Happy New Year from the Ababa Family!
Let’s count down the top fourteen of 2014, shall we?
14. With our girls growing up, we were able to trade in our minivan for a more reliable SUV, and even added a second car for Perze’s new job. We named the big car, Gandalf and the smaller car- Galadriel. Praise God for providing.
13. Marchesa added a new ministry to her plate, tackling the needs of the pre-teens, so she’s teaching their class every Sunday.
12. Zienne celebrated her 5th birthday with a big Frozen party- moon bounce, make your own Frozen necklaces, and showing the movie probably 5 times for the duration of the party. Perze and I made it a tradition that when our daughters turn 5, we buy them their first Tiffany’s charm because they have more of an appreciation for its meaning. So that’s one tiny family milestone for Zi.
11. It was our first time taking all of the girls together to Sandy Cove, a very special place in our love story. It gives us a chance to retell our story to our kids, while renewing those promises that held excitement and fervor.
10. Perze’s job took him to several places this year- India, Cali, and DC. Let’s add the Philippines in that list for a short stay to visit family.
9. Emma had her first season of swimming lessons, so she can now dive and swim in the deep end.
8. Zienne has matriculated into a full school day as a kinder student. Her love for school and learning has even earned her as the first Peacemaker in her class for the month of October. She also quickly learned how to read over the summer. Her fluency snowballed, helping her get to a high reading level for Kindergarten.
7. Elleonai learned how to talk in sentences at 1.5 years, so she constantly makes us laugh with the things that she says, the things she learns, and it catches us off guard since she just turned 2 this year. Not even 2.5 years yet and she’s sung twice in the kids’ choir, once for the anniversary and once for Christmas. She LOVES performing and doesn’t even get nervous.
6. Marchesa is chugging on busy with church ministries, esp. the music- choir events. She started new possibilities with the children’s choir.
5. Emma and Zienne played their violins for church for the first time during Happy Birthday Jesus, playing ‘Joy to the World’. Also, Emma played a duet with Marchesa for the SJBCI Christmas Cantata. She played “Silent Night” on the violin while Marchesa played the piano.
4. Our family spent a week exploring Hershey, PA, visiting the park every day and spending much needed quality time enjoying the summer.
3. Perze started a new job with Johnson & Johnson, a tremendous blessing not just for him, but for the family, since he’s only 20 mins. away from work! Praise the Lord for answered prayers.
2. Elleonai learned how to use the potty, so for the most part, she’s potty trained. We’re still wary of when we’re out of the house since she’s still a little young, but at home, she’s independent in using the potty.
1 We celebrated very important milestone in our marriage this year- our 10th year anniversary!!! It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but we embrace it, high5 it, and look forward hand in hand, excited for the years and milestones to come!
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Ok…this is what I can think of on the top of my head right now, even though there is a huge bucket to pick from. We are so thankful for these blessings, knowing that everything is given by grace, and God continues to pour His favor on our family. There has been many challenging things as well, even almost heartbreaking, but we acknowledge that God’s goodness doesn’t always come in the peaceful moments, but beauty is also bred in the storms. But we remain hopeful and thankful.
We hope the new year continues to build our family, esp. with plans already in the making. God is good. We draw from the spring of Living Water, knowing our measure overflows from His goodness. Happy New Year friends!
