Happy New Year

As I mull over the past year, there have been some big changes in our life.

1.  We just finished our first year as being self-employed.  I say "we" because I am now the book keeper, tax person.  I have learned a lot.  It's ironic that the job that just started out as being "a temporary fix until the right job came along" turned out to be the perfect job.  Praise be to God in his continually providing for our family.

2. One year ago, we thought we were moving, but here we are.  I can't say that we would have changed any of the decisions that we made, which could appear to have been "wrong" decisions.  All decisions were made prayerfully, based on the information we had at the time, and seemed to be the "right" ones for our family.  God knew better and we have actually seen how he protected us by forcefully closing some doors.  We have decided it was just part of our sanctification process and just leave it at that.

3.  We have finished our first calendar year of homeschooling.  We have enjoyed it.  It's been incredibly beneficial for our family as a whole.  I feel more confident as the "teacher."  I am learning a lot too.

4.  We have finished our first year of being together almost all the time.  The Captain now works at home all day, the Test Pilot schools from home all day, and the rest of us are there.  I am a person that needs a little space daily, so I was a little apprehensive about the changes.  However, we have made it work.  We have maneuvered schedules so I can have a little quiet space.  Plus, there are just so many benefits to having the Captain at home.  Although, I did have to buy him a pair of sound deafening headphones for Christmas.  Apparently, we are a little loud.

5.  Now, we have to look forward a new addition to our family.  We are already planning.  I know- shocking.  We are planning to move all 3 boys into one room together, but need to do some shuffling first.  We are looking to buy a 2nd refrigerator or freezer for the garage as we are outgrowing the first.  (I have to say that it actually seems easier to cook for 5 instead of a smaller crew.  Just my observation.)  And generally, just planning for a girl and the color changes that will bring.

Who knows what God has in store for this coming year, but we are full of hope as we know that He is in control of all things.  Hope you all have a blessed New Year!

Thanksgiving Feast

Have I said lately how much we love Crash's school?  It's just awesome!  My next big mommy project was to head up the Thanksgiving Feast.  I have never done a Thanksgiving for 65 before and I hope to never do it again.  It was a lot of work, but thankfully I had a lot of help.

Here's the cute little Indians doing their program.  My camera battery died after this so it's the only shot I have of the performance.  Bummer!

I made little turkey cookies and...

Pilgrim hat cookies for the event.  The kids and adults enjoyed them alike.

I should have gotten a picture of the fellowship hall.  These tables were decked out.  I thought I would run up there and decorate quickly.  Oh no!  The Test Pilot and I spent over an hour just setting up tables and decorating.  It was a labor of love.  I was happy to do it, but really ready for a nap that afternoon.  Thankfully, that was my last "in charge" project at the school.  

It's one of those things that I normally would not do, but it was so worth it to see the looks on the kids' faces. Happy Thanksgiving!

80th Birthday

The next weekend we traveled

 for my maternal grandmother's 80th birthday!

Here's a shot of my grandmother and her 4 children.  My mom is on the left.

My mom organized an amazing dinner for the whole family complete with an amazing slide show down memory lane courtesy of my father.  Here is a shot of the whole family.  Other than a handful of people, it's cool to think that I am related to everyone in this picture.  I love my big family!

Here's my grandmother (standing) with her sister on the right and her aunt on the left.  They flew in from Alabama as special birthday surprises.  They had a good visit with each other.  This was the first time Aunt Sara had ever been on a plane.

There was lots of wrestling, football playing, and game playing.  I have fond memories of doing the same when I was a child with my cousins.  Now it's fun to see my kids getting to have the same fun memories.

Lots of cousins up a tree!

We had a great weekend celebrating with Granny Jean!  We look forward to many more years!  

Happy Birthday!

My dear friend

My first weekend away in November was to visit a dear friend that used to live in my town.  She has now moved to Northern Arizona and I was desperate for a visit.  Here's a shot of her beautiful family!

It was just gorgeous where she lives.  It reminded me of parts of Northern NM.  The smells were wonderful, the mountains were majestic, the food was great, and the fellowship was tremendous.

We spent a day hiking in a near by town.  It was chilly on our hike.  It was great to escape the heat for awhile.

It was wonderful seeing her family.  In some ways, things had changed (the kids were bigger and new house), but many other things were not.  Our friendship just picked up where it left off.  I hope our paths cross again soon.  She is such a blessing to my life!

Catch up

I am going to stop apologizing for neglecting the blog, because I am pregnant, married, and have 3 busy children.  Life just keeps happening.  As it so happens, I have a few non-busy days I am going to get caught up and attempt to stay caught up.

Grandparents Day

Crash's school hosted a Grandparent's Day last week.  We were excited to have my parents and my grandmother be able to join him for the day.  He was just positively giddy about the whole thing.  He has been looking forward to that for days.

I realize I am tall, but pictures like these always catch me off guard.

Here's the grandparents with our beloved teacher, Mrs. C.  We are so thankful to have her this year.

They did crafts together.

The kids performed for the grandparents.

I was the parent coordinator for the day.  I led a story time with the book "That's What Grandparents are for."  I had to be super crafty and creative for that day, which is so not me.  Thank goodness for ideas off the internet.

It was a fun day!  It just made Crash's day!  That was worth it all.  What a blessing to have Grandparents!

Enchanted Rock

We took the boys on our first official hike to Enchanted Rock.  It was about a 2 mile round trip so we thought we could handle that.

Everyone had to carry their own water, which was a huge relief to the backs of the parents.  It was fun sharing our love of the outdoors with the kids.  We talked about trail preservation, how to hike, etiquette, and beef jerky.  They actually enjoyed that after tasting it.

Crash loved this outing!  He is quite the hiker.

Hooray we made it to the top!

In addition, to their water bottles they all decided that had to bring a stuffed animal hiking.  Don't ask.  My chatty children made friends with some women visiting from the east at the summit.  They talked these ladies' ears off telling them about tadpoles, stuffed animals, and dinosaur bones.  Thank you ladies for listening to my children!

The nice ladies took a great family picture at the top!

We finished off the day with lunch in the park and a little birding.  It was a fun day!  We look forward to doing it again.