2013- A Year of Love, Healing, Growing and Costumes

2013 is not a year we will likely forget. With an ICU stay, 2 ER trips, three near fainting spells, and a possible concussion for our unit of four, it's a year I feel like I have aged and not in that cute let's grow old together kind of way. It's definitely been an emotionally exhausting year, but there is one thing that has kept us plugging along and even joyfully. It's knowing that God is in control. He always has and always will be. With that I find rest.

All of the following pictures are from my iPhone. I finally got around to downloading them which was kind of a walk down memory lane. Gavin suddenly turned from a toddler to a boy this year. He loves his superheros and villains from Darth Vader to the Ninja Turtles, Batman, Superman, the Hulk and the list goes on. He is either playing with them or pretending he is a Superhero. Even sister gets into the action. Mustaches were big around here.

 And while Gavin is helping me in the kitchen when he is not fighting crime, Ava went from a baby to a toddler/preschooler. She definitely doesn't toddler around here. In fact, she is our little monkey. She will find something to climb on. That girl is fearless. She has also taken off on her language development. We are pretty sure we have a talker on our hands.

 

These two love each other fair and square, well, maybe one more than the other. A certain red head needs her space sometimes. I have so many pictures of Gavin leaning over to kiss his sister on the forehead, none of which we prompt him to do. In fact, two hugs, a kiss on the head and a rub of the head are a nighttime ritual of theirs. Gavin tells us Ava is his best friend and that he needs four more sisters just like her.

 

 Hands down the hardest time this year was when Dave got sick. I still need to finish up part two of that story, but let's just say we are so thankful he is well and with us still.

   

 These little faces kept us laughing in the hard times.

 

 

Some outdoor fun did us well too.

 

I just know I can't get enough of these three. We truly enjoy being with each other: playing, laughing, singing, dancing funny, reading, watching movies and exploring.

 

 During Dave's hospital stay, these verses from Psalm 18 were part of my reading. I believe this has been the anthem of 2013. I am not sure what 2014 will hold, but we will continue to believe God is in control.
 

 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴ The cords of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;
⁵ the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears.