Ta Ta, 2009

It's 2010! Am I the only one who thought we might all be riding in hovercrafts by now?!

I know Christmas was two weeks ago, and I am totally Christmas-ed out, but if I don't blog about it, I won't remember it, so bear with me.
On Christmas Eve we had dinner with our friends Tina and Alex, Tina's mom, and their son Nicholas. Last Christmas Chad and Alex were just coworkers, and I hadn't met Tina yet. Then Chad and Alex were deployed together, Tina and I hit it off, the kids all play nicely together, and the rest is history. You know I like Tina if I actually agreed to play Christmas carols on her piano while everyone sang along! (Sorry, no video of that.) I am thankful for her friendship and support during the toughest 4-1/2 months of 2009.

Nicholas and Elliott are excited to watch Frosty the Snowman.

Back at home, it was time for Christmas pajamas and putting cookies out for Santa. Not sure why Abbey is grimacing, she was pretty excited!

I think Elliott thought she was about to get cookies too.

Fast forward through bedtime, "some assembly required," and Santa cookies being consumed. Then waking up, opening presents, eating cinnamon rolls, and of course the best part...

... Christmas candy.

Okay, maybe not the best part, but definitely the most instant gratification.

I love staying home for Christmas!

The rest of the end of 2009 was a lot of fun, but you will just have to take my word for it. I left the camera memory card in the computer before we hit the road for 8 days and 1200 miles of family fun. Whoops. Fortunately, Chad's dad, Pappaw Bill, took some pictures during our visit with him.

Newman Girls Gone Country


Pappaw Bill and the Newman Girls on the Go

We rang in the new year at my mom's house in Fort Worth, were able to visit with childhood friends we hadn't seen in years, and celebrated Christmas with my family. It was a great way to end one year and begin a new one.

Thinking back to a year ago, I was EXTREMELY anxious about 2009. Chad's deployment was fast approaching and I did not see how I was going to make it through without totally falling apart. Also coming up was Abbey starting kindergarten. But throughout the whole year I kept reminding myself: Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. (Philippians 4:6-7a) And you know what? It's true! I am not going to try and say that I felt at peace every moment of this trying year. But I have learned that if you are looking for things that God has done in your life, and thanking Him for them, you are going to feel his peace, and your worries will look totally different in light of it. I want to think about whatever happens in 2010 this way too.

I hope that your 2010 is off to a good start and that is a happy, healthy, fun and blessed year for us all.