Farewell 2015...Bring on 2016!

Yes, Christmas in shorts and short-sleeves!  2015 was the warmest Christmas season I can remember!

Amber and Jaycee on Dec 26th

Too cute to be on the naughty list (but, believe me, there were some close calls!)

Aunt Carrie and Baby Charlie

One Motley Crew on Christmas Day

Santa Claus was here!

Mack the Elf will be back next year!

Another Christmas season has just about passed us by as we're knocking on the doors of another New Year.  Santa was good to us in 2015!  The fun wasn't just tearing into the gifts that Santa brought us, but enjoying the build-up of excitement through our children's eyes throughout the month.  If the biggest problem I currently have in life is sorting through an array of plastic toys and trying not to kill myself by tripping on Hot Wheel cars, then I consider myself richly blessed.

We didn't do anything extravagant in 2015; no exotic, tropical vacations, just three summer trips to the Outer Banks; however, that was all we needed to get our salty air fix for the year.  We didn't buy any new vehicles; in fact, we flipped a few bills to fix the ones we have, but they still run!  We didn't do any major home improvements and our house has its flaws, but it's still standing in spite of our two tornadoes (Chase and Gabe) that frequently touch down.  Our soccer team didn't come out as the overall champions, but Tim got his feet wet with coaching and still carried our team to a few victories during the spring and fall seasons. Chase graduated Kindergarten with flying colors and Gabe began preschool and speech class.  Sure, they both still have lots to learn, but they've come such a long way in a year's time.  Tim and I may have occasionally gotten mentally and/or physically drained from challenging jobs at work and long hours, but we're so thankful that we were able to work another year and that we still have jobs to sustain us in 2016. My point in saying all of this is that we we may not live flashy lives, but we can certainly rejoice in all of the small victories we experience in a year's time.  Oftentimes when we exercise hindsight and add up all of those small victories, we realize that they're nothing short of a miracle!

Speaking of miracles, we welcomed two new family members in 2015: Michael Paul Stephens in July and Charles Vaughn Moore just earlier this month.  Tim and I have no plans to continue the expansion of our family tree; moreover, we just hope to continue to nourish and strengthen the branches of our existing tree in 2016.  We will have a very special birthday to celebrate in February of 2016 as one of the oldest and strongest branches of our family tree (my grandmother) will turn 90 years old!  There is a surprise party in the making right now for February 2016!

Whether we're just a budding branch or a seasoned one, we can surely reflect on how good God has been to us throughout 2015.  For some, 2015 may not have been the best year they've ever experienced; however, each season in life has its purpose and we just need the right perspective to look at our current circumstances.  May 2016 be the greatest year we've ever lived due to spiritual wealth, which is far greater than anything Santa Claus brought us in 2015.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!  (How many times are you going to write 2015 by mistake in 2016?....2015....2016!)