Happy New Year

Humor me. I want you to close your eyes and picture this...

The Snyder Family - Christian, Keri, Lily and Luke - all dressed in matching Christmas pajamas. Red shirts with red and green plaid flannel pants. We have cheesy smiles and a classic pose in front of the fireplace. Maybe we each are resting our folded hands on the others shoulders.

Anyway, I had dreams of creating fun Christmas cards featuring these various classic poses, but that idea got nixed by the hubby. So you'll have to settle for this lovely, but somewhat traditional family picture...

How we're doing:
If you're wondering how our family is doing, we're doing all right. We enjoyed a very Merry Christmas (scroll below for pics to prove it!) We visited with lots of friends from out of town and of course family. The kids had loads of fun playing with cousins, adventures to the zoo and museum, and spending hours playing with new Lego sets.

Christian began his second round of a new chemo yesterday, and receives an infusion five days in a row. Please continue to pray that his body receives the treatment well and that this therapy aggressively targets those tumors!

Ups and downs:
In the midst of our daily struggles and any fears we face, we experience great joy and hope that only Jesus can provide. 

There is a line in a lyric that sums this up for me. I have it written in the front of my journal.

"I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be."

I was reading a devotion one summer day in my favorite spot on the hammock on my back porch (which I'm so missing right now). It was one of those devotions where I thought to myself, "You wrote this just for me today, right?" Anyway, the author referred to the lyrics of the song I copied below, and it really spoke to me.

1. O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go, by George Matheson
2.  
3. O Love that wilt not let me go,
   I rest my weary soul in thee;
   I give thee back the life I owe,
   That in thine ocean depths its flow
   May richer, fuller be.

1. O light that foll’west all my way,
   I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
   My heart restores its borrowed ray,
   That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
   May brighter, fairer be.
2. O Joy that seekest me through pain,
   I cannot close my heart to thee;
   I trace the rainbow through the rain,
   And feel the promise is not vain,
   That morn shall tearless be.
3. O Cross that liftest up my head,
   I dare not ask to fly from thee;
   I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
   And from the ground there blossoms red
   Life that shall endless be.

Goodbye 2014:

2014 ended hearing the news that a friend lost her husband to cancer. The year ended in heartbreak for this family and the uncertainty of my family's own fate. But 2015 began with rejoicing in the midst of sorrow with this family as they said goodbye to an amazing husband, father, son, brother, friend, and a man after God's heart. 

(As a side note, this friend, Cari, shares my same name, so you can imagine how hard it was for me to sit amongst those mourning and celebrating and hearing my own name being addressed over and over again.)

One of the speakers at the service reminded us that

Heaven is our reward, and not our consolation prize.

You see, I'm not a big fan of this world. It's ugly and full of selfishness, evil, corruptness, greed (myself included). But while I'm here for this very short time, I will continue to be in awe of God's amazing work and miracles (many of which go unnoticed). Everything is just so perfectly made and intricately designed. From the amazingly beautiful and aromatic Spring flowers that bloom each year and remind me of hope He provides to the abundant sea life - much of which is waiting to be discovered - that reminds me we're not meant to comprehend it all. From my own children, I'm reminded how unique we all are and how He knit us in our Mother's womb. I'm in complete awe!

Bring it on 2015:
So as we enter 2015, my family will continue to live this life to its fullest! I'm a goal-setting kinda gal. I'm also a big fan on choosing a word/phrase/theme for the year. Maybe you too have heard of this or practice this. My word last year was BALANCE. I focused on balancing all the areas and people in my life. I successfully found balance in my quality time with kids, husband, God, friends, time to myself, time being productive. This year's word is along the same track, but will push me a little further. INTENTIONAL. I will be very intentional with my time...how I love and show love, praying, generosity, and nutrition. I'm excited where this focus will lead me! And, it was a "God-wink" that my pastor just happened to use the word intentional over and over again during Sunday's sermon. That's no coincidence!

So when you see me next:

As I'm trying to be more bold about showing love, I may just give you a big hug. Don't run from me! I'm beyond grateful for all the support and words of encouragement my friends and family provide. 

And, those of you who know me well know that I'm most likely to tear up and cry when I'm shown kindness. So please do continue to ask me how I'm doing or how Christian is doing. And if I become a hot mess, that's just part of keeping it real and being myself boldly. A new friend of mine joked and asked if she should throw me a punch and be mean as opposed to showering me with kindness and hugs. Maybe a compromise would be a knuckle-bump or a soft punch on the shoulder =)

And if you offer me a sweet, please don't be offended if I turn you down. That goes for the rest of my candy-obsessed family. We will be trying very hard to say no to all the sugar. I've cut out anything artificial and anything with food coloring from my diet. And I'm working on all the processed stuff, but I do have two young kids and a lot on my plate. But I'm doing this for them and my husband, hoping they too will make better choices (and they are already). 

Thank you dear friends! We love you!

Keri (and family)

It took everything to get Luke to keep his vest on at church.

Lily and Luke with cousins Lane and Graham.

Aunt Angie (my sis) and niece Lydia made a surprise visit home from NC.

A tradition for the kids is making a gingerbread house with Great Grandpa. This year, he was being sneaky trying to steal the gum drops (see his little finger). It was comical.

My handsome matching boys.

  

After the kids opened gifts on Christmas morning, they spent hours being Lego Master Builders!

Seeing Brittany (far right) perform with the NYC Rockettes was for sure a highlight for all of us!

Christian took both his girls to NYC (long story) and was the ultimate fan having watched the show four times.

He's still working on his kicks.

At the top of 30 Rock taking in the city lights (and gusts of wind).

Central Park

They really do love each other most of the time. Love my sweet Lily.

Adventures with friends at the zoo.

...then the museum.

Just a silly pic of Lily with a curly fry mustache.

By the way, I'm like the big 4-0! When did that happen!

Okay, so I may have gone overboard and bought the cousins matching PJ's too. How could I resist!