2010 was a year of many changes for our family.
It began with us still in L.A. for our Christmas with my sisters. We started the new year off with a day spent with family, followed the next day at Disneyland. What an awesome way to start the year, right? Then we had a long drive home (which was riddled with vomiting - the tail end of the horrible plague of Christmas 2009). Not such a great way to start the year. :(
In January Ashley turned nine. Andrew became known as Drew and started smiling.
February was a busy, busy month. After months and months of waiting and praying, we came to the decision that it was time to move. We set a date- March 1st. Jeff notified the company. The moving money came. We reserved a truck. Packing ensued in full force. I taught a class on making fabric headbands for all my friends. I made skirts for the girls to wear for Valentine's Day. (Yes, when things are crazy and I really don't have time I always sew- it must be my coping mechanism.) I squeezed in as much time with my friends as I could before the big move. We changed the date of our move to the 8th of March to make things a little easier.
March was the big month. We spent the first week of March trying to get everything packed completely. Friends came over and helped us load the truck. We finally found a place to live (the day we were packing the truck). Leaving was hard- our house, which we labored for hours and hours to make beautiful, our friends, our family. We spent two days driving to our new home. We were welcomed in our new place by our new ward. We started the long process of unpacking and settling into our new lives. Ashley and Alona started at their new school. It was a rough transition for them.
In April I started blogging with a friend on her blog. I mostly blog about sewing and crafty stuff. Natalie turned 4. We also drove up to Utah for my sister's senior recital (piano) at BYU. She rocked! We got to see quite a few members of my family while we were there.
In May Drew learned to scoot and roll to get where he wanted to go.
June brought about the end of the school year for Ashley and Alona. I headed to my hometown for my sister's wedding. The whole family was there. I spent a bit of time with my grandmother while I was there. I was so grateful that I was able to go because she wasn't doing well and I felt that I might not see her again. Drew started crawling and climbing.
July was more eventful than I had planned. We headed down to Arizona to visit my sister for the 4th of July. We had a blast! Then Jeff and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. It doesn't really seem like it has been that long. I decided that we should eliminate as much processed food from our diets as possible- a bigger undertaking than you would think. Rebecca came up later in the month to meet her husband and get her kids (as he was working up in Utah for a few months and they were spending time with his family while he was there). While she was at my house we got a call from my dad. His mother passed away. I flew out to Kansas for the funeral. We got to see all of the family again- this time without all the craziness of a wedding.
August was an exhausting month. Jeff worked what seemed like 24/7. It was hard to be stuck inside during the hot summer with no pool or grassy yard to set up a sprinkler while the kids are out of school- especially when it is just you and your husband is working well past the time you put your kids to bed. It was difficult. I thought I wasn't going to make it. Then they finally released the game they had been working on for months and months. Jeff took time off work so we could head up to Oregon for his sister's wedding. We spent just over a week there. We visited with his family and all of our friends. We tried to cram in as much time with everyone as possible and got very little sleep. Alona got strep throat. Good times! We really enjoyed spending time with the ones we love! We even got to go to the coast. Drew started walking. We made it back late on the 29th. Just in time for school to start on the 30th. That day Alona turned 7 and Jeff also celebrated his birthday. He did not turn 7.
By September the kids were settling in at school. We met their teachers. I turned another year older. Made tons of zucchini bread-YUM!
October was the month we cut the girls' hair. They all had crazy long hair. Natalie kept asking to get hers cut so it wouldn't get stuck in the stickers she puts on her shirts (love 4 year old reasoning) so I finally got around to doing it. It is a tiny bit sad to cut all that off, but it is just hair. They absolutely love their new do's. I headed to DC to watch my sister's kids while she headed to Italy, taking Natalie and Drew with me. I even got to see an old friend after 9 years! Got home and headed up to Utah for by brother-in-law's fall opera (he was the lead in The Magic Flute). It was my first opera and it was pretty funny! Came home and made Halloween costumes for the kids- 2 pirates and a Medusa. Switched from zucchini bread to pumpkin bread- can you tell I love to bake?
November was election month. Jeff and I voted. I made tons of pumpkin bread. We are addicted. On Veteran's Day, Jeff called me from work. I was just leaving Albertson's with my haul of brownie and cake mixes (at 49 cents each you would too!). He asked me to come pick him up. They had a company wide meeting where they announced that they were closing. So we started a new phase in our lives. Unemployment. It was initially very shocking. There wasn't much sign of this happening beforehand. Luckily, they were all technically still employed through the end of the month (with a paycheck and all but not working). With severance (ha.ha.ha.) and 2 1/2 weeks of vacation pay, we figured that would take us through January. Natalie enjoyed having her daddy to play with all day everyday! I took advantage of having him home and tried to get out and do as much as I could. We headed down to Arizona for my nephew's baptism. My dad was there too. There was a huge birthday party at the park after the baptism. It was a short trip (we were there just about 24 hours) but it was so much fun. The next day I sang a solo with our choir in church. First time. It was scary, but I survived- and didn't do a horrible job! The week of Thanksgiving was a tough one for me. I think all the stress really weakened me. I was in terrible pain and started getting sick. I also got a clogged milk duct and had a horrible fever. I am thankful for a good chiropractor who was able to relieve some of my pain. I learned that I need to take it easy sometimes. We spent our first holiday (Thanksgiving) without any family since we got married. Drew turned one!!
December has been a month of gratitude. I know November is usually the month for that, but our family has been so blessed this month in particular. Jeff started a contract job. We got gifts from so many people (some were anonymous even). We seem to have all our needs met and then some. Our children are doing well in school (we had parent-teacher conferences). We are all healthy. We have beautiful sunshine! We have wonderful friends and loving family. Why wouldn't we be grateful? I think Jeff losing his job has made us (well at least me) more aware of just how blessed we are. We baked a lot of cookies. We fell in love with gingerbread cookies- I was skeptical, but they are SO good. We spent Christmas by ourselves for the first time. We even got snow, thanks to some friends! We spent New Year's eve with some friends. Best part- my kitchen and living room were clean!
We hope 2011 is a good year with a great job for Jeff, lots of sewing for me, much learning for our children, and lots of great time together as a family!
