Hope and Faith

Maybe you don't believe in Santa Claus and maybe you do, I fall into the later group.

This year my faith and hope has been tested and just like in anything we are tested in, if we have not practiced our skill than we will fail. I wouldn't say my faith tests were passed with flying colours but I would say I did pretty good and they helped me improve. Faith and hope is something I choose to work on living out in my daily life. I need reminders as to where my faith comes from and what I can be hopeful in but every time I get a good message about faith and hope I always realize I need to work on having more of it.

I have heard kids ask the questions about Santa, they want facts and while I know we are all wired different and some need more details than others, I cant help but wonder when we lose our childlike ability to just believe. To joyfully believe in something good.

My children have helped me reconnect with hope and faith, they just trust in the good. Working on seeing all the good, believing in goodness, having hope that tomorrow will be better and enough faith to walk that out makes my days brighter. So I choose to believe because I think it is a choice, an action something that requires effort but is worthwhile. So far, no amount of hope and faith has ever caused me harm, it only proves to lift my spirits and encourages me to move through our sometimes dark world, with more light in my life.

Merry Christmas
Heather

A Monday In December | Life Episode | VLOGMAS

A Christmas Tree Tradition

I totally have Clark Griswold syndrome: 'a person who dreams of unachievable standards for special family events'. That is my personal definition of the syndrome but explains me well.

The Christmas tree farm was so fun and continues to be a Christmas tradition that I look forward to but the reality of so much of these holiday activities don't always show up in the pictures shared here so let me break it down for you a little.

Raise your eggnog with me, to the real memories we are creating with our families

Heres to:

missing your turn, backtracking and arguing about directions

crying babies as you jam them into snowsuits that restrict them from walking

bringing the hot dogs to roast over the fire but forgetting to bring pokers for actually roasting them

ornament clusters created by littles, close to the bottom of the tree

kids who loose interest in tree decorating after 5 minutes

eating candy canes and sticky messes all over the house

trying to take a billion pictures and sometimes annoying your husband

These are the things we will probably forget as we look back at the pictures of our holidays and remember all the best parts. But really its all the best parts, its all part of the journey, the experience and the memories we create.

Here is a vlog of the day as well. Feel free to share any of your candid holiday moments in the comments below, I love you guys and love hearing from you.

I hope your Christmas is off to a great start.

xoxo
Audrey

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Thanksgiving 2017 | Brigden Fair | HWY 21 Drive

Thanksgiving; gratitude, food and family. The awesomeness of Christmas without the pressure of gifts. This weekend we did all the things we normally do on Thanksgiving weekend, traditions like a trip to the Brigden Fair and a HWY 21 drive north to Port Elgin. I love it all, every bit of it. The craziness of getting our family out the door on a schedule, keeping kids happy on long car rides, a few disagreements with the husband because we have spent the last 24 hours very closely together, the hugs and kisses, the falling into bed with the best kind of tired, its all a blessing. Its life, its a good life, its a full life and God has blessed me with it all. I am grateful to God for what I have.

Holidays also make me feel nostalgic. As I introduce my children to the experiences that make up my memories and essentially shaped who I am, I experience a feeling, do you know the one? The one you get when travelling to Grandma & Grandpas house while looking out the window as you reminisce on the holidays gone by. You want to share your thoughts and emotions but its hard to put them into to words so you just keep staring out the window, soaking in that feeling and taking in the familiar scenery that somehow becomes more valuable the older you get. That one, that feeling. I am grateful for that too.

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Thankful

Canada 150 Weekend

I hope you had an amazing Canada Day weekend and made memories with your favourite people.

Ours was sweet and so much fun. We ate all the good food, swam, watched fireworks lazed with friends and family, stayed up late, woke up early and chatted about our gratitude for our lives in this great country we call home.

As I watched Luke enjoy the long weekend traditions I have enjoyed my whole life, I flashed back to my childhood and the memories I have from Canada Day weekends past. Mom and dad, thanks for working hard to create those memories because as much as all this summer fun is amazing, it takes work too. It is of course the best kind of work.

Summer has officially started and I am ready for all the adventures that wait in the long hot summer days.

Thanks God for this life I am living in the true north strong and free!

xoxo Audrey

P.S. if you like this post you may also like these past summer posts Visiting My Childhood and Beach Days.