, it is also a fun "adventure" to be without electricity for an unknown amount of time and read/write by the candle light.  LOVE!
4. Winter storms
5. Cold, frosty winter mornings.  Could only be improved by whiter grass. (like snow)
6. Friends and family to spend the Christmas season with
7. Opportunities to organize.  Really, organizing can get terribly addicting.
8. A night of 2 hours of sleep because I got to stay up most of the night and talk with one of my best friends.  Maybe I was a little tired (still recovering, ok.), but it was so worth it!  Loved having time with her, whispering in the darkness late into the night.
9. Trying pickles in ice cream for the 1st time.  Very possibly not the best combination, but well worth the memories.
10. Hilarious conversations with friends or family.  They all keep me laughing pretty consistently
11. Snow flakes!  Even though it never stuck or snowed for very long, it produced some very ecstatic on-lookers.
12. The wonder of snow
13. The blessing of tears to express love for someone
15. The opportunity to snowboard again for the 1st time in almost 6 years
16. Very patient, wonderful brothers who help in said snowboarding  (be jealous)
17. The reminders that life is passing, and the things that count are those that were spent serving the Lord.
18. God's provision in the past year.  He knows we have needed it, and He hasn't failed us yet, even though we are often prone to worrying.
19. The goodness of a new year to start fresh again
20. The faithfulness of God even though we are so consistent at falling short.  He is good.

Only because my family made me laugh so hard, stay up so late, and play hard.  <3

More pictures and blogging to come.  It's been a busy month with much to write about and many pictures to be seen.  I promise they will be coming in the future "when I find time..."  Happy New Year! 

A 3 week tornado

Ok, ok.  It wasn't really a 3 week tornado, and I've never even experienced a tornado.  (thank goodness.)  But we did just get home from a wild 3 week trip traveling through 9 different states.  The Smalls usually have this idea that "get-aways" cannot be restful, and we filled that requirement just fine again this time.
So, after 1 complex car incident (don't ask), 6 different overnight places, 9 states driven through, 7 borrowed/rented cars, 1 exciting horse ride, 1 dreaded surgery, 3 flights, and numerous late nights, I was very glad to find myself back at home.  The great thing about travels like this is that I realize how much I have to appreciate in my everyday home life.  :)  Not to say that I didn't enjoy the trip where we got to see so many friends and family; I'm grateful for the opportunity to catch up with so many people again.  But I'm also thankful for the comparative calmness of life back in the woods.

Oh, and forgive the long post; one of my goals for the trip was better photo-journalism.  Just imagine all the pictures I left out!

3 weeks was sounding like an awfully long time when we left at 4 am...But there we were at the airport, leaving Washington and already anticipating our return.

Getting ready to leave Seattle and feeling very happy that we got to check some of our bags for free!

Goodbye, Washington!

It's a little hard to tell, but in this point of the flight,
white and grey mountains were the only things in sight for miles.

Getting our luggage in Tennessee, our first destination.
(by this time, I was already missing my state)

Rental car #1 of 3

We got into Tennessee late that afternoon and made our way through traffic to the house we were renting with our friends, the Huffords.  For the next 5 days we stayed in Franklin to visit friends and enjoy some of the first adventures of our trip.  

This picture doesn't really adequately support my theory that
Tennessee has some of the most brilliant and beautiful sunsets.

The house we got to rent with our friends, the Huffords.  It was perfect for all of us!

One of the things I loved about this rental house is that there were S's all over the place.
I felt right at home.  (Just a little proud to be a Small.)

Campfire in November with the Huffords!

Basically Tirzah and I shared a lot of laughs with Kea and Lindsay.
(This was the point when Mom said, "here, let me get your picture."
and Lindsay replied, "That'll be a funny picture of Kea and an empty couch."
We enjoyed being invisible together.)

Left to right: me, Tirzah, Lindsay, and Kea.
Terrible color and quality for a picture, but one of few that we got together.

Maybe it was those shrinker mushrooms in Wonderland,
but we all managed to fit in one rocker!

Oh, goody.  This is good news for me.

Befriending a lonely tree while waiting.

The 5 days in Tennessee went by quickly.  Then it was time for the long drive through the night to Indiana to see family!  

Rental car #2
On to Indiana!

This was just about accurate.  If it wasn't jerky, it was some other little snack.

In Indiana we got to spend a lot of time with my Aunt Cilla especially.  We had a wonderful time seeing museums, taking walks, and having Thanksgiving together.  On our first day there, we took a walk around a lake in town, and I took a trillion pictures.  I'm only including a few here because there were just too many.  I'm sure they'll show up on another post sometime.  We also drove through the Butler University campus where my mom went to college ?? years ago.  :)  

Aunt Cilla and Mom!

There was this igloo type thing out in the middle of the lake.
Although there was a huge lake to walk around, we still didn't discover its purpose by the time we left.

Bell tower at Butler University 

After Thanksgiving we got to see a couple museums with my aunt, 2 cousins, and their kids.  Even though Christmas anything wasn't legal yet (it was still November), the museums felt so Christmasy and made me want to get in the mood!  Oh, no!  Don't tell that I wanted to cheat on November.

A children's choir singing at a museum.  It sure helped it feel like the holidays!

These little soldiers were walking through the museum!

Waiting for their train ride...Are they adorable or what??

Ok, really.  I can't say enough about this kid's cuteness.

This one, too!  Do they even look related?!

Tall buildings of glass aren't so common in Brinnon..

I decided Tirzah and I really need these masks.  Wild?  Yes.

This whole light fixture for one--ONE--light bulb?

The night before we left my aunt and uncle took Tirzah and me out to dinner.  It was fun going out together, especially since we basically never get a chance to do that.  We got to experience pickle chips for the first time, too, and they were surprisingly good.  We may have to try making these at home!

Pickle chips!

More goodbyes were said, and we were off for Virginia on Saturday, November 28th, in our 3rd rental car.  A full day of driving was in order before we got to our friend's house way out in the woods.  It felt a little bit like home!

Rental car #3
On to Virginia!

More late night drives.
Hooray for good music and Adventures in Odyssey!

Dinner!

Our friends have horses, and we got to take a quick ride before we had to get back to the road.  It was amazing getting to ride again!  I think this horse wanted me to bring it home.

Horses!  We got to ride our friend's horses!

SO excited to ride again!

We enjoyed our time in the woods of Pearisburg, but it was time to move on once again.  We took another one night stop at my uncle's in Roanoke.  As always, it was fun seeing them again, although it was too short!

At the Roanoke Star with my uncle.

IT RAINED.  THERE WERE RAINDROPS.

They say that the city is below those clouds.
At least there was a picture to show us what it should've looked like.

Tirzah and me!

Time passed quickly, and it was already time to get back in the car to drive to Culpeper, Virginia to see my oldest sister, Sarah, and her family.  Sarah is a nurse, which meant that I couldn't even be there for 24 hours before she gave me surgery on my toe.  Just to clarify, we didn't do surgery just for fun;  it was not fun.  But I did really need it, so I guess I better be glad to have it over with.

We also decorated her house for Christmas and made Christmas cookies on December 1st.  Finally!  We can listen to the Piano Guys Christmas CD!  (Yes, this is why I look forward to December.)

Post-surgery.  Just be glad that I didn't include any pictures of the surgery in process!
My foot is still swollen from that trauma.

Tirzah and Jonathan

Decorating for Christmas!

Don't be fooled by his little hat, which says "Baby's first Christmas."
He may be a little toothpick, but he's not that small.

Judah caught eating all the cookies?  haha.

Jonathan and his "in awe" face.

Isn't he charming in his little suit?

We didn't want to stay in one place for too long, so we took a 2 day trip up to New Jersey to see some great aunts and uncles before returning to Sarah's for the weekend.

On the way to New Jersey 

There were tons of birds on the power lines!

The sign on this truck said "Work vehicle.  Do not follow."
Did the driver think he was that good looking or something?

This is how I imagined my mailbox looking when I got home,
accept all those envelopes would say "To Sharon."

Woohoo!!!  Flying back home!

It was raining when we got home.  Cause enough for excitement.

And this is pretty much how I felt. 

We've been home for a week now (bleh.  I know I should've posted sooner.), decorating our own house for Christmas, listening to more of the Piano Guys Christmas CD, wishing it would snow, loving the rain even though it isn't snow, and looking at our busy schedule for the next few weeks.  I'm so thankful for all who generously hosted and gave to us on our trip; it was good to see everyone again!  But I'm also glad to be home, living another kind of crazy.  This Small life doesn't feel so small after all.