Sorry for the silence on the blog this year. My time was needed elsewhere. I hope that I can spend more time here in the year to come but we will see. I’ve decided to turn on commenting going forward so if you want to say hi, you can.

Here’s our family Christmas update. 🙂

Another year has almost passed; 2024 was quite a different year than we expected- both in “good things” and “challenges”. I’m so grateful that we come again to this Advent & Christmas season where we take time to remember Emmanuel (“God with us”). Jesus left his throne in glory to take on human flesh, being both 100% God & 100% man. He lived in our broken, dirty, corrupted world experiencing all the same things that we do- hunger, temptation, joy, sorrow, love, anger, and a million things beside. He did life perfectly, as we never can. And, in the end, “he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Evil must be punished (isn’t that why we get so upset about our world today?). When we look honestly at ourselves, we know that each of us is tainted with evil (selfishness, dishonesty, complaining, etc.) and deserve punishment. Praise God that we do not have to suffer the fate we deserve! Jesus took our sin upon Himself and offers us His right standing before God if we will only believe and trust Him with our lives. We were so blessed this year to have all three of our children make a profession of faith in Jesus and to see God’s Spirit begin to work in their lives. There truly is no greater gift and I hope and pray it’s a gift that you have already received this Christmas season. If not, there’s no time like the present!

God has been so good to us this past year. We have been blessed with a beautiful home that we’re most of the way done remodeling (for now). We constantly have to wash dishes and do laundry which means we’re fed and clothed. We live in a beautiful part of His creation and we have the health & strength to go out and enjoy it. Most of all, we are blessed to live as a family and enjoy time with other family members and friends. We’re blessed to have you in our lives!

Mr.McGoozle continues to work for a start-up company. (They work to seal oil & gas wells using a biomineralization process- squeezing biological organisms into the ground that turn into limestone.) He’s mostly transitioned out of his field engineer, travel-intensive role to a position as the safety coordinator and operations/engineering liaison. It’s been great to have him home more this year!

I continue to work part-time for our church but spend most of my time keeping home and homeschooling the kids. We recently started leading the middle school youth group at church and that’s been a fun new adventure.

Stubby is our resident middle schooler as he started 6th grade this fall. He is an amazing mix of both Mr. McGoozle & me with an engineering mind, love of reading, and a dose of perfectionism. 🙂 We joined 4-H and he did very well with his air rifle project (he used his sharp shooting abilities to bag a deer this fall). He is also involved in a youth cribbage club, started piano lessons, and enjoys “twisty puzzles” like the Rubik’s cube.

Smiley started 4th grade this fall. She loves being creative, organizing things, and helping others. She is taking baking and crocheting as 4-H projects (winning Grand & Reserve champion in crochet at the county fair this summer). We just attended her first choir concert this past week and she’s planning on starting guitar lessons next year. She also got a new haircut this year inspired by one of the sport climbers in the Olympics and it matches her spunky, beautiful personality perfectly.

Squeaky begged to start school this year so we’re doing a K/1st grade hybrid. She continues to be our “adventure baby” and loves doing whatever everyone else is up to. She spends hours playing outside, listening to stories, or drawing. Right now her life’s ambition is to be a butterfly scientist (and see Jesus in the “new world’). We can’t imagine life without her sparkle.

I hope that whatever this past year held for you as far as “good things” or “challenges” that you see the Light this season. I hope you can count your blessings, however small they may seem, and that you find new strength as we enter a new year. I pray that 2025 would be a year of faith, growth, forgiveness, and gratitude for all of us, no matter what events it may hold.  If you have any specific prayer requests, we would love to hear them and lift you up to our Father in heaven.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

The McGoozle Family