Wow! Can it really be 2013 already? And has it really been over a year since I last blogged? So many times over the past year I have thought about posting, but either wasn't motivated or felt so overwhelmed by how far behind I was that I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Which makes me kind of sad since I love to write and I love telling my family's stories. So, I'm going to do a relatively quick recap of 2012 and then attempt to post on a regular basis in 2013.
2012 was a challenging year in some ways, but also a year full of blessings. Here are some of the highlights:
January
Cullen played basketball and enjoyed being on a team with his best friend.
We almost lost our dog, Dixie. She stopped eating and was very lethargic. The vet wasn't sure they could save her, but once they figured out that the problem was an adrenal gland disorder, the right medicine turned things around. Now she gets a shot once a month and is doing great!
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| The kids with Dixie the day we brought her back home. |
February
Robert and I went on a week-long cruise, leaving from Galveston and visiting Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.
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| Swimming with stingrays in Grand Cayman. |
March
Kenna celebrated her 14th birthday. Several of her friends came over for pizza and then I took them to the mall to shop.
Over Spring Break we took a trip to the Texas Hill Coutry. We camped at Inks Lake State Park and took a side trip to see Enchanted Rock.
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| Spring Break camping trip. |
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| Kenna and her friends at her birthday party. |
April
Kenna played in a tennis league and the boys both played soccer.
We celebrated Easter with an egg hunt and party at our Mission Denton apartment Bible study on Saturday, attended services at our church on Sunday, and spent Sunday afternoon at Nana and Papa's house in Keller.
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| Easter Sunday |
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| Cullen |
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| Camden |
May
Cullen turned 11 and we had a go-kart and putt-putt golf party.We took a camping trip to Ray Roberts Lake with friends.
The boys enjoyed Field Day at the elementary school and Kenna attended the end of the year dance at the middle school.
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| Cullen and his friends at his birthday party. |
June
The kids and I participated in "Rainbow Express" with Mission Denton; we spent a week taking backyard Bible clubs to apartment complexes and mobile home communities in the Denton area. Our team visited three locations each day.
Kenna and I went on a mission trip to Louisiana. We worked with kids at a community center in a low income area.
We celebrated Robert's birthday and Father's Day.
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| Robert's birthday. |
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| Mission trip to Louisiana. |
July
July was probably the hardest month of the year and one that brought a big change for our family. We decided it was time for us to leave the church that we had attended for over 20 years. It was a difficult decision, but looking back one that we believe was right for our family.
Robert and Cullen had a chance to get away for a guys weekend. They completed the "Passport 2 Purity" curriculum and had a great time together!
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| Robert and Cullen's guy's weekend. |
August
After a surprisingly short search, God led us to our new church home. We now attend CrossPointe Community Church and there have found a place where we are ministered to and where we can use our passions and talents to serve God and others. It has been such a blessing!The kids and I joined some of our friends for our last trip of the summer to Six Flags. (We have season passes, so we went several times.) We were there on the hottest day of the summer!
The kids started back to school: Kenna in 9th grade in high school, Cullen in 6th grade in middle school, and Camden in 4th grade. This is the first year of two that the kids will be at three different schools - it's been quite an adjustment for me!
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| Six Flags with friends on the hottest day of the year! |
September
Camden celebrated his 10th birthday playing arcade games with his friends at Main Event.
Kenna had her first date. They went to the homecoming dance and ended up "dating" for about two months.
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| Camden's birthday party. |
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| Homecoming Dance |
October
We took a camping trip to Ray Roberts Lake, with a side trip to Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch. Cold, wet weather made it a less than ideal trip.
We took the kids to the State Fair for the first time. We were there just a few days before "Big Tex" caught on fire and burned down to the frame - so glad we got our picture with him before the incident!
We celebrated Halloween and my birthday. We decided that Kenna was too old to trick or treat this year, so she and a friend dressed up to hand out candy.
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| State Fair of Texas |
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| Pumpkins! |
November
We went on a family retreat with our new church to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine.
For Thanksgiving, we took a cruise. Robert's sister, Rhonda, and her boys flew down and we left from Galveston. We went cave tubing in Belize, took an island tour of Roatan, Honduras, and spent the day on a beach in Cozumel.
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| "Formal Night" on our cruise. |
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| Docked at Cozumel, Mexico |
December
So many activites and celebrations in December...Mission Denton Christmas Store, Journey to Bethlehem at Church at the Cross in Grapevine, Cullen's first band concert, a musical at Gateway Church in Grapevine, church youth group party at our house, church gingerbread house party, Camden's class party at school, family celebration in East Texas, celebrating with my family on Christmas Eve, and finally a quiet morning at home on Christmas Day, ending with a beautiful Christmas snow!
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| Christmas Eve |
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| Christmas Snow! |
If you've made it to the end of this post, "thank you" for sticking with me through the whole year. Looking back has been a good reminder to me of how much I have to be thankful for. We truly are blessed!
Happy New Year!!
