In Review… Last Year

I must start this post with one of the  blessing of being an early riser. You get to see humdingers like this.

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What a breathtaking sunrise to close out 2012.  As I pulled the camera down from my eyes and looked at the view screen this was one instance where the colors of the pictures accurately reflected the brilliance of the sky.  I even had to wake up the kids so they could see it too – and it was so good they didn’t even complain about being roused early.

So for those near and dear to our herd hearts, here’s a brief recap and a picture.

Our oldest, Abner, finally flew the nest.  He’s going to school full time, working full time and with that schedule we are lucky to see him for a few hours every weekend.  Lucky for us he is only 1/2 hour away.

T-rev graduated from High School and after months of pounding the pavement found a job pounding open freight boxes at Sears.  We are now waiting to see where he will be going to school.

Evo-man continues to be our rollercoaster wildcard. Ups and Downs rule his life.  The best thing is that his Crones is under control.  He has treatment every 8 weeks and get’s to set in a comfy chair for a few hours, while getting his remicade infusion at a local hospital.  I have to mention a huge thank you to my husbands insurance that covers this cost.  There would be no way we could afford the treatment without it, as they bill us over $20,000 per treatment..  $20,000 for 4 hours of treatment every 8 weeks.  I think there’s something fishy going on with that???

Lea is going through officially being a teenager with all the hormonal chaos that accompanies such ventures in life.  She did get a break from her stress inducing family while visiting with  family in CA last summer and going to girls camp.  She is also looking forward to Track and Field, where she hopes to continue her dominance of Discus.  She was the unofficial district champ for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade last year.  Unofficial, because she missed the district meet, but she won the event at every other meet.  My sweet little powerhouse is growing up.

Princess is still princess, and loves being in 5th Grade during the day and the world of imagination at home.  She is an aspiring writer and loves the make believe like only her mom.

Hope is still our beacon of happiness.  I can’t believe my baby is seven.  She loves everyone and is one of our happiest biggest helpers around.  She is also the major handler of our hyper kitten Meap.  Scratches everywhere don’t deter her from snuggling and might I add, manhandling that furball.

Prince Erik finally received the promotion at work that he’s been working so hard to get.  He is once again Cub Master in our ward and it’s fun to see the enthusiasm of working with 8-11 year olds has not waned.  He loves it.  He continues to love cooking – thank heavens for all of us.  And he’s the best Honey-Do Dude I know.

I finally finished De-Hoarding my home last spring.  Yes, you heard me right. It only took 2 1/2 years, over 30 loads to the dump in the truck, and another 6 loads to the thrift store.  It is something I’m so grateful for.  My mentor Mrs. Passion moved to Texas and I cried buckets when she left, but she gave me all the tools I needed to finish. 

Am I done?  Heavens no.  I’ve still got projects to do, more curtains to make, furniture to refinish and then we get to start on the jungle we call the back yard. 

My Prince let me fly away from the herd over the summer.  I went to Idaho and Utah to visit family and attend Education Week.  I loved seeing family, but I spent most of the vacation being taken care of by my mom as I hurt my back the day after I arrived.  Thank goodness she didn’t mind babying me.

When I got home my Prince had missed me so much he took me away on our first overnight vacation, without kids, I might add, in eight years..  We stayed at a bed and breakfast in beautiful Victoria, Canada.  It was romantic heaven!  He even let me bring home a crate of beach combed rocks for our future patio.  He spoiled me rotten and even replaced my wedding ring which had lost it’s diamond years ago.  I’m a lucky girl to be married to such an adoring Prince. 

My church calling has also kept me busy as a whirlwind.  I’m over the activities for all the sisters in our ward/congregation and there is always an activity in the planning or someone in need of service.

So there you have it, a long-winded recap of 2012.  The best part was last night at sunset we got to see this.

The two perfect bookends to the final day of the year. So when it’s not raining here in the Pacific Northwest we get amazing heavenly light shows.