Happy New Year

Christmas and New Year's 2007 were unexpectedly eventful for the Pannell family. We planned a quiet holiday in our home and, instead, were talked into braving a trip to Seattle on Christmas day by my sister. Despite multiple flight cancellations and inaccurate rebookings, we made it through the ordeal with our charm intact and our kids smiling. (Of course, we had family waiting for us, and that kept us in steady cheer.) We were extremely glad we traded in a quiet holiday for a family-filled adventure. Our only regret was not seeing all of our families. Our next trip over will be in April and this will be our first priority.

We gave Santa a heads up about our travel plans and he was kind enough to drop in a day early. Fortunately, Nakiah thought to tape her wish list to the fireplace several days in advance (good thinking, child). It read:
Nakiah
bike bell
Love Nakiah
She said she didn't want anything else, but would gladly take anything else he left for her. It was a good, messy day for us.

We returned from our trip in time to see Philadelphia (where we flew out of) bring in the new year. We watched a firework-filled skyline from the car as we began our drive home and found, amazingly, a McDonalds open in rural Pennsylvania at 2 a.m. Our celebration consisted of egg mcmuffins, cheap coffee, and deliriously silly children.

2008 came in cold for us. January 3rd dawned at a crisp -10 degrees. After scraping off the ice from the outside and inside of the car windshield, I thought I might have frostbitten fingers. Now temps in the teens and twenties don't seem so cold. But we expect it to hit the 50s this week and melt most of the snow.

Despite the cold, we are glad to be here. We look forward to the captivating beauty that the spring will afford, but the snow-covered rolling hills of the present are a close second. Of course the quiet has been replaced by the sound of snowmobilers at all hours of the day and into the night in the hills beyond our home. There have been 9 snowmobile-related fatalities in our county alone this season which makes this constant hum almost eerie to me.

Jason's decade-long pen pal (whom he met in Colorado, well, a decade ago) now lives in a nearby town with her husband and two children-who are close in age to our own-and these wonderful people are quickly becoming our favorite New Yorkers. Our similarities in age, interest, and numbers are oddly close and they are beginning to feel like our surrogate family away from home.

Even so, we cannot stop from missing you all, all of the time. I could pause on this note for a long moment, because the words fail to come that could justify us being so far away. And yet we followed the pull on our hearts, the pull that carried us over and landed us in rural northeast America. We trust that pull will carry us back, but we can't know when our return will come. It wouldn't be faith if we knew what was around each bend. I can only wish that you all know how much we love you. If you take the time to read this blog , you are among the people that have affected our lives and have made us fuller, richer people. Thank you.
And may you have a blessed year.




The girls are making good use of christmas gifts here--well, Jason and I helped, a little :)