The Light of Christmas

Why is it that at this time of year, my heart is soft and I feel the need to reach out more? Why is it that at this time of year the very mention of Christ's name brings tears to my eyes? Why is it that at this time of year, my soul feels overwhelmed with gratitude for my blessings? The answer, of course, is the light of Christmas...our Savior's love. It envelops me, causing me to draw near to Him and want to be more like Him. If only I could bottle these feelings and keep them with me all year long.

Along with a full heart this time of year, I've also had a lot of happiness and laughter with these 4 little angels:

And, grateful for these 2 angels who have given me unconditional love and support my whole life:


And, thankful that this bearded-man loves his children and that they love him right back!

It's That Time of Year Again...

We were so excited last Sunday when Santa made his annual stop at the Zorich House to find out what these 4 amazing children wanted for Christmas:

And then today we had a "sweet" time decorating gingerbread houses:

Thoughts on Snow

I am so, so thankful Heavenly Father made snow the color white. I don't think the view from my house would be as breathtaking to me if snow was black. Small blessings....

Hopes, Dreams, and New Paths

I recently came across this cute picture of Andrew and I cutting our wedding cake. Man oh man we had big hopes and dreams on that day. And, for the most part we made a lot of those dreams come true with a temple marriage, college degrees, four beautiful children, and 18 years of memories. The path, though, ended for us as a couple, but continues as parents of those four beautiful children.

Halloween 2011

We had another super-fun Halloween, filling the day with parties, friends, and, of course, CANDY! We started the day with parties at the kids' school. Then we made our annual trip to my office for some "chambers trick-or-treating" and lots of attention from my co-workers! They all refer to my children as their "office babies" because they've known my children since they were born. Next, we went to some friends' house for some group trick-or-treating, hot cocoa, and great conversation. All and all it was a great day and evening, although there were some sad moments as I realized this is the start of my first holiday season as a single mom. There are so many traditions that will have to be tweaked to make up for Andrew's absence. But, I'm sure we'll be able to make new traditions that the children can enjoy with each of us separately. Andrew and I are committed to making sure the children know how much we love them.

This Halloween also marked the fact that my big two are getting...well, BIG. Ally wasn't interested in trick-or-treating so she went to a friend's house to watch movies. Nick refused to dress-up, insisting it wasn't "cool." He did finally cave in before the night was over and threw on a football jersey and head out with his best buddy, Teague, to trick-or-treat. I had already put my camera away, so I don't have any pictures of him. But, here are some pictures of my little two with their friends:

The Winning Goal

Nicholas just finished the most amazing soccer season. We love, love, love his coaches. 2 are wonderful men from our church and the other 1 is a teacher at my children's school. Each coach brings a different strength that, in the end, resulted in an undefeated season! It has been such a joy watching Nicholas play soccer. He played a lot when he was 4 -7 years old. Then quit because where we use to live the spring soccer season and baseball season overlapped too much to do both (baseball is his first love!) He picked up soccer again when we moved to the valley and played like he'd been doing it all along. He mainly excels because of his stamina. Without a doubt, Heavenly Father has blessed him physically with great endurance.

Last Saturday was the last game of the season. Nick's team was up 5-0 at the half. But, things fell apart in the second half. They were tied 5-5 with less than a minute to go. That's when Nick's best friend, Teague, passed the ball to him right in front of the goal and Nick tapped it in. Awesome play and awesome celebration between two best friends afterwards. While I know Nicholas works hard and excels because of his dedication and intensity, I also recognize tender mercies from a loving Heavenly Father who knows that my sweet son has had a tough year and really needed a moment like that to lift his spirits. Man oh man, I'll take tender mercies like that any time!

Here's a picture of Nicholas with his dad after the game. So great that Andrew could come up to Spokane and see the winning goal!

Hip Hip Hooray Primary Program Day!

The Primary Program is my favorite Sunday of the year. I adore watching all those children up there concentrating so hard to say their parts from memory and singing their little hearts out. Is there anything that brings you closer to the Savior than listening to children sing about Him? This year was a special treat for me because I actually got to be down with the congregation watching instead of on the stand helping with the program. It was so fun to watch my Natalie and Adam. Man, I love these two little people.

Back to School 2011

Summer went by way too fast (it always does!) We filled the summer of 2011 with lots of water skiing, a trip to the ocean, and a fun camping trip at Priest Lake with friends from our church. But, alas, the first day of school came and took us away from the lazy days of summer. Here are some pictures of our 8th grader, 7th grader, 4th grader, and 2nd grader:

2011

I just printed my blog for 2010. When the book arrived I noticed it was REALLY skinny. Yikes...that means I didn't have very many posts on my blog last year! So, I've committed to stepping it up for 2011.

The biggest change for this year is that I'm now a single mom (wow - it feels weird to even type those words!) While it's been unbelievably hard, the kids and I have decided to thrive and not JUST survive. My posts for 2011 will, hopefully, show our family embracing life and trying to move on the best we can. Here's a recap of the year so far:

January and February: Skiing, skiing, skiing. I love skiing together it's a great way to get out of the house during our long Spokane winters and embrace all the snow we get. Ally enjoyed competing for Spokane Gymnastics and took 1st place in the all-around category in 3 meets.

March and April: Soccer, Soccer, Soccer. I wish I had more pictures, but these were dark months following Andrew's departure. I just have one of Natalie's cute team...and none of Adam and Nick's :-( Natalie looks so "tough" in this picture!


May: Wicked. Finally! I stood in line for 3 hours back in March for good seats and finally the big night arrived. This picture is from Rock City (our favorite restaurant) where we ate before the big show.

May also brought a new priesthood holder into the home. Nicholas turned 12 and was ordained by my grandpa. It was an amazingly spiritual experience that our family will always remember.

JUNE: Dallas! My good friend, Jani, owns a boutique and invited me to go to market with her in Dallas. I had the most amazing time shopping and helping her pick out merchandise for her store. The 100 degree weather was an added bonus!

Well, that's the recap for the first half of 2011. Looking forward to a brighter second half.