March Already

We have been busy. Christmas season flowed into New Years which flowed into the new semester for both of us. During the holiday time, Brian was busy preparing for a conference in San Jose and Karen was busy working on her thesis. Wow... two months of busy summed up in two sentences. February was filled with more thesis work for both of us and visits from Brian's dad and Becca up to Seneca Falls and weekend trips to Syracuse and Rochester. March will be busy as Karen approaches her thesis deadline and searches for jobs, and we travel to Florida for a brief rest.

Christmas was split between Pennsylvania, where we were constantly in amazement due to Hanna's cuteness, and Michigan. It was great to see the grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, dogs, cats, etc.















Notice the musical talent of our niece Hanna!!

We spent Christmas day in Michigan and worshipped in a beautiful candlelight service. The Clark and Myers women were complimented for their "angelic" singing and the peace of the season was evident in the stillness of the moment (there weren't too many in Michigan). The day was even more wonderful when we had the opportunity to Skype (new word for next year's Oxford Dictionary) Papai e Mamae en Brasil. Sitting around a computer, talking into a microphone, is becoming a very important practice in our household (It's FREE!!!).

New Years was spent in Boston, with Karen's aunt and cousins. We went to First Night Boston and enjoyed an Iranian Music concert and fireworks over the Boston Harbor.







After a bout with the flu, we returned home to pick up our books and start in on another semester.
Karen started her final semester and Brian started his 2nd century (actually eighth). Soon thereafter, Brian deserted Karen for a weekend to go to warm (warmer) and sunny Cal-I-Forn-I-A for an exciting weekend of sociallizing with fellow scientists. To take a break from the excitement, he spend a day walking around the streets of San Francisco, all the while trying to walk off a Brazilian Churrasco...














We spent February trying to catch up with our work and our relationships. Brian's dad to celebrate the elder Winey's birthday. We spent a Sunday afternoon with Lori after eating a delicious Puerto Rican meal. And we went to Brian's advisor's house on February 12 for a holiday party, held on the first day that everyone from the lab could attend... We had some great conversations with Lori, (left) and Yan, Brian's advisor (right).












So we are trying to keep up with life and take notice of the many many blessings God places in each of our days. It is a blast and it is crazy and it is all under the sovereignty of the Almighty creator of the universe. The next few months will see us traveling more, going to Florida, PA and possibly Brasil, moving back to Rochester, being part of the leadership team of a new church plant and applying for teaching jobs for Karen for next year. We are praying praying and praying. Hey, what good does it do to give God control of the rudder or wheel (or whatever your preferred metaphor) if you aren't willing to move? Thank you for praying with us and for us. Until the next update, whenever that might be....