Reflecting on the last decade

Many folks are currently summarizing the last decade.  So I decided to spend some time thinking about the last decade...some years were much easier to remember while others really made me think.  So here's to the last 10 years of our life...

• 2009: After spending a year as a full time teacher and Mommy, coming home exhausted to spend very little time with Caroline, the child we spent many years praying for, we decided that I would not sign my upcoming contract.  I would leave full time teaching to be at home with Caroline.  I'm a planner and this action did not fit my norm, but we trusted the Lord.  we watched as He made this transition possible...never in a million years did I see this change coming...

• 2010: I packed up my 5K classroom at the current elementary school and became a full time stay at home Mom.  Caroline and I had a LOT to learn about being with each other 24/7.  I quickly saw my selfishness and just how hard it was to be a full time Mommy.  After 3 months at home, I was offered a job at a local preschool.  Caroline started in 2K and I began working as a 3 day a week 4K teacher. 

• 2011: I turned the big 3-0!  WOW!  

• 2012: Caroline and I, along with Andy, Aunt Tomi Jean, Uncle Greg, Jack and Grace went to Disney.  This was the first time Caroline and I had ever been!  I am not sure who was more excited, me or Caroline!!

• 2013: Andy and I celebrated 10 years of marriage!!    

• 2014: We received the biggest SHOCK of the decade.  We were given the gift of a beautiful baby that we had 3 days to prepare for.  We went to the hospital not knowing if we were bringing home a baby boy or baby girl.  We quickly learned that our sweet bundle was a baby girl!  She did and would continue to rock our world.  :0)

• 2015: After teaching 4K preschool for 4 years, I interviewed and was given the job of "director" of our preschool.  I never in 1 million years thought I would see myself as a director but I love it!  I've had plenty of learning curves but I am thankful the Lord allowed me this opportunity.

• 2016: This year was filled with much sickness and loss...Andy said goodbye to his dad...losing a parent is something nobody can truly be prepared for. :-(

• 2017:  After nearly 16 years at our former church, we joined our dear friends in planting a church.  It wasn't an easy transition but it is one that I am so thankful for!  The Lord has truly blessed us and we have an amazing church family!  This is also the year we lost our precious Mema!!  It was a difficult loss and we miss her still today.

• 2018: We said goodbye to Delores in April and celebrated 15 years of marriage in June.We miss Delores' crazy stories and jokes and wish our girls would have gotten to know her more.    Marriage isn't easy, it's two sinful people trying to do the best they can.  I have come to understand that every.single.year celebrated together is a gift.  I am thankful for Andy and the love he has for our family!  There isn't anyone else I would want to walk this journey with.

• 2019: One of our family goals came true...we bought a camper!!  We have since enjoyed several camping trips and family togetherness.  This year we walked through extremely difficult times as Andy's job title changed several times...we worked through odd off days, him working night shift and missing family events.  We are SO thankful that the Lord allowed him to be put back on first shift.  It was during this rocky time that I saw just how much he loved us and put our needs above his own.  

I'm thankful to reflect on the past decade.  I pray that one day when Caroline and Maggie are older and they are reading this, they will get a little glimpse of this time in their life. :-)

Sweet sisters, a few years later

I absolutely LOVED this dress when Caroline wore it.  I couldn't wait for Maggie to wear it.  Unfortunately it was too hot for a fire but I did get a picture of it on Christmas Eve at Aunt Tomi Jeans. :-)

Visiting the Cemetery

One the way to Mom's Christmas Day, Andy asked if I would like to visit the cemetery.  I thought it would be nice. We picked Mom up and headed straight there.  It was getting close to dusk so we didn't have much time.  Maggie asked me to read my Daddy's headstone and I lost it...I couldn't speak without tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat.  We discussed Daddy's favorite quote and the importance of enjoying today...which truly is a gift!!  I'm learning more and more what a precious gift each day is!!

Christmas Tradition

In 2007, our friends Wes and Sage shared a Christmas tradition that they did.  Each year, on Christmas day, they would write each other a letter to summarize the year and maybe something they wanted to accomplish in the next year.  Andy and I loved the idea and so our tradition started.  We keep the letters in our stocking.  We look forward each year to emptying our stocking and finding the new letter inside.  I pray that our girls will one day treasure these letters in our own handwriting... 

Christmas with My Family

We ate and exchanged presents at Mom's last night.  We had the most fun...we laughed until I literally cried!!  I am so thankful for my family!!  The highlight of this year was the vibrating electric shawl that Claire and Jessica received.  :0) 

It was fun to celebrate Uncle Lee's 52 birthday!!

Christmas BBQ

A few months ago I casually mentioned to my brother Bob that I would love to BBQ a hog at Christmas.  I have such wonderful memories of this yearly tradition that Daddy did.  I wanted our girls to experience it.  About a month ago, Bob asked if we would be available to come to Mom's on Christmas day and we would get up in the wee hours and get started.  I jumped right on that.  I was so excited!  We got things prepped last night.  My alarm went off at 3:10 am because I didn't want Bob waiting on me at 3:30 to get started.  By 3:45 the fire was going!  It was early and it was cool but it didn't take long to warm up by the fire.  By 5:30 we had hot coals going into the pit.  We needed the temperature to stay around 300-325 degrees throughout the day. We kept the fire going for 12 hours, using the coals from the fire to cook the pig. Shortly after 6 we ate breakfast-crockpot grits, bacon and sausage.  It was the perfect breakfast!!  I made some apple cider which was nice and warm in the wee hours of the morning.

After breakfast, these boys were ready for a nap!

The girls absolutely LOVED their time with their cousins.  They rode the golf cart, played in the pasture and chilled out inside.  I kept calling them over to the pit to see different things.  Bob said "I don't think your girls are as excited about this as you are."  There was a lot of truth in that statement.  It quickly took me back to my childhood...I don't know that I enjoyed 'helping' or watching Daddy BBQ, I enjoyed playing with our friends who spent the night while they BBQ.  That is what my girls enjoyed and I LOVED hearing them laugh and giggle together.  Cousins are special...these cousins don't see each other near as often as I would like but when they are together, they have SO much fun!

The kids working to bring us more wood for the fire barrel.

Jake clearing a path for the golf cart in the cow pasture.

When the time came to flip the pig, Bob asked if I was up to the task.  I so wanted to help but silently prayed "Lord, please don't let me drop this thing or crack the skin when I lay it down."  I was so thankful that we did what we were supposed to do and I didn't mess up! :-)

Jenna is such a good sport!!  She pulled Maggie and pretty much did ANYTHING Maggie asked her to do.

So many miles and hours put on the golfcart today!

I got to finish the hashing and final saucing.  What an accomplishment, 13 hours later.  I was SO PROUD!!

The finished PIG!  I KNOW my Daddy would be SO very PROUD of us!!  It's moments like this that I miss him so much...but I'm also thankful to carry on a tradition that he started.  I absolutely loved spending this time with my big brother today.  It was truly a special time for us.  It was one of my favorite Christmas memories from 2019.  I will always treasure this day with my family! Thank you Bob for making this wish a reality!

Christmas Morning!!

At 5:14 this morning, we were awaken by the sound of 2 sweet girls singing Christmas songs to us.  (They slept in Maggie's room so that they could use her monitor to wake us up.)  I thought I would wait it out to see how long they would serenade us. By 5:21 they were singing as loud as they possible could and we took it as our cue to start moving and shaking!     

 Let the fun begin!!

Caroline got the camera she really, really wanted!

 Maggie got the Razor she really wanted!

 Mags:  Toothpaste cause we ran out of it yesterday!

 When asked something that she wanted to read, she asked for a "big" girl Bible without pictures. :0)  Oh I pray that that this will ALWAYS be her favorite book to read!

 Christmas Morning Breakfast

 Caroline read the Christmas story to us from her new Bible.

We each got a walkie talkie in our stocking.  These will work great for when we go camping or when the girls want to ride their bike through the neighborhood without us...the girls took Maggie's new Razor out for an inaugural run.  We had fun chatting with each other while they were out. :0)

It's been a glorious morning!  So thankful for these sweet, tender moments with the girls.  We have a low key day planned.  We are all still in our pj's...I'm drinking Russian Tea and blogging, Andy's taking a nap and the girls are having fun playing with their new toys.

All is calm...all is bright!

Tonight, we are home super early for us.  Typically Christmas Eve evening is super busy!  We typically do Christmas with Tomi Jean and family after the Christmas Eve service.  But since we did this at lunch, we were home by 7:30.  The girls helped us straighten up and watched a short Christmas movie before preparing cookies and milk for Santa.  Now, all is calm, the tree is bright!  We are thankful for a sweet day and look forward to celebrating Christmas tomorrow. 

Christmas with Peep

After we left Tomi Jean's, we went to our Christmas Eve service at church.  It was a super sweet night.  The kids sang 2 precious songs and Pastor Stacey's message was such a sweet reminder of the humble way that Jesus entered this world and the humble life he continued to live. 

We left the service and headed over to Ms. Susan's to exchange gifts with her.  The girls were super excited about their gifts.  Maggie received her own Kindle and Caroline received a Ninga Bullet.  She loves making her own food and snacks these days and immediately began looking at recipes from the little cookbook.  They each received a tub of goodies to use in the kitchen. 

Thankful for a sweet Christmas with Peep!  :-)