Merry Christmas!

It's not looking good for me getting Christmas cards out this year. Although I have everything perpared on the computer, finding time to get them printed has been another story. So I decided it would be better to send an online Christmas card to everyone than for me to send none at all. So below is the letter that was to be sent with our Christmas cards along with the picture. I'm also going to throw in an extra picture at the end.

Merry Christmas from the Hamblen Family! This was the best family picture we got this year (actually it was the only one the cats stuck around long enough to have even a portion of their bodies in the picture), but it actually is a pretty good representation of life as usual in our home.
We hope this Christmas finds you doing well and not getting too caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. I don’t really have a good way to describe the year for us other than absolutely crazy. We’ve had quite a series of unexpected events over the past year.
Gary had surgery to mend a broken bone in his wrist about this time last year. It went smoothly, and the recovery time was 3-4 months, as expected; but in those months (and the months following), Gary’s family was hit exceptionally hard with losses, I don’t think there was a full month that went by without a loss until September.
In late July, Gary had an unfortunate run-in with a copperhead. He was almost completely out of commission for a week and partially down for another. It was almost September when he didn’t have a daily reminder of the bite, and he still has occasional pains from time-to-time.
Of course the family events and snake-bite incident occurred right in the middle of us trying to replace the carpet in the main living areas in our house with hardwood. Fortunately it didn’t pose any obstacle that we weren’t able to overcome.
Things finally slowed down around late September; the floor project wrapped up, Gary’s foot was fully healed, and families seemed to be healthy…..then, in October, SURPRISE! We’re expecting our first child (due June 19th)!
God has been good to us this year. He’s seen us and our families through very physically and emotionally trying times, helped Gary and I somehow maintain our sanity while our house was torn apart for the flooring (although I’m pretty certain it was hanging by a thread at times); he protected Gary during the snakebite incident, in that it wasn’t any worse than it was, and he seemed to have used all the trials of the year to bring us closer together.
We hope that God blesses you in the coming year,
and wish you all a Merry Christmas!

From Gary, Kellye, Binx and Nala

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you,"
declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future.”