My Christmas Newsletter

This year, I did not have time to mail a letter to you all, so you get the new HIGH TECH version. If you do not like it simply hit delete!

This year brought lots of fun stuff, hang onto your hat and buckle your belt because there is some traveling involved.

The first of the year brought a wonderful sea of ice! We had more ice than I ever want to see again. ICE ICE BABY!!! No power for over 2 weeks (some of our area was out for over a month). We stayed in hotels and with a very generous friend. I even traveled south for a bit with the kids because it was HORRIBLE!

Trevor turned 7 in April...he took one of his best buddies, Nathan to a St Louis ballgame. It was SOOOOO cold! Nathan's mom and dad, and sisters went to St Louis with us and we made a family trip of it all. Red Robin (on Good Friday), Archivers, the zoo, and a game! We had a lot of fun even though it was cold.

John bought us tickets for the next days game too and it was soooo much warmer. We walked from our hotel down to Union Station, and just around downtown in general. Albert hit a Grand Slam and Trevor's name and birthday was on the birthday tron.

Hannah turned 12 at the end of April and let me just say that was not fun! Nope, she is now about 5'6" skinny thing, but very pretty!

Michelle was a great 37 in May and I will not tell you how old John is because he may not want you to know, but it rhymes with mighty fine!

When Trevor's ball season began, I took over his guitar lessons. I had always wanted to play the guitar and Herb Chapman (Stephen Curtis's dad) was the teacher, so how could you not turn that down? I am still taking them, but Taylor is my teacher now. I have learned so much and can play quite a few songs, maybe not play them beautifully but I can play them.

In June, we did Disney like we had never done before...stayed at a Resort, used (gasp) PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, and spent just a TON of money. You can go on a cruise WAY cheaper than going to Disney World...WAY CHEAPER! I loved the resort, loved the parks (me especially), and the food was WONDERFUL!!! I ate at Sunshine Seasons 3 times! I love the salads! And John and Trevor skipped a day in the parks and headed to Miami to see the Cards play the Marlins. They both had a wonderful day.

The rest of the summer was full of sports! Trevor is very involved in baseball...very very involved. He had a rough season starting out because he was having issues with his therapy! The therapy was NOT good for a boy that is a power hitter. When we changed the therapy, he started hitting like the hitter we know he is! He did have an injury this year...he was smacked in the head with a baseball that a kid had HIT, not thrown. The ball hit is eye and we had to go to the doctor. Of course, he had to be his "good" eye, but the doctor said luckily the ball hit his eyebrow not the eye socket. It was black less than a week, we put Granny's arnica on it and it healed quickly.

Hannah began 7th grade in August and Trevor 2nd. Hannah was still involved in band, 2nd chair on the flute and Trevor began FOOTBALL! I was not ready for that, but he loved it. He was a quarterback! The funny thing is there was a girl on the other team and the two of them were always trying to tackle each other. She is a cutie, and she could out run him too.

This was Hannah's time to get interested in fashion...very much so...so loves to put together an outfit and get all dolled up and much to my dismay she LOVES to shop. I hate it and hate to spend money so she does not get to do it very often. She began painting on canvases a little bit too.

I went to my first scrapbooking convention with Jennifer in Sept. We stayed 3 days in a hotel and scrapbooked like crazy! I want to do this again!!!

For fall break we took the kids to the Smokies...We stayed at 3 very nice places...the first one was Comfort Suites...brand new!!! The second was an indoor water park, Wilderness at the Smokies, and the third was a quaint place in Gatlinburg. Our intentions were to go over the mountains, into the National Park and take the kids to Cherokee North Carolina. Well, we began the trek and the road was closed due to ice and snow! FUN TIMES! We spent a while at Sugar-lands visitor center hoping for a thaw, but gave up and went shopping.

In the beginning of December, John and I took a cruise to Mexico. It was so wonderful! I love Mexico! Of course I love the vanilla. Progresso was very nice, warm, and pretty. We took an excursion out on our own and went to the Mayan ruins and to Medira, the capital of the Yucatan peninsula. I enjoyed Progresso very much. In Cozumel, we went into San Miguel did a bunch of shopping, hung out on the public beach (even got LARGE shells), and bought me a new engagement ring (I had lost my diamond out of my other one at work...and this time I wanted a white gold one). We even spent a large amount of time in Mega Market...got some blue plax (we love this stuff and cannot find it ANYWHERE), some herbal mint toothpaste (again, we cannot find it anywhere), some candy, and popcorn. We then headed back to the pier to look for some more goodies and purchase that all important VANILLA! I did get tons of vanilla! We met some great folks on the boat and we liked every single one of them. I have to write them some emails and maybe meet them again on another cruise. Another cruise? Yep, I am all ready looking for next years trip!


It has been a wonderful year....Trevor's therapy seems to be going well. We have gotten to stop Atropine drops and patches for the time being. We have gone him 2 pairs of RX specs and one pair of glasses (soon to be another pair) because we are currently going back and forth on the scripts. Hannah is still super skinny, tall, and beautiful. Her room is still messy and she doesn't read as much as she used to. I blame that on the school setting her a high goal, too high of levels of books, and pushing her too hard. So therefore, she does not enjoy it anymore :(

John was very sad Mayfield did not win the championship game this year, but he did see lots of good games. He saw the Cards 5 or 6 times, every Mayfield football game but one (the championship game...he was on a cruise but listened to the whole game), he even started watching some Lone Oak games because Trevor really likes them. He and Trevor have set up a football field and a baseball area in the backyard because they are out there alot just playing ball.

I am smiling because I have such a wonderful family. I am very blessed and grateful to have each and every one of them (except maybe the cat...I might get rid of her).