I was a little late getting my caramel apples made, but I eventually did make a batch to share with friends and neighbors.

One evening Clara and Malana sat the table for dinner and added a special touch with place cards for everyone.

We made it to the Buddy Walk this year at the Sam Houston Race Park to walk with Justin and his family in support of the Down Syndrome Association on Houston.

Clara loved her violin Christmas ornament I got for her this year.

I helped Robert’s teacher with their classroom thankful party. Robert was not very thankful to have me there. This was the best picture I could get.

Trevy-Ann celebrated her 15th birthday right around Thanksgiving as well, so her mom threw her a little party and invited some family friends over for cake and ice cream. The little one seems to be fascinated by the chandelier.

The next week was Thanksgiving and Robert’s birthday and we went to Temple to spend the holiday with Dan and Linda. When we got back, our friends’ house was getting close to completion. The toilets and showers had just been installed and their kitchen was close to being finished, so they decided to move back into their house at the end of November. They were all itching to have their own space again and get back into a routine. They lived with us for 80 days and were one of the first families back in their neighborhood, which was 100% flooded. We celebrated their new home with dinner with dinner out the night they moved home.

Chris and I have had people live with us on several occasions, but never a family. Having houseguests for that long and in such stressful conditions was not without it’s difficulties, but Chris and I both agree that we were overjoyed to be in the perfect position to be able to share God’s blessings with their family and we would do it again in a heartbeat. We fully believe that God puts people in our path that we can be a blessing to. We just have to keep our eyes open and be willing to step out in faith, have our routines disrupted a bit and make some sacrifices. Through the act of sharing our blessings, our faith, family and marriage is always blessed and stronger because of it and we pray that Clara and Robert will learn to listen when God nudges them to step out in faith.