Goodbye 2018-Hello 2019

2018 was a wild year. I won't recap everythung but the major parts were Adele turning 2, Esther turning 4, me turning 25, Leland turning 30, Israel being born, Israel being in the hospital, fostering L, Texas trip, camping trip, fostering M, and all the holidays and milestones in between. We started the year as a family of 4 and (nearly) ended it as a family of 6. It was a year of a lot of growth and change for all of us. 

Looking back at my Goals for 2018 I'm proud of myself that I pretty much accomplished them all. The girls reached the goals I set for them as well. 

Instead of reading every scripture about Christ (I made it about 1/3rd of the way through that before Israel was born and things got crazy) I took President Nelsons challenge to read The Book of Mormon before the end of the year and highlight all the references to Jesus Christ. 

When I initially heard This invitation I was concerned I would never be able to finish before the end of the year. But I'm happy to say I did it! I had to lay other things aside in order to read as much as possible each day. Quite a few December days were spent staying home, me reading while the kids played around me. But it was so worth it. I feel closer to my Savior, I feel like I have a better understanding of Heavenly Father and his covenants with us. Although I had read The Book of Mormon many times I gained a deeper understanding of it and a stronger testimony of it's truthfullness. President Nelson's promises about changes in ourselves and even miracles in our lives came true for me. I felt I had more patience and love towards my children. I felt more willing to serve and love others. Other changes and miracles too I'm sure that I'm not even aware of. 

If anyone hasn't read the Book of Mormon, or read it recently, or didn't participate in President Nelson's invitation, I encourage you to start reading. It isn't too late. There are always blessing that come to us when we try to draw nearer to God. 

I don't really have a lot of solid goals for 2019. We do have some home improvement projects planned but mostly everthing about the year is a blank slate for now and I feel good about that. I'm not sure what 2019 will bring but I'm hopeful it will be slightly easier than last year. 😌