2015

My last post, far too long ago, was one I thought would lead to a better guide for the fall. Our fall was absolutely crazy. I love the school year, I love everything about the fall from football games, cooler-sweatshirt weather, salsa making, everything! Our fall this year, however, felt like it was spiraling out of control at times. Both boys had rough falls, I don't know why or what was going on with Malachi. I have heard of the "terrible twos" but not the "tornadic threes." It seems that we are working through some of the things that take place as we learn independence and understanding of who is in charge (dad, mom and God). This is a tough lesson for anyone but a three-year old is a whole other ballgame.
Nanyel had surgery in late October for a birth defect. We felt a lot of pressure with this. I, Amy, was not a huge fan of his surgeon. Didn't feel like the surgeon took time to get to know our situation and required that the surgery take place at a different hospital (one that cost more than ours with our insurance, though it was covered-Praise the Lord). Nanyel was a trooper to be sure!
Mike and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary! Last year, with it being close to Thanksgiving and Mike's work schedule during the holiday season didn't allow for us to really celebrate. This year, we had a nice evening of Tokyo Grill and then Christmas shopping for the boys. It was nice to just sit and talk and even get a few errands done.
Work is going okay for Mike. The holiday season is so busy over there, that I think by this time he is exhausted. There were a few Saturdays where he worked over 17 hours that day alone. Please pray for a nice schedule for him in the next coming weeks to recover. He also just lost his assistant manager due to the assistant moving to a different department. He also lost a close co-worker, she passed away in her sleep only a few hours after working with him (he saw no sign that anything was coming). Please pray for that as well.
Amy's work is going okay. The youth are all going through so much, some to their own decisions and some due to situations out of their control, that she is helping with. I absolutely love what I do. We had our 6th annual New Year's Eve-Eve party this year and had about 25 kids! It was a night of fun and fellowship. It is a great chance to get to know the kids a bit, get to play with them a bit. Looking into 2015 we are prepping for a trip to Tennessee with the youth to CHiC (it is a youth convention put on by the Covenant Church).

So sorry for the delay-thank you so much for your prayers. We pray that you had a wonderful Christmas season and that you felt Christ's presence during this time.

Following HIM,
Amy (on behalf of the DuFrenes)