Welcome Back....

....to me that is!  You may have thought i totally forgot about my little blog but alas, i am here again.  I am noticing that this is a pattern i follow every year.  I have thought about blogging so many times, writing posts in my head to share with everyone, however, my brain doesn't ever catch up with my time.  Not to mention, my hard drive crashed back in early December so i have not had "my" computer to use for quite some time (I am using my son's homeschool laptop right now). We now know that nothing can be recovered from the hard drive so i will sadly have to start over with a new one and slowly aquire all of my easy tabs and favorite buttons again.  FYI-if you keep your hard drive unit down low on the floor, don't turn it side ways under the table where your sweetie pies tend to put their little feet.  We found out the hard way that hard drives go "POOF" when they get knocked over while running ; (  

We also just returned from a week long snow skiing trip to Red River, New Mexico where we had a wonderful, fun, although not relaxing trip.  I say not relaxing because getting 5 children dressed and ready for skiing 4 days in a row, not to mention the pre-trip packing, un-packing at the cabin, re-packing to go home, then un-packing again is all sooooo much work.  Not that we didn't love it, i just felt the need for a vaction after the vaction if you know what i mean.  We all skiied, even our 19 month old (little tiny skiis and boots are so cute!), so our days were full, exciting, and tiring to say the least.  I was not at all prepared for the amazing amount of soreness i would get in my calves after the 1st and 2nd days.  I couldn't even go down the stairs of our cabin without crazy pain.  I finally figured out that walking down backward used different muscles so it was more bearable.  All in all, we were blessed with safe travel, no injuries, and great family memories.  I hope to post pics on our family blog when i get my new hard drive up and running.

So...i feel that after all that and the holidays ending, i can finally get back to a quieter and slower pace of life, which i hope means a little extra time for blogging. 

Oh-A quick update on my ear surgery-Things are still in the healing process.  I have not regained much hearing yet but we discovered that it may be due to the negative pressure that is building back up in my ear.  My eustachian tube just doesn't seem to be working right, so the doctor has put me on a nasal steriod spray for 1 month to see if it helps relieve the pressure.  If it doesn't, they may be able to go in and put a tube in the ear drum to regulate the pressure.  The doctor did say that it doesn't look like the tumor is regrowing and the new ear drum he made for me is strong and sturdy.  We are so thankful for that bit of good news.

 BTW-Natalie-If you happen to read this I just wanted to say thank you so much for your sweet words of encouragment you sent before the surgery.  I haven't had a chance to go back to DS and find you but i wanted you to know that the Lord used your words to bless and calm my heart just when i needed it.  Thank you so much for acting on what the Lord pressed upon your heart and being faithful to find my blog and tell me!  I love how God works that way! 

blessings and peace to you all~