Looking forward to the New Year

For anyone who has come on a consistent basis to look for a new entry, I am sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Life takes over sometimes and leaves me with little time for myself, much less my family, and as you all understand, when there is time left over, family comes first!

I am looking forward to seeing this old year out and the new year in. I am very excited at what the New Year may hold for me and my family. I have a couple of serious projects going on that I need your prayers about, and I hope to blog more about those projects on my health and well being blog site, weightingfornothing.blogspot.com. I am not sure how often I can keep it up , but I will try to write on both at least weekly from now on.

Let me fill you in a little about us since last we spoke...

Bethany got her glasses and they are absolutely adorable on her. There are two questions that everyone asks me when they see a baby/toddler so young wearing glasses, so I will tell you a little. First question is: "How do you get them to stay on?" Well, when we first put them on Bethany, her first instinct was to reach up and jerk them off. For the first few days, I didn't fight her on it. I would put them on her and when she took them off, I would try a couple of more times to put them on. If she kept taking them off, I would put them away for a while and try later. After about a week, she was wearing them for several hours at a time before she started taking them off. Now, she pretty much goes all week wearing her glasses, and occasionally takes them off when she is tired or really upset. Plus, the stems wrap around her ears holding them on really well! Bethany seems to be seeing a whole new world since her glasses. She is so much more bubbly and giddy with people and I think it is because she can now see their facial expressions and interact with them better. The second question is: "How does the doctor know that she can't see or that she needs glasses?" The answer is...I really don't know the answer, but I do know that she can see with them on whereas she could not without them. The doctor said that she is .5 diopter away from being considered legally blind, so, her eyesight is very bad. She will have to wear glasses the rest of her life, and I am okay with that...especially since she is sooo cute!

We had a family and fun filled Thanksgiving holiday. I ventured out on my own and took a trip, by myself with Josiah and Bethany in tow, and we went to Georgia where I was desperate to see my family and spend some time with them. I got to meet my new nephew, and cried the first time I held him. I had been waiting and hoping for him for so long. He is adorable and looks just like my older brother, in my opinion. He has the cutest reddish hair and it just kind of sticks up everywhere! I also got to meet my new niece who was born back in May. I knew if I didn't take this trip to GA that I wouldn't get to see them for another while, so I am glad I went. The trip went well. Me and the kids got up around 5am and headed out. I doubled Josiah and Bethany both up on diapers and we hit the road. We stopped twice, once at a rest area at the NC border, then again in Commerce, GA where we had lunch at Chik-fil-A. I made everyone mad at the restaurant because I took about 15 minutes in the handicap stall changing Bethany and Josiah and also using the facilities myself. After all, it was black Friday and lunch time and people were GRUMPY!!! We hit mom and dad's house in record time and I was so thrilled to be there! Josiah was my constant companion the whole trip, not sleeping a wink the whole way. We constantly talked about all of the big trucks and all of the lakes of water we got to see. He is really so much fun! We also listened to Josiah's new Veggie Tales CD, almost the entire way...it is STILL stuck in my head! While we were in GA, we got to meet up with two of my grandmothers and and aunt and uncle and many cousins for a family luncheon. It was good to see everyone and wish more could have been there. Hey, the highlight was a bunch of the Strevel men got out to play some football and that was pretty fun-ny! I was supposed to head back home Sunday morning, but I was desperate to go to Shoal Creek, my home church, and visit with the saints and the Lord there, so I decided to do it and stayed for church, then the family talked me into going out to lunch with them. This put me travelling home most of the way in the dark, which I did not like, but it wasn't so bad! I had so much fun on this trip and would do it again in a heart beat!

I kept telling Danny that I thought we were due for a really big winter storm this year. Then, the news started posting these winter storm warnings. I really like the snow, but my DH has to drive a truck in it, so it is no fun for him. I called him from work one day and asked him if he heard the news and that they were saying we might get anywhere from 12-18 inches of snow. His response is always: "I'll believe it when I see it." Well, the snow started falling and I was sent home early from work. By the time I made it home, there were already a couple of inches on the ground...unbelievable. So, later on that night, we had TONS of snow and Danny had to get out and drive in it. Around 3:15am, my phone rang and Danny told me he was in his truck, stuck in the snow in a ditch on the side of the road off of Rte 11. He said an EMS/fire worker told him that the road was closed ahead due to an accident and he had to turn around. He thought he was turning around in a driveway, but not so. For 17 long hours, my baby was stuck in the snow on the side of the road in his truck. Thankfully he was able to keep the truck running, so he had heat and he had food with him. He got out at one point and walked up to the house where he was stuck and it turned out to be a frat house where a bunch of guys were hanging out and they let him use the bathroom and sit around for a while. When Danny was finally given permission to abandon his truck [how nice of his employer...] he had a fellow worker who lived in the area come and pick him up and see if he could find a hotel room to sleep in. They drove around for hours and all 18 hotels/motels in Lexington, VA had no vacancies [because everyone was abandoning their cars on the local interstate and seeking shelter]. I tried to find him a place to stay and finally decided to call the local Sherriff's office in Rockbridge County to see if they had a shelter or something like it for stranded motorists. She said that the National Guard set up an emergency shelter at the local High School, so I sent Danny there. He slept that night on the hard gym floor underneath some bleachers with a dumb dog whining near him all night. He was miserable! So, Danny left at 8pm on Friday night and me and the kids were stuck at home without him until Sunday afternoon around 4pm. I was sooo glad to see him! The kids were ecstatic too! I am so glad that ordeal was over and I will not wish for snow again in a while!

We had a nice Christmas with Danny's side of the family. I missed my family, and am still missing them, something terrible! I wish they could have been here, or we could have been there or something! Josiah had fun opening presents this year, but still does not understand what Christmas is all about. EVERYONE kept asking him about Santa and if he was going to see Santa this year, etc., which drove me crazy. Josiah will eventually know about santa, but only as a fictional character and not as some kind of mystical being who brings him goodies. I just don't want him to think that is what Christmas is all about.

Well, it is time for me to close for now. I just wanted to say Hi and I had not forgotten about my blog, just out of time on a regular basis!