Friday, December 31, 2010

A Year In Review

I know this is super long and most people wont want to read this but I really enjoyed writing this and remembering this past year.

2010 was an eventful year. Full of tons of fun, lots learned and great loss. I didn’t realize just how eventful this year had been until I started looking back at my blog to see what all had happened. The year had a rocky start to say the least. But I will get back to that.


We started the year with a HUGE house remodel. The 5 huge snow storms that we received did a real number on the roof of our sunroom which sparked a much needed renovation to the sunroom. Since the house was already going to be in disarray we choose to re-do our master bath. WOW!!!! It was a chore and a half but the ending results could not have been better.

I think the best way to look over 2010 is to go chronologically. In the spring I attended my first Jr. High dance with Alex…SCARY to say the least. We celebrated Emma, Gracie, Shad, and David’s Birthdays. Spring Break was spent at the Fort Worth Zoo (Stephanie, Kyle and Karen joined us) and at the Dallas Aquarium. After Spring Break it was time to cook some Chili and hang out with friends at the 2nd Annual “No Beans” McGaha Chili Cook Off. All the while Emma has been playing soccer and excelling in gymnastics. In May Shad and I celebrated our 10th wedding Anniversary, later next month we went with the Murray’s to Jamaica to commemorate this milestone.


At the end of May Emma graduated from Kindergarten. Her incredible year at Brook Village was an answer to many prayers. Just after school got out we gathered the family and jumped on a plane to Florida for our family vacation. We stayed at The Villages, visited Disney World and Silver Springs and made more memories than we can count. We also celebrated Fathers Day and Henry’s 2nd Birthday while we were there.

Once we got home it was time to plan Alex’s 13th Birthday…13 REALLY 13!!! I can hardly stand to type that number let alone think about our girl being that old. That same month Emma got her ears pierced, a huge rite of passage. In July we also got to meet Kate Milford. There is nothing so amazing as to actually meet an answer to prayer. Our good friends the Milford’s had been working on an international adoption for years and this was her, Kate. Meeting her was momentous. She has since blended into the family amazingly well (another answer to prayer).


May brought us random Lizards to the house the beginning of 1st grade and 8th grade. Emma transitioned from Brook Village to Ben Franklin with flying colors. Alex-well let’s say school is a challenge. We also said goodbye to the Knight family this month. We were so sorry to see our great neighbors move. We miss them so much!

The fall was busy as always: soccer, gymnastics, homework, art class, basketball and so much more. I started following a couple of new blogs in the fall one of which solved a long time family mystery for my mom and me. We finally found the recipe for peanut butter play dough!!! Yipee…a great child hood memory for me and now for Emma and Henry as well. Emma also lost her first and 2nd tooth this fall.


As the weather turned colder we knew that hunting season was approaching. My dad couldn’t wait to get Shad out on the lease and it didn’t take long (just one missed shot) for Shad to shoot his first buck. HUGE BUCK!!! 11 pts.

The holidays arrived bringing busy and fun times. Thanksgiving at the Welch house, Emma participated in a kids song during one of our holiday services, Christmas Parties, and so much more.


I couldn’t decide how to work in all of Shad’s races so here they are: Rock and Roll Half in Dallas, Cow Town in Ft Worth, Texas Memorial Olympic in Galveston (Which included a family trip to Austin, Galveston, and Kemah) , Austin Iron Man (included a trip to Innerspace Caverns), DRC Half in Dallas, Disco Tri in Denton, and the Las Vegas Rock n Roll Half. I am tired just typing all those races.

I traveled a lot as well. Markets Markets and More Markets. 4 Clothing Markets, Building Business Conference in Sacramento, CA, Britax National Advisory Board in North Carolina, Spring ABC show in Louisville, KT, and the Las Vegas ABC Show. But I wasn’t the only one who did some traveling. As a family we covered some serious miles this year. Trips to Galveston, Austin X2, Kemah, Jamaica, Florida, Dallas, PK, Port Arthur and finally a ski trip to finish the year off right.


As I mentioned in the beginning of this year of reflection we suffered a great loss. Our great friend Teri Otto lost her life. As I look back at the year I can tell you that this loss changed me. There isn’t a week goes by that I don’t think about Teri, miss her, worry about Dave and the kids. She was more than special. It is hard to put into words. All I can say is that I am forever changed.

Later 2010---2011 what do you have in store.

We are blessed!


1 comment:

Stephanie said...

I read all of it and LOVED it!