Ski Trip

We took the entire family on the college ski trip this year. It was a blast! We took the kids out of school for 4 days and drove to NM on the church bus. They were so good on the 10 hour drive. We stayed at the Miller’s house, which made it an incredibly cheap trip. Robin and Joel drove down and were the hostesses with Joel’s mom. What an amazing family they are, with such servant hearts. Jachin took ski school the first day to learn to snowboard. He loved being cool. Kimberlyn also took ski school to learn to ski. She had little pink skis to match her all pink snowsuit. Bo hung out with me in the lodge. He was not so excited about the snow and cold weather. I guess when you grew up in the Caribbean, you aren’t happy about bundling up and freezing. It was so fun watching them on the slopes. Kimberlyn was a speed-demon! She would just go straight down the hill with no fear. Jachin had a small bout of altitude sickness, but quickly loved boarding. Robin and Joel took the kids home for us one afternoon so that I could ski with Andy. It was so fun going fast. I guess that is where Kimber gets it. Bo enjoyed wresting with all the college guys, being as rough as he could be.

Click here for the ski trip photo album.

"We aren't millonaires, we aren't billonaires, we're just blessed"

Jachin said the above line, and we thought it was very concise. We try to tell our children that we have so much more than most people in the world. This helps when they complain about not having a certain toy, candy, movie.....or whatever. I didn’t say it cured all that greediness. :)

I was sitting in the kitchen today feeding Bo his beef soup--and it hit me. How blessed are we in America, that we have meat, milk, & soup EVERYWHERE. In Haiti, Bo barely had enough nutrition to stay alive, and he lived in an orphanage. He was one of the lucky ones. He had a huge “rice belly” due to the lack of protein. And now everytime I throw leftovers out, I am reminded of how blessed we are.

This was especially true this Christmas for me. I of course wanted things for Christmas, but it was a bitter/sweet thing for me. I actually felt guilty this year for how much we were given. I am very grateful for my wonderful family who wants to show their love for us through gift giving. And I am grateful that my entire family is taken care of financially. I never want to be ungrateful to God for what He has given us, and I never want to forget those that don’t have it. I made fun of my brother-in-law for giving my sister a goat for Christmas. But they have it right. My sister gave him a TV (out of their blessing she showed him love) and he gave money to WorldVision (out of their blessing & love they helped others).