What I've been up to

Well, I managed to make it through another year! Glad to see that you have too. Here are some highlights of our first full year in Israel:

1. Traveling: This year has been filled with traveling plans. From hubby's PhD work in Scotland (through the Univ. of Edinburgh) to my brother's wedding, we sure have racked up the airline miles!!! Here are a some of the places we visited:

Edinburgh

Taba, Egypt

Crete

Denver, CO

San Diego

Jerusalem

Ashdod

That last trip was this past weekend. My mother-in-law has some (distant) relatives that converted to Judaism and did Aliya (the immigration of Jews back to the land of Israel) two years ago, so we went down there to visit them. The coast was nice and warm, unlike up here, where it really is chilly at the beach! The kids had a blast playing in the sea.

2. Healing: Hubby's leg continues to heal from the accident in London last Thanksgiving. He is walking much better now, thanks to physiotherapy and some new shoes! He still has a very, very slight limp, but he can run around and chase the kids again.

3. Books: I read a LOT this year. Partly due to the book club, and partly due to not having cable for most of the year. The Book Thief and The Secret Scripture were two of my favorites, so check them out if you get the chance!

4. Schooling: Hubby passed his proposal review in November, so he is now OFFICIALLY a PhD candidate! Only two or three more years to go before I can call him "Dr. Miller". We continue to be thankful for his academic adviser; she has been pulling seemingly impossible strings to allow him to continue his work abroad. There were a couple of times this year where we thought that we might have to move to Scotland, but the Lord was gracious and used this amazing woman to help us stay in Israel. My son started kindergarten this year. School is completely in Arabic, and it is proving to be difficult for him, but not impossible. We have seen tremendous progress in his communication abilities. We're also working on reading and writing in English at home.

5. Plans for 2010: Personally, my goal was to finish every incomplete Beth Moore bible study that I had ever worked on. I only finished one, but I also got to start a new one with a group of English-speaking ladies from my church. So, I'm carrying over my goal from last year.

This next year might have us end up in the States, but who knows? Thanks for all of your prayers and support over the year. May God bless you richly in 2010.