Dear 2011,

You were a good year, a great year really.  You were a hard year at times.  We have struggled, we have grown, we have had our faith tested like never before.  There were many ups and downs, but thankfully there were way more ups!  We have learned to lean on God as our source of strength and for everything that we need.  We have many great memories from this year, we've made great new friends that we are so thankful to walk through this life with.  This journey we are on has been stretching, it has been long and hard.  Our hearts have ached to hold the child that God has for us.  This time last year we optimistically thought we'd have seen a picture of our babe by now, but that was not God's plan.  We needed more time, more time to learn and grow, more time to prepare our hearts to be parents, more time to establish our firm foundation, more time to draw closer to God, more time to learn to trust Him in everything.  Some of these things are still a work in progress.  There are still things we have to learn to trust Him for, but by His grace, we are not the same people we were at the beginning of this year.  Yes, our hearts are still longing for that child, and we are praying this is the last end of a year we will see without at least knowing who that child is, but we are also grateful for the year we have had and all that we have learned along the way in this journey to our precious baby.  2011, we are thankful for what you have given us, but we are more than ready to embrace 2012, to continue on this journey, and see what the Lord has in store for this next year.

We are so richly blessed! Happy New Year everyone!!