Happy (late) Christmas and New Year! 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas (late) and Happy New Year! (Frohe Weinacht und Frohes Neues Jahr!) I had the privilege of spending the Christmas holidays in Germany and Switzerland this year with my parents and other dear friends, and so I send you these late seasons' greetings just hours after arriving home.

After all the health challenges I had in 2015, I feel grateful each day for how quiet and uneventful (in a good way!) 2016 has been. And so as the year comes to a close, I’d like to share a list of some of the many things that I have been grateful for this year:

January:

Amazing doctors who healed me from pneumonia and patiently helped me find asthma medications that have actually worked!

Visiting our cousins’ cabin in Idaho where I always feel peace and quiet out in the snow and warmth inside with my family

Cross country skiing with Christina (sister)

Beautiful view of Henry's Fork of the Snake River from inside the cabin

February:

An entire month of good health for the first time that I can remember

March:

Birthday kite flying with my family

Rhys (nephew) helping me master proper kite-flying techniques

Family members flying their own kites

Best way to spend a birthday!!

Visiting my family in Austin -- for free! (work trip that was paid for by my office)

Dave (brother), Otto (nephew), Simon (nephew), Karin (sis-in-law), Sofie (niece), and Moses (friend)

Enjoying late winter hikes and dog sitting in Pinebrook (Park City) and remembering my friend (and former colleague) Emily

Views from the Pinebrook trails

Rosie (L) and Bailey (R - RIP)

Emily's Bench

April:

An amazing week in NYC with my sister-in-law and niece and other family and friends

Breakfast in Brooklyn! Phoebe (niece), Mary (sis-in-law), and Susannah

Our Brooklyn brownstone! Susannah and Phoebe

Waffles with Phoebe all day and night!

Boating in Central Park! Mary and Susannah

Top of World Trade Center 1. Susannah and Phoebe

Yum Yums! Our favorite restaurant on Broadway!

June:

The beauty of flowers and remembering our families who have passed on

July:

The freedom to color my hair! 

It's kind of unintentionally patriotic, just in time for Independence Day!

The many opportunities I had all summer to dog sit for my friend  (I’m especially grateful for this time because one of these beautiful dogs unexpectedly died this past November)

Rosie and Bailey (RIP)

August:

A wonderful family reunion and subsequent Thomas women retreat

Brunch in my backyard

Brunch in my backyard

Thomas women retreat - Stewart Falls! Rebecca, Erin, Christina, Amanda, Paula, Susannah, and Mary in front 

Thomas women retreat - Foundry Grill at Sundance. Mary, Rebecca, Susannah, Celeste, Amanda, Paula, and Christina

Seeing Josh Groban AND Sarah McLachlan together in concert! 2 dreams come true!!

ANGEL

September:

Seeing my parents finally fulfill a dream of serving an LDS mission together in Germany (though it was really hard to say goodbye)

Departure day!

Getting to know and dog sitting a new puppy friend

Cooper! (with a wounded paw)

Visiting Star Valley, Wyoming for the first time and enjoying its natural beauty

October:
Getting a new roof on my house and a new fence around my yard

Dressing up as JOY (from Disney's Inside/Out) for Halloween with my newly blue-d hair

November:
Spending a lovely Thanksgiving in Indiana with my sister and her family and my cousins and their families

Jill H (cousin), missionaries, Nancy H.B. and her kids (cousins), and Erin (sister)

December:

Celebrating the Christmas holidays in Europe with my parents and our dear friends in Switzerland and Germany.

Dad and I in Frankfurt, Ger.

Mom and I in Frankfurt, Ger. (Christmas market)

St. Peter Zurich with the Fraumuenster (green steeple) in the very background.

Susannah, Erich Schnider, Mom, Irene Hummel, and Dad. Zurich, Switz.

Me! with the Grossmuenster in the background. Zurich, Switz.

The best creche ever, found at a convent in Switzerland.

I'm talking with teachers at one of the two schools I visited as the special American guest. Bauma, Switz. 

Esther and I (with cat Moriz) in Villa Flora, Haetzingen, Switz.

With the Henning-Dziallas family at Christmas (I'm behind the camera)

With the Henning-Dziallas family at Christmas (Dad is behind the camera)

Frankfurt am Main

Hanging out in Roman ruins, Saalburg Archaeological Park, Ger.

Hanging out in Roman ruins, Saalburg Archaeological Park, Ger.

Jesus Christ whose birth, life, Atonement, and Resurrection made all things possible

And most of all, I am thankful for all of you and for your love and friendship that mean so much to me.

Saalburg Archaeological Park, Ger.

As the sun sets on 2016, I wish you all peace and love in 2017!


Love,
Susannah

Finding Constants in a World of Change

The Winter Sky

Our world is so out of control right now with daily reports of upheaval and violence, among other things. Sometimes it feels like we will never again have any order or stability or predictability about anything, and maybe that’s true. A couple of weeks ago I was out on one of my regular nightly walks. As I looked up at the beautiful expanse of our sky and stars I saw that the Winter stars and constellations were much further west as the seasons were changing from Winter to Spring. I felt a little wistful to see those beautiful stars on their way out until next Winter, but I also realized at that moment that these seasonal changes are (ironically) actually one of the things that we can totally rely on in our world today. We know that as Spring arrives the flowers will bloom, the trees will get their leaves back, the grass will grow green. We also know more generally throughout the year that the sun will rise each day, that the moon will go through the same phases each month, and that the same stars we see each season will always return. This was a tender mercy for me to recognize that there is indeed some evidence of constancy in our crazy world. I then thought about another constant: the very creator of this world, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and, in a way we will probably never fully comprehend, his Atonement and Resurrection cover everything, including sin, sorrow, grief, pain, sickness, death, and all other imperfections and injustices. There truly is nothing in this world more constant than that. Just prior to his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, which was also the night before his crucifixion, Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) The world is clearly in no position to give us any reliable measure of peace right now, so all we really have left is the peace from Jesus made possible through His Atonement and Resurrection; peace that we can feel now through the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful to know of the reality and infinite nature of the Atonement and the peace that we can feel at all times because of that event, and I am so grateful for all the natural beauties and wonders of this world that He created and that remind us of this truth.