Walking in HIS Footsteps: Hello, and Welcome!

Hello friends! Welcome to my blog!

I am Naomi and I'm a girl of almost 19 years.
My home is in Northwestern Wisconsin where I live in the country in an old farm house with my family. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful Mom and Dad who love the Lord and each other very much, along with three sweet sisters and two awesome brothers to keep me company. I have six siblings total, the oldest being married and living with her husband and family in Canada.
My family's age order is this... Andrea, married to Joel and has two adorable little kiddos, Leana (4), and Ethan (1). Next in line are my two brothers, Justin (26), and Matthew (24). Then there are my three sisters and myself which would be Laurissa (22), Yours Truly (18), Miranda (17), and then last but surly not least is Allison (15). That is my family!

As I've gotten older I'm starting to realize how much family truly is a blessing strait from my Heavenly Father.
Oh how I wish at times I could go back and relive some of those wonderful memories that were made! To go back and fully embrace old times, knowing that those moments will never return to me again. Like the times when we were little and played legos, dolls, farm stuff, and house. When we went outside and tussled around with each other, rode bikes up and down our drive way, built teepees and tried to act like Indians, and then the pretending to be horse thing and riding each other. What fun times we had back then! Poor Mama! She had to put up with our constantly wild hair and stained dresses. But she didn't mind so much! She was happy to know that her children were happy playing with each other, even if it meant getting a bit dirty in the process. ;)
But a question now bothers my mind... Why was I so eager to grow up and become an adult? Was it the "more exciting" things that the adults did that drew my attention? Or was it just the fact of being a grown up and having the freedom of choosing what a person did with their life? Getting married and having children, being able to go across seas and become a Missionary, driving, traveling by one's self. These were things I wanted to do!
What's funny is, now that I'm an adult and have those options in life, I find myself wishing I could go back and be a kid again. Everything was so simple back then! Life wasn't complicated and full of questions, concerns, or fears. All we did was play! (Minus the fact that we did have a few chores and school to do).
Now please don't get me wrong! Life as an adult is great and does have it's blessings! For one, we get to see life from a new and different perspective. I do admit that not all of it is pleasant. But there are lots of joys that an adult is able to grasp and perceive where a child could not. Like the joy of family! They are all so near and dear to my heart, I wouldn't want to trade them for any thing! We've made so many memories together!

And now, I would like to take a little time and share a few of our "more recent" memories with y'all. So get ready! because you're about to take a step back into my past.

Family Camp, a couple years ago. From left to right there's Mom, Justin, Matthew, Allison, Miranda, Me, and Dad. Laurissa wasn't able to make it that one at camp, so sadly she's not pictured.