2008 Year-end post (in pictures!)

Where do I begin? So many wonderful things happened this year. I'll conclude the year with this post of pictures. It may take a while to load, but I hope you enjoy it.

JANUARY 2008

FEBRUARY 2008

MARCH 2008

APRIL 2008

MAY 2008

JUNE 2008

JULY 2008

AUGUST 2008

SEPTEMBER 2008

OCTOBER 2008

NOVEMBER 2008

DECEMBER 2008

And finally.... another year with my best friend & the love of my life. I love you, Larry. I'm looking forward to our 15th anniversary this year!

Update since Christmas

On the day after Christmas, we went to my sister's house for my family's get together. It was a great time to visit with them & enjoy the holiday together. A few pictures I took --

Savannah, my niece & Sarah, all opening gifts side by side. (That's my uncle on the right...who looks remarkably like my dad.)

Savannah got a scrapbook kit & has been having fun putting it together.

Sarah got some cool art stuff! I know she looks thrilled in this picture (sarcasm!), but she really does LOVE all of her cool stuff. She's had fun with it.

My mom made Samuel a cool matching set of PJs & a robe, all Dallas Cowboys print. He loves them!

Late that night, after everyone was in bed, I went to take a shower & came back to find this in my bed. That's Sarah on the left (on my pillow) and Larry on the right (you just see his arm sticking out from the covers). I love it when the kids come snuggle with us, but there's something extra sweet about one of the kids coming in to huddle with Daddy when mom's not there. I later learned that Sarah had a bad dream & came to our bed for some comfort. Larry had comforted her & offered her my pillow to lay on while they talked & snuggled. They both ended up falling asleep & this is how I found them.

Every year, my mom gives all my kids the oppurtunity to have a gift they can unwrap or a chance to go shopping w/ her. They all love the idea of having a special time alone with grandma, so that's usually what they choose. Today, mom took Savannah, Sarah & my niece for their day of shopping. (They all went together this time!) They went to eat then ran around to a million different stores looking for the perfect things to buy. While they were gone, Samuel & I had a fun day together. We played 2 fun rounds of "War" (card game). We played Battleship. We got him registered to play YMCA basketball again. We went to the grocery store for a couple things. We made cookies together. Awww...what a great morning!

This afternoon, Savannah went to spend the night w/ my niece and my mom took Samuel & Sarah to her house. Wow! A kid-free evening. Larry & I had great plans. We wanted to go eat (we had an Outback gift card to use) and we planned to see Yes Man. It turns out that I began feeling sick while we were out & had to cut the evening short. I did get to eat some fabulous grilled chicken & broccoli before the evening was ended. Sure wish it had turned out differently...but I'll survive. Before ya know it, the movie we planned to see will be out on DVD & we'll just rent it.

Post #2--Christmas afternoon/evening

The day has continued to be a great one!! After opening gifts, Larry & I planned to go back to bed (after all, we were done by 7:30am...yawn!). We crawled into bed & Larry dozed off almost immediately, but I was too wired to doze off, so that's when I posted the morning's pictures. The kids played quietly for a long time, all consumed by their gifts & each other's company. (I know...WOW!) Finally about 10:30 I got drowsy so I got into bed to doze for a few minutes. It ended up being a very short while. The alarm was set for 11:00. In the thirty minutes I (could have) had to sleep, I think I broke up 3 arguments, spelled words for 2 children and answered the phone once. So much for a short nap. ha!

We got up & moving at 11:00. We went to the Spine & Joint Hospital to visit a church member who had the same spinal fusion surgery that Larry had 2 years ago. We visited for a while, prayed for her & then headed to the movies! It is our Christmas tradition to go to the movies on Christmas day. Apparently the news got out that the theaters are open on Christmas because wow...there were a LOT of people there! We saw The Tale of Despereaux. It was a really cute movie about a little mouse who saves the day, fighting like a knight to rescue the Princess. It's safe for the whole family if you're looking for a movie to see over the holiday break.

Part way through the movie, a church member called to tell us that they'd had a baby today! When the movie was over, we went for a 2nd hospital visit, held a teeny little baby, hugged the new mama & daddy and prayed for them. What a sweet little Christmas gift!

By the time we finished up there, it was 5:00. I was hungry because my movie theater "lunch" had been a bit of a flop. [I guess SOME people can spread a 1/2 Tablespoon of cheese over 75 chips, but for me, that just isn't "nachos". After about 6 chips, the cheese was gone.] We were driving home when we saw that Whataburger was open. Wow! We decided to get dinner there. For the first time in AGES, we went inside & sat down to eat at a fast food place. I can't even remember the last time we did that. We dumped everyone's fries together & were astounded at the mound it made. Even for 5 people, this was a TONNNNN of fries!

I forgot how yummy a Whataburger cheeseburger is! I don't remember the last time I had one, but I'm so glad we stopped tonight. What a treat!

We came home & made another Birthday Cake for Jesus and some layered dip for my family's get together tomorrow. By the time we finish up the holidays, we'll all have to be rolled back to work & school. ha ha! Oh well....January 1st & all those New Year's Resolutions are coming up, right?

Post #1-- Christmas morning pictures

The first moment of our day was filled with Scripture, the story of Jesus's birth from the Bible. (Luke 2)

Then it was time to light the candles & sing happy birthday. (In case you can't tell, it says "I Love U J" at the bottom. Samuel wrote that. The J stands for Jesus.)

After we had our birthday cake & milk for breakfast, it was time to go into the living room & see what Santa brought. Samuel rounded the corner first. I love the look on his face. :)

I figured I better catch this full-body hug on camera. I may never see it again. :)

(Savannah gave Samuel & Sarah her Gameboy for Christmas! Clearly, Samuel was THRILLED.)

Samuel's Hulk pajamas are so soft!

Savannah likes her colorful socks!

Sarah & her Tinkerbell pillowcase

Samuel LOVES his cookbook & spent quite a while flipping through the pages.

I KNEW these would be her favorite! (that's her stack of old Neopets magazines)

Samuel's quite an enthusiastic gift opener. ha ha! He was jumping up & down with his basketball.

Samuel's new bullfrog Webkinz.

She had just said to Savannah, "Look! I got Littlest Pet Shop stuff!".

Samuel made the girls a little wooden box full of 'cootie catchers'...which the kids now call 'fortune tellers'. They are those little folded paper things we had as kids where you choose a number & then a color to learn your "fortune".

Savannah, showing off her lapboard in her favorite color

Sarah likes her pink one, too!

Like I said.....an enthusiastic gift opener!! ha ha!

When the kids left the living room with their loads of gifts, I heard Samuel quietly say "ahhh...it's been a good Christmas!" tee hee!