2008 In Reflection

You know what............... I am truly blessed!!!! I was thinking over 2008 and want to take a moment to reflect. In 2008 I saw Luke turn 7 years old and we did an awesome Pirate themed b-day party for him: I can't believe my baby is 7!!! That was such a fun party. RIGHT BEFORE that party a tragic event occurred, I still shiver when I think about it and see the video. I volunteered to do the Polar Bear Plunge. I was so excited, I had raised over 800 dollars for Special Olympics, an organization I truly support and I was ready to take the cold plunge on February 2nd, 2008. My family and friends were there to cheer me on. I was the only one there not jumping in a group and the announcers were encouraging funny flips, etc. and keeping your hair dry was NOT an option. So........ nerves set in and I decided to dive. BIG MISTAKE. Here is the video (if you listen closely you can hear tim say "is she bleeding?" at the end and then he pauses the film and runs to me):

That was such a scary experience. The Lord was watching over me that day. I'll never forget the looks on Luke and Laurens faces, crying thinking I was dying as they rolled me out on the gourney. I had to have 16 stitches in my head, OUCH. The ambulance driver said I should have been paralized by the size of the head wound and the angle I entered the pool - I agree - I should have - but the Lord spared me. THANK YOU LORD FOR YOUR CONTINUED PROTECTION!!! In 2008 we had a fun family getaway to Indianapolis for Spring Break, that was such fun! In 2008 we had to put our beloved Golden Retreiver Loomis to sleep, WHAT PAIN this caused me and my family. I loved this dog so dearly. I got him before Tim and I were married. Goodbye Loomis, my buddy and friend: In 2008 We took our annual trip to Disney World in June, I celebrated my birthday there and we celebrated Father's day there, it was an AWESOME time!!! In 2008 Tim and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary. We got to go up to Grand Haven and stay in an incredible bed and breakfast


JUST THE TWO OF US.
It was so awesome rediscovering our love again, just being US, it was wonderful! I am so blessed to be married to my best friend! Then we got to follow it up with a great week in Grand Haven with my family and the kids:


Then we weren't back long and headed to Gatlinburg with Tim's large family , this was a first. All of his family (minus one of Tim's sister and their family) under one roof in a huge chalet in Gatlinburg. This was a large crew and was so much fun.

Shortly after that, we signed up with the Disney Vacation Club, we were and are so excited about this new addition to vacationing options. We already have one super long Disney vacation planned for June and I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Food and Wine Festival in Epcot and now Tim and I have a couples only trip planned in November this year thanks to Disney Vacation Club, YEAH!

Then at the end of July in 2008 we went to pick up Mickey, a Golden Retreiver - our new addition to our family. He has slowly begun to fill the hole that Loomis left and is becoming a very sweet dog that we love very much:


We got season passes to Kings Island again and enjoyed many visits there throughout the summer of 08':


Then to wrap up summer we headed up to Canton, Ohio to celebrate Tim's youngest brother's wedding. That was a good time. Tim and his brother were the DJ's and Lauren was the beautiful flower girl.


All good things come to an end, and it was back to school time. I started setting up my classroom, Luke headed off to second grade and Lauren back to preschool.

Then came September and we celebrated Tim's 33rd birthday here in town, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM- 2008!

Luke and Lauren both played soccer this year (Lauren's first time). We were amazed by Luke's new abilities and had many laughs over Laurens cartwheels on the field : )

Then Lauren accomplished her lifelong dream of being a cheerleader


It was such fun watching her from the sidelines, I have a feeling 2008 was just the beginning of MANY cheerleading activities for Lauren.

Then, in 2008 came the FREAKISH windstorm in Ohio that downed trees in our neighborhood and left is in the dark and cancelled school for several days:


Then came October and my baby girl turned 5 years old, boy do I feel old.

Then Mickey (our new golden retriever) took a bad tumble down the stairs and fractured his hip, we couldn't believe it. After a 1700 dollar vet bill and a month of recuperation we got our baby back, this was a trying time!!!

Then, a tragedy hit me, a student of mine: Elli passed away. I was so saddened by this loss. Elli was a student of mine for two years and was truly an angel here on earth. I spoke at her memorial service, it was such hard thing to do. I miss her terribly and her spirit still lives on in my classroom.

Then came November, time for Thanksgiving and the hustle and bustle. Things were going well.

Then came December of 2008 and I felt like the sky was falling. Luke got strep throat, Tim got the flu, Tim injured his knee to the point of needing surgery, THEN our tub got a hole in it, filled our ceiling with water and we had to get that repaired and it was very costly! Tim had his knee surgery and is STILL on the mend from that.

We had a fabulous Christmas this year despite Tim's knee. The kids had a blast, it was so magical.


We enjoyed Luke's school winter program, Laurens program and our church program in which they both had fun in. It was a wonderful holiday season.


In 2008 we made some new friends, re connected with some old friends and lost contact with some long time friends.

Overall 2008 was a great year, overshadowed by an incredibly bad December with a lot of bad luck.

We are looking forward with anticipation what 2009 will have in store for us. . . .stay tuned to find out...................