Back in the Saddle...

The new year is upon us and it is time to get back into the swing of things. We have experienced personal disasters and natural disasters. My Aunt Carol's advice "medication and a glass of wine everyday"...tempting I'd have to say. But I observe those who have taken that advice things haven't really changes. My advice "throw yourself into a good book series and sign you kids up for dance and swim...act 'normal' and it will come".
Emma started dance class and is soooo excited that she is in her own class with her friends. She is also thrilled that she will get to take the stage in June for the performance. Emma is also taking swimming lessons by herself (no more mommy and me!!!). I thought I would be able to get in a few minutes at the gym while she swims but she likes to "dive" right in. So I feel I need to stay (apparently I feel better witnessing the near drowning then just hearing about it). Emma is loving preschool and being three.
Madison has been sick and so school has been a little scarce. She has been loving her ballet class and had no problem in her swim class. Madison grew a few inches so we had to purchase some new clothes (she was excited).
I started the Twilight series and have flown through them. Loving every minute and also wondering why in the world I love this series as it is NOTHING I would read.
Gregg started in with school and our routine.

Feastival of Lights and Miracles.....

Tonight our family celebrated the second night of Hanukkah. We lit the candles, thanked God for our freedom of religion and our everyday miracles, played the dreidel game, and then made homemade donuts. Many of you are saying to yourselves "the Hills are Jewish?", yes by heritage we are Jewish. My Oma was a Holocaust survivor. Living with her family in Germany they survived the war. We celebrate Hanukkah as a family for a few reasons. I also would challenge those of you who are Christians to think about taking up this wonderful tradition. First we are celebrating the freedom of religion. The Jews were forced by the Greek-Syrians to worship idols that they put in the Jewish temple. The first thing the Jews did when the got their freedom back was to clean out the temple, rededicate it, and light the menorah. Second we celebrate everyday miracles. The story goes on that the menorah only had one day of oil, but God kept it burning for eight days until the Jews could retrieve more oil. It is a celebration of freedom, re dedication, and miracles. We light candles each night to represent each day of miracles. We serve fried foods (homemade donuts or potato pancakes) to represent the oil, and we thank God for our freedom to worship and for everyday miracles. I hope that this helps you understand why the Hills celebrate.

Updating...

Alright so my past post have not been that uplifting. Manyh things have happened in our family and we have slowly emerged together, stronger, and closer.
I have been proud of myself. My Christmas cards all went out, my tree is decorated and I am halfway through wrapping all my presents.
We have been surviving the snow and the girls have done well considering they have had to play with each other the past few days. They did have a surprise and saw their cousins yesterday for a few hours.
I will attempt to put some pictures of the kids in the snow and our festivities tonight and tomorrow.
Tonight we will start our family tradition of Hanukkah.