11 Memories From 2011

It's been a long time since I last updated my blog. And, we've been extremely BUSY! So many wonderful things have happened this year and then we've had some really hard times as well. Here is my attempt at highlighting some of our great memories and these are in no particular order.

1. This time a year ago, Jason and I were somewhere mid-flight from the United States to South Africa. It took us a VERY long time to get there, but when we did, we met some of the sweetest brothers and sisters in Christ. I love the fact that facebook allows me the privilege to keep in touch with my friends from so far away. Jason was invited to preach at the South Africa Area Wide Preaching Workshop. I had the opportunity to teach the ladies a class on teaching young children. I gained some great friends during our time away and I still treasure our time abroad with the sweet people of South Africa. AND, it was really cool celebrating New Year's Eve in two different time locations!

2. We had SO MUCH SNOW last January! 7 1/2 inches at our house! We woke up to a White Christmas on Christmas Day and then a few weeks later, experienced the greatest snowfall I ever remember. It was awesome! We were out of school for little over a week and our town was basically shut down. Our days were spent together with each other, lots of fun in the snow, hot chocolate, movies, and pj days. Those days are still some of my favorite memories of our family time together.

3. Our family went to Knoxville for our very first UT basketball game. We had so much fun cheering on the Volunteers and enjoyed being on campus without the huge crowd that the football games usually bring.

4. SEATTLE! We spent our Spring Break in Seattle and the kids are still talking about our trip there. We had such a great time out there and loved every minute of it. We visited Mt. Rainier, the Hammering Man, Pike Place Market, the FIRST Starbucks, we also toured Seattle duck style-"Ride the Ducks", visited the Childrens' Museum, and took a moment to watch the water display at the "International Fountain".  We also visited the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, the Elliot Bay Book Company and we caught a Mariners Game at Safeco Field. On our final night in Seattle, we watched the lights come up on Seattle from Gas Works Park. We had an incredible trip and a wonderful time in the city with our family!

5. We began the process of building a house! It was so much fun, but with a terrible housing market, we lost that house and are now continuing to rebuild - the exact same house, but in a different location. It is stressful, but definitely fun seeing all the hard work that you put into creating a house turn out beautifully. Hopefully we will be able to actually move into this house and our current house will sell. At least, that's what we hope. 

6. We took our annual trip out to St. Louis to catch a few Cardinals' games. We saw 3 games, went swimming, visited the St. Louis Zoo, and took the kids inside the Arch for their first time. We love St. Louis and we love baseball, so we enjoyed our family vacation time in this great city!

7. The twins started first grade at the "Big School" this fall with ME as their teacher! I absolutely LOVE teaching my own children in my classroom each day! What a unique opportunity I have been blessed with.

8. Jackson and I joined Jason out in Texas for a weekend while he was away for two weeks of Doctoral work at ACU. Jackson turned 4 during our time out west and we wanted to be together to celebrate.  I am proud of Jason for working towards his Doctorate, but it is definitely hard and time consuming. Hopefully Jason will graduate in 2014 with his Doctorate of Ministry. AND then, I receive my reward of "Putting Hubby Through School" with a trip to Hawaii. But, I'm not counting down the days or anything. :)

9. All 5 of us ventured out to the UT/Georgia football game this fall. Jackson had never been to Neyland and the 5 of us had never been to a game together. We always love going to Knoxville for some good fall football.

10. Family time at Thanksgiving and Christmas - We enjoyed Thanksgiving Day with Jason's side of the family and dinner with my parents and grandparents. For Christmas, we enjoyed a 3 day celebration. I was surprised a little early with my Christmas gift - a beautiful little Shih Tzu puppy that we named Sadie - Sadie Belle for the full name. :) I loved making all kinds of Christmas goodies and treats: chex mix, puppy chow, fudge, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate covered peanuts, and sausage balls. And then we enjoyed some great meals together. For Christmas Eve breakfast, we had eggs, bacon and chocolate chip heart-shaped waffles. For Christmas Eve dinner, Jason grilled some ribeyes and I made salad and baked potatoes. We awoke Christmas morning to some great gifts from Santa! We must have been really good this year. My mom, dad, and Mimi came down to join us for church Christmas morning and then we ate a feast of chicken and dressing casserole, green beans, fresh corn, mac n' cheese, deviled eggs, rolls, and my mom brought her sweet potatoes. I truly enjoyed our time with my parents and grandmother. On Monday, Jason's family came down to join us for a Christmas celebration. Jason really wanted a turkey, so I went to work on making sure the turkey was just perfect, and I think that I succeeded. Tara brought down her dressing and I fixed cowboy potatoes, mac n' cheese, green beans, fresh corn, deviled eggs and we had some rolls from Jason' aunt. We had fun exchanging gifts and enjoyed our time together. We are very blessed to be surrounded my our wonderful family.

11. There are always several small little things that we do every year. Here's a list of a few....strawberry pickin', Fun Fest, Chattanooga Aquarium, Halloween, Tate Farms, Easter, shooting guns, Birmingham Zoo, US Space and Rocket Center, diggin' and pickin' taters out of the ground and pickin' fresh vegetables, spring and fall baseball for Joshua, the Fourth of July with dear friends, swimming days in the summer, Summer Celebration at Lipscomb University, a trip to Kentucky for some fresh corn and veggies, surprising Jason with his Dad's guitar for Father's Day, watching the kids' celebrate their 4th and 7th birthdays this summer, VBS, beach trip, Kindergarten graduation, and many more wonderful memories of our time together as a family.