Christmas Letter 2014

            Merry Christmas to our loved ones from Raleigh, North Carolina!
Another year has passed, we're all another year better ;) From our family to yours we pray the year of 2014 has been good to you and you've set your goals high for 2015! 
           Each year I look back and think what a crazy ride it's been and the next year will be a little more calm yet we continue to move on to bigger and better. So maybe this is just how my life will be! 
            The biggest change this year was moving 300 miles down the road from Joppa, Maryland to Raleigh, North Carolina. For several years Tim and I have been planning a move to Raleigh, we just never dreamed it would happen the way that it did. 
            Job opportunities in MD had run out for Tim and we'd come to the end of our rope, desperate for a new beginning and frustrated with barely getting by. One day I looked at Tim and said, "let's just run away!" Well the pieces quickly came together for that to become a possibility, our lease was coming to an end, my hair business had dwindled to just a few loyal friends, our tax return was enough to cover the moving expenses and settle debts in MD. Tim's poor driving record could not follow him into NC and he was given job offers in NC! 
           Within just 3 weeks timespan, we decided we were doing this, packed up and moved into our new home. Crazy right? Yes we are. However, God is good. 

            So here we are, happily settled into what could only be God's plan for our crazy lives. At first it felt like a long vacation where everything was new and you never ran into people you knew at the store. Now we feel at home and while it is nice to visit MD we are always happy to be back home in NC.
            God has blessed us with an amazing new church and church family, we knew right away that this was "home" and attended the very next members class and began volunteering. Through that we have met some amazing people, including the pastoral staff and have been truly blessed by the opportunity to serve. 

            Asher Elijah turned 5 this year and started Kindergarten, we were undecided about sending him to school or homeschooling him, but now feel confident that he is thriving there. I am amazed by the things he learns and how quickly his little mind has sharpened in the few short months he's been in school. We have a year round school program with 9 weeks on and 3 weeks off, I love this as he (and his teachers) get a break and I get to have him at home with me. I do miss him! 
            What a sweet generous boy he is, always willing to help or give to others. This year for Christmas he asked for food to give to the homeless. No, I'm not making that up! Despite the 4 year age difference he plays so well with his little sister, he never thinks twice about sharing his snack or giving up his TV time so she can watch her beloved "Mee Mou." I couldn't ask for him to be a better brother! 

             Laila Makenzie turned 1 year old just 2 days before Asher's birthday and is so much fun, we just love to watch her personality develop! She began to walk right around a year old and it wasn't long before she was running and dancing. Laila is quiet and snuggly, sweet and "spicy." She's got some attitude when she wants to. However, she adores her big brother and affectionately calls him "bubba." It melts my heart to see them snuggling, tickling or chasing each other. We are blessed!                       Laila loves to make animal noises, read books and is pretty much obsessed with Mickey and Minnie, whom she calls them both, "Mee Mou." 
              Big brother has always been a talker but sweet little Laila is taking her time, she says a few things but they aren't as clear as Asher talked at her age. So sometimes it takes us a while to decipher her words. Things like "heego" (Here you go) and "cookcook" (cookies.) Her facial expressions are always entertaining, from the big brown puppy dog eyes to scrunching her whole face for an ear to ear grin, we are just so in love with her. 

               Tim has completely changed careers, grown out his beard and given up his car! The job he took when we moved did not work out and in July he switched careers to become a field representative with TEP, doing the work of a civil engineer. This was a huge change from plumbing but a welcome change. My dear sweet ADHD husband has never been happy with a job for long until he found this one. It's a very extreme job with many opportunities, most weeks he flies to his job site and oversees the work being done, comes home for the weekend and on to the next job. Sometimes he's gone for 3 days, sometimes 13 but it's been a wonderful job which he loves and we are so grateful for this blessing! 
                This year was a big birthday year for Tim, he hit "The Dirty Thirty" on Dec 18th and no one has a clue unless they know him. Most are shocked to learn he's already hit 30 yrs old. What an incredible Godly man he has become, I am so proud of him!

                My turn, I turned 26 (big deal for me) and am figuring out this stay at home mom thing. Sure I still do hair here and there but I am home more than I'm not and with Tim gone an average of 5 days at a time I have had to figure out this running a house thing a little bit better than before. Tim says I am busy being busy, it's true but I don't know how to not be busy. I have enjoyed bonding with Laila, returning to my quilting hobby, and learning to let the little things go. I really love my life and where we are now, we are so blessed and still learning to be good stewards of what God has given us but from where we were a year ago to where we are now just amazes me. 
               I was thrilled to have been promoted into the first step of leadership in my Juice Plus business and to help others create their own successful businesses! I am reaching after another promotion in this next year so we can share healthy living with even more families! 

               Christmas time is crazy and hectic, I know, but look around at what God has blessed you with and be thankful, for if but a moment, that you are alive and breathing. I have been learning to only focus on what God has done and the rest will fall into place. 
               God loves us so very much, no matter what sin we could possibly commit and there's nothing we can do to change that. If you're reading this and don't know for a fact you'd die and go to heaven, please get right with God. Life is fragile, we are not promised tomorrow and being a good person will not get you to heaven. I say this because I care about each person reading this that I'll one day see you in Heaven! Now hug your loved ones, talk to Jesus and get back to the crazy Christmas season! 
                                                                       Until next year,

                                                                         The Burton's

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