Living Water: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Well, it is official.......2008 is over......and here we are in the year 2009!!! Wow ......that is really hard to believe, I mean, think about it...... it has been nine years since the "New Millennium"!...... These years keep going faster and faster with every one that passes! Well, all I know is life here on earth is short and goes fast so, it is a reminder to make everyday count! I am reading the book "90 minutes in Heaven" great book.....good to get the focus right to start the new year! We sure made the most of December.........it was very fast.......as they say time flys when you're having fun!! Julia had a "Snow Day" on the last day of school, before Christmas vacation the school had a huge amount of snow hauled in and all the kids got to sled down the big hill of snow!! It was a great time! We had some rain, so Doug has been off work for about two weeks.....with the holidays and everything.......this was good timing, because his brother Greg and his wife ,Tami, and their two boys, Hunter and Logan came from Utah to stay with us for the holidays! We had a great Christmas........all of Dougs brothers were in town for the first time in quite awhile......counting Doug , there are six Poe Brothers ........His parents sure had their hands full!! We went to church and then after church, we had a party at our house on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning Julia got her redecorated room!! We completely redid her bedroom, with a canopy bed, new paint and lots of other fun surprises......it is like a fairytale room(very Pink and Princessish) She Loves it! We went to my moms house for brunch on Christmas day.......Christmas day is my moms birthday so we celebrated with cake also! We did our gift exchange and had a great time with my family, then we went to Dougs brother Brian's house to eat Christmas dinner with his family.........the days that followed Christmas we went ice skating and Bowling and had lots of fun.......and Dougs Moms Birthday was on the 29th so we all went to lunch to celebrate her birthday also! .....On New Years Eve, we stayed home and had a quiet dinner with our friends Chris and Christina.......we agreed to start a diet and workout plan starting the new year...so we made a bet with Chris and Christina that on March 1 .....which ever couple has lost the most weight......the other couple would take them out for a steak dinner! So, a little competition and accountability will be good!!!!!! I gained some weight over this fun filled time......and have not been exercising at all so.......I need to get with it!!! It has been fun misbehaving but, I am looking forward to getting back on track.......I will feel better! and be healthier......I need to be healthy to sing......I lost my voice!!! So that is no fun!!! I really love to sing and I appreciate my voice so much more when I am faced with not having it.... So I am ready ready ready to jump into the new year with a healthy start .........the theme of this year for me is going to be taking care of and appreciating what I have...and making the most of what I have been given..nourishing the good....starving the things that waste my time and are not good for me......one of the things that I got Doug for Christmas was a frame with a picture of us on our honeymoon and a list of the top ten things that I love to love about him, it was an idea that a friend from my Bible study group had.......all of the women in the group planned to do this for their husbands ........it really was good to stop and take the time to count my blessings..........I pray that 2009 will be full of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control........(the fruit of the Holy Spirit:)