Taras Tweets

 This was our first go at celebrating a DECEMBER birthday! IT WORE ME OUT! I feel sorry for Gracie that she is born in the BUSIEST month of the year! Especially for Sam with the craziness of the Grille in December. But I made a commitment to her when she was born that her birthday will not be over looked or blended with Christmas! Therefore, I took down ALL my Christmas decorations in my dining room and had a very NON-Christmasy birthday celebration for my Buggy! I am writing all this so that one day, when Gracie is old enough to care, she will remember her NON-Christmasy 1st birthday!! My mother thought I was crazy. 

 Sweet KK (Carol Shirley) had the cutest bug cake made for Gracie's birthday present! It was ADORABLE and very YUMMY! Thankfully, it was not a gender reveal cake too like VK's 1st bday cake was last year!! HAHA!! Sam and I finally kept our new year's resolution for 2012-- no baby! =)

 Baby Sam and Gracie tell Santa how good they have been this year.... they might have alot of convincing to do, right Ticey? =) 

 My Fisher cousins... Farris, Jon O and Sallie Barrow! Such a fun surprise that they showed up all the way from Oxford on their Christmas break! 

 Thanks Jon O! You might have found a new calling in life... SANTA! =) 

 Ellie and Gracie help themselves to some chip and dip! Sweet girls! 

Serious convo.

 VK had a great time helping G open her presents! 

 Uncle Buck is always loads of entertainment for the kiddos! 

 Yia Yia getting some G-bug lovin! 

 These girls had fun playing in the "kitchen"! 

 A little patty cake with Gigi! 

I had to work on Thanksgiving this year, but when I got off work at 3:00 we headed to Oxford for a Thanksgiving feast with my family! 

Here are my turkeys! VK is showing me her happy face! 

Uncle Buck i really good at multitasking, texting while he plays with the girls....

 I almost forgot that this was the Bugs first Thanksgiving! Have I mentioned how thankful we are for you, G-Bug?!! VK was helping her chow down! 

 There are my little turkeys again... 

Later in November, we tried for a Christmas card pic... although we got some cute ones, I never got my act together this year to get it out in the mail! 

So here it is now, MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE TARAS FAMILY!!! MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU IN THE NEW YEAR!!! =) 

and this was going to be the back of the card.... 

oh well.... this is pretty realistic of us right now... just trying to hold it all together... barely!! =)

I am going to go ahead and say that the past year, and especially towards the end of 2012 was a pretty dark place for me. I have never struggled with anxiety or depression before, until last year. I am very thankful for the friends and family the Lord put in my life to bring this to light for me. God has been so gracious through this very humbling time in my life. Through the help of great friends, a very supportive husband, counseling, prayers and yes... medication, I am beginning to come out of the funk!

I am learning more and more every day that this life is HARD!! Sometimes being a mom is hard. Sometimes being a wife is hard. Sometimes being a nurse is hard! Sometimes being a friend is hard! Life can be soooo hard. We have had some really hard things going on with people in our church and community lately. Things that I can't even imagine going through!!

I am so thankful that in this life, as Christians, we have the hope of the gospel! I have learned more than anything, that when I am weak (which is ALWAYS), He is strong. He knows my darkest hour and goes there with me. He is so faithful, even in our weaknesses. He is constant. His love in never failing. I don't know where I would be without Jesus in my life and without the hope of eternity with him. This world is not our home! 

I have been reading a book someone recommended to me called, Red Sea Rules. Oh the truth nuggets that book holds! One of my favorite quotes from the book is this, "The reality of the Red Sea, in a word, is this: God will always make a way for his tired, yet trusting, children, even if he must split the sea to do it...The same God who led you in will lead you out." I so quickly forget that God is powerful enough to SPLIT THE RED SEA! I can't even wrap my mind around that power! He always provides a way for his children. He wants us to rest in him and his provision for our lives. He wants us to BELIEVE that He is enough and we can trust him! What a friend we have in Jesus! Robert Morgan also quoted John Calvin in the Red Sea Rules, and I love this quote... "When the light of divine providence has once shone upon a godly man, he is then relieved and set free not only from the extreme anxiety and fear that were pressing him before, but from every care." What hope we have knowing that God is in control and we are not! You have no idea how thankful I am for that!! 

I just wanted to share a little of my struggles lately. I don't even know who reads this blog, but I hope it can be an encouragement. God is good and even through the hardest times he is faithful! He has used these past few months to draw me close and there is no place I would rather be.

One more quote from the Red Sea Rules, then I am done, I promise... just please go get this book and read it! It is so, so good! ....

"So whether you are on the upper side or the underside of the storm, whether you are on the east bank or the west bank of the Red Sea, God will make a way. And as He does, don't forget to praise Him."Robert Morgan