Good morning, everyone! Or whatever time of day you happen to be reading this….
If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you may know that every year, our family puts together a video with all our favourite pictures, along with our “song of the year” – the song everyone wanted to hear when we’d turn on music to listen to while we cleaned up the kitchen after supper every day. We’ve been making these videos for six years or something like that, and the kids love to go back and watch all the old videos repeatedly. It’s such a fun thing to have to look back on.:)
Anika has taken over the job of putting this project together, and it makes me so happy to watch it! Here’s the best of our year:
A friend asked me this week if God told me to start a blog. I didn’t know how to answer that – it was one of those things that felt right at the time, but when I look back on it, I see His hand in it. We were living at Red Rock Bible Camp, I had time on my hands, and I’ve always loved writing and photography, so it was a combination of my favorite things.
What I didn’t know was that it would become my accountability – I wanted my blog to be a place that was positive and beautiful, and there would be no complaining online, so if something negative was happening in my life, it made me search for the good. It made me look for the moments that taught me stuff, it was my place to record the smallest things bringing me joy. It taught me to write until I found the positive, and take pictures until I discovered the beautiful.
As our kids have gotten older, it’s also become a place for them enjoy the ordinary, everyday stuff – Anika will spend hours reading old posts, and all three kids enjoy looking at the pictures.
Our “Year in Review” videos have always been a favorite for our family. We’ve done one every year since 2011, and on the roughest, grumpiest days of teething, the girls have shown Everett every one, because they make everybody happy around here.
This year, Anika made the video instead of me.:) Once again, I’m overwhelmed by how much can change in a year, and by how beautiful our simple, ordinary little life really is to me. If you ever need reminding of that, put pictures of all your little moments to music, and suddenly life is transformed!
Here’s our latest collection of happiness:
family pictures: Morgan Braun
song: “Better Place”, by Rachel Platten
And for the next time Everett’s teething, here are all the links our other videos: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
This weekend, we finally took the time to put together our traditional “year in review” video. I can’t even believe how much Everett has changed in a year! Our girls always love this tradition – they’ve probably watched this video about seven times, and we’re just getting going. Then we have to go back and watch all the other years, too! (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014)
It was a good year! But I’m glad it’s over – there were some hard parts to it, and I think we’ve come through it stronger than before, ready for every good thing 2016 has to offer!
Ordinary Days 