So Long 2009....

Happy New Year
From our family to yours!
Here’s what’s going on with our family……

Alec will be 10 in February and is in 4th grade. He is working on his Webelo badge in scouts and recently won his school-wide spelling bee. He is now entered in the Blue Springs District and Eastern Jackson County bees.

Jason is 14 and in 9th grade at the Blue Springs Freshman Center. His grades are great and he is adjusting to high school life. He has recently started ice skating at the new Independence Events Center and seems to really enjoy it – except for the blisters :)

Hunter graduated from Beresford High School in May and just finished his first semester of college at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. He lives in the dorms and is majoring in Business.

Taryn, Brady and their 3 dogs are well and living in Sioux Falls, SD. Taryn has also gone back to school and works at Wells Fargo and Target. She is a busy, busy girl!

Michael has had quite a year and is working on turning his life around. He lived with us from February to July but is now back in South Dakota. He is also going to school, working at Applebee’s and his band (Empty Without Reason) is making a CD. Autumn is in second grade and lives with her mom in Beresford. She came and stayed with us for 6 weeks this summer.

Brad is doing well and is in his 21st year at DST. He quit playing World of Warcraft and is searching for a new hobby.

As for me, I have taken a couple of Photography classes at UCM in Warrensburg and have learned a lot. I also discovered there is much more to learn. I plan on continuing my quest for photo knowledge in 2010 – but will probably do more self-study than college courses. I found a name for my business – It’s All About the Image – now I just need to decide what type of photography I want to concentrate on and start building a business.

We went on one family trip this year. In August we met Brad’s parents and his sister Tami’s family in Gulf Shores, AL. We all stayed in a condo on the beach. We had a wonderful time!

All in all it has been a good year. Wishing the best to all of you in 2010.

Christmas 2009

Kansas City had it's first white Christmas in many years - and it was a doozy. There were blizzard conditions on Christmas Eve night. Normally we spend Christmas Eve at Mom and Dad's and then they come to our house on Christmas Day. Due to the weather - we did things a little differently. Everyone (see picture) came to our house on Christmas Eve for our traditional chili, eats, sweets and Trivial Pursuit.




Mom, Dad and Vanessa spent the night with us and were here for Christmas morning. It was great to have them here on Christmas morning and they didn't have to get out in the blizzard. (well me and Dad did for a little while - but that's another story). Anyway, Trent and family went home around 10:00pm since they were going to the Wilson's on Christmas Day. They arrived safe and sound after dropping off Jill's boyfriend Josh and then picking up Jake's friend Tim. Mom, Dad and Nan stayed until around 4:00 on Christmas Day. The roads probably weren't much better than they were the night before - but at least it was daylight and had stopped snowing. It was quite an ordeal to dig their cars out of our driveway. Brad and the boys helped. I mostly stood in the garage doorway and yelled "watch out!", "stop!" and "be careful!" to everyone. :)


All in all - I really enjoyed our Christmas this year.
I guess we aren't quite done yet. Taryn, Brady, Hunter and Autumn will be here in a couple days for their Christmas visit with us. Looking forward to seeing them!

what's been going on since last I posted....

Ryne, Seth, Alec and Jason with their Great Grandmother - Thanksgiving 2009

Nov 7 - My poor baby Alec had strep throat for the first time in his 9 years of life.
Nov 9 - my mother-in-law had a birthday - Happy Birthday Maxine!
Nov 15 - I attended a baby shower for my friend Crystal. I am so happy for her. She has wanted another baby for quite awhile and her dream finally came true (with a little help from medical science).
Nov 21 - We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with my family at Mom and Dad's. It was great fun and the food was all very yummy!
Nov 24 - We drove 11 hours to Pineville, LA to spend Thanksgiving with Brad's family.
Nov 25-28 - We enjoyed the nice Fall weather in Louisiana and of course we greatly enjoyed spending time with Maxine, Charles, Mammaw Willis, Tami, Shawn, Ryne and Seth. The boys spent most of every day outside just being boys.
The night of Nov 28 - we drove the 11 1/2 hours back. It took a bit longer going home since we went through Little Rock - but it felt much safer driving on the Interstate instead of those curvy, narrow, 2-lane roads in western Arkansas. However, both coming and going we made better time than ever before because we traveled at night. The boys slept most of the time and we rarely stopped. In the past, the same trip has taken up to 13 hours.
Nov 30 - back to our normal routine and back to school for the boys
Dec 1 - Alec's 4th grade class performed Christmas songs at the Blue Springs Mayor's Christmas tree lighting ceremony. It was a fun time and the first taste of the Christmas season - old favorite Christmas songs, lights, decorations, Santa hats, red & green, chilly temperatures, hot chocolate and Santa himself.
Dec 3 - Brad's oldest son - Michael - turned 27. Happy Birthday Michael! You have made great strides in 2009. Keep it up!
Also on Dec 3 - I turned in my final portfolio for my Nature and Scenic Class. If you are interested - you can find it here. I think that will be my last class for awhile. Not that I have learned everything I need to know - I just am going to find other ways to learn more. Maybe take an online class, self study Photoshop and maybe even try to find a job with an experienced photographer. I also plan to keep taking pictures and more pictures and working to build my own business - It's All About the Image.

So that brings us up to today.... This afternoon, Alec and I are going caroling with the cub scouts at an Alzheimer's care center in Independence. Then tonight I am meeting 7 wonderful ladies for dinner at Carmen's Cafe. This will the first time our book club has gotten together in couple of years. There should be another truly wonderful friend with us tonight but breast cancer took her life much too early - at the young age of 44 - 7 weeks ago today. We are meeting tonight in her honor. I truly believe that she will be with us tonight in spirit.