Hope

We are having a wonderful time with sweet Madison while she is here in Texas.  So glad she made it, even if it was a day late!  Thankful she still got a flight and came to spend her Christmas break in Dallas.  Hoping she cherishes these times as much as we do.

I'm officially calling 2012 the "year of the unexpected."  There was absolutely nothing predictable about 2012.  From Zoe's two very significant surgeries, to selling our first house, to moving in with my parents just to move again 6 weeks later, to quitting my teaching job and beginning an adventure of being a stay-at-home mommy, to training and running a marathon, you name it, nothing was anticipated or planned on ...I'm still amazed I don't have a single grey hair yet, at least that I know of anyway.

Even just one of those events named above could send anyone into the looney-bin...glad Jay hasn't locked me up yet.  Even though we are still navigating our way around this one-income thing, even though our child hasn't decided she wants to walk yet (or is physically capable of walking), even though Jay still doesn't feel he has "arrived" at his perfect dream job just yet, God has provided everything as we have walked through this year together.  We have so much to be thankful for and SO MUCH to hope for in the upcoming years together as Team Grall.

Recently, Jay set a record for the number of hours he's logged in a week at work...drum roll please......105 hours.  Yep, that's right.  During that week, I was in and out of rehearsals and concerts, Zoe was in between baby-sitters and mother's-day-out, and Jay was in a concrete vault, ALL in the week leading up to Christmas.  We ended up one night at Toys R Us at 10:30 shopping for Zoe's Christmas presents consisting of sequin dress-up clothes, a marble maize tower thingy, and a Rapunzel tower, and had the best time...because we were together.  Our time together is so precious...whether it's 5 minutes shopping for Christmas gifts or 2 hours sipping hot chocolate.  I'm glad I ended up with someone who works hard for his family, is diligent to the Lord in his work, loves his daughters with all his heart, and still finds ways to make his wife smile.

I'm hoping that 2013 will be a little calmer; hoping we can catch our breath, for a little while at least;  hoping Zoe's transition to public schools and private therapy will be an easy one; hoping for a surgery-free year; hoping for a miracle; hoping for a family vacation; hoping (and expecting!) a few date nights along the way; hoping for my family to draw nearer to the Lord; hoping for first steps; hoping, just hoping.

Here are a few things coming up for the Gralls this year:

Zoe has a sleep study and a follow up MRI this month.  We have also started feeding therapy back up again due to several different components, mostly she's just not improving in her ability to eat.  She will be transitioning to public school for PPCD and we will be looking for a new private therapist. ECI is for children birth-three; therefore, we need to find someone between now and February 17!  We are also looking into lots of fun and new challenges for her including hippo-therapy, swim lessons, and ballet!

Jay is considering adding swimming and biking to his work out regime and might start experimenting with the triathlon.  He is also going to keep doing an awesome of job of spiritually leading his family by taking us to church and hopefully find an area of service in his "spare time."

Brooke is still figuring out this whole stay-at-home mommy thingy and is taking on too much of a work load (go figure!).  I'm still trying to master the art of saying no...I will hopefully have another race in my near future after a quick visit to the doctor to have my foot looked at.

Maddy is being "confirmed" this year in the Catholic church!  So she has a very big March.  She will also start high school in the fall.  She's still interested in continuing soccer and tennis.

Thank you for keeping up with us and for all of your prayers!  Happy new year to you and yours.  Enjoy 2013.