Thankful

I'm sitting up late as usual, letting my thoughts trail in whatever directions they decide to take off.  During the day my mind is so occupied with the busyness of running this show as smoothly as possible... so it's nice to have some alonetime to think and reflect.

I don't feel that I have had enough time to reflect for a while now... like for the last 15 years??  Being a mom of 1, 2 or more kids changes your life, and my mind is most of the time cought up in the care of our 7.  We plan, we prepare, we act.  In small ways and big ways.
This last year has been so increadilby full of happenings, that I truly feel I could write a book about it!  And as I take a second to look back, I realize how good it's been, and how much I have to be thankful for.  It's so easy to take for granted all the good in life, but every now and then something reminds you of how much you have to be thankful for.
The fact that me and my whole famliy is reasonable healthy, that we are safe and happy.  How easy to take it all for granted.

This past week many, many young people lost their lives at the hands of a sick man, in Oslo, Norway.  My niece was a very short distance away from where the bomb went off in down-town Oslo.  She is unharmed and made it back to her hometown safe and sound, but severly shocked.
I'm thankful that she's OK, and also that I live in a safe country where on a regular basis I should have nothing to fear.  It's scary though how these attacks are becoming more common, also in areas of the world where you normally don't have to worry.  I pray that I will always will be prepared, and never unprepared to face whatever might come, that way I don't have to be scared or live in fear.

We are all enjoying our new house so much, and tomorrow my brother with wife and little son are coming for a visit all the way from the US westcoast!  Also our 2nd oldest daughter's BFF and her great aunt will be arriving from Michigan!!  How wonderful to have family and friends come to visit us from way over there!  I'm excited to show our house to them all, but mostly I'm excited to let them see how well we are doing and how happy we are here!  Moving across the ocean and starting all over is a huge step, and to hop on the next flight back is not an option, so being happy and content here is something we are very thankful for.

I'm looking forward to spend another year here, and to see what excitement it will bring!  My personal goal is to strengthen my Finnish!  I feel like my brain has finally landed and that I have a bit more energy to focus on the language, compared to last year when everything was new and so much needed to be done in such a short amount of time!!  Wish me luck!  and yeah... I still need to get a camera so that I can take some pictures of our house, that I can post for you all to see!  Tudelu for now!