Our 2008

The past year has flown by so quickly and has had many ups and downs for us. I thought it would be neat to look over the past year and remember what we have been through...

January- We started the new year off with a one month old baby and a 2 1/2 year old. We also got our goats and llama this month.

February- This was a fairly uneventful month. We discovered Claire's "stork-bites" and hemangiomas. Truett had lots of fun playing with goats while we anticipated them having babies. He also became FULLY potty trained, which was a huge relief!

March- We celebrated my mom's birthday here at our house (I won't say her age, but it was a big one!) It was so much fun to have our entire family over all at once. Claire also had her first Easter this month and our goats began having babies...so cute!

April- Truett went on his first camping trip with Daddy and Papa at Buffalo Lake. This month was life-changing because we lost someone that we loved very much. On April 29th my childrens PaPa and my dad passed away. Not a day goes by that I don't think of him and miss him.

May- This was my birthday month! Truett and Claire also had their confirmation at church on my birthday, which was Mothers' Day as well. Claire went from sleeping with mom and dad to sleeping in her crib like a champ!

June- Claire got her first tooth this month and also started trying to crawl. We also took our first family vacation as a family of 4. It was tons of fun!

July- Claire is crawling like a champ now! Truett was away from us for the first time (other than staying with family members) because he went to VBS! He also learned how to pedal his tricycle.

August- Truett turned 3! We celebrated with a big party at our house and Rhett and I took Truett to Joyland to spend some one on one time with him for his birthday. We spent lots of time outside this month doing various activities.

September- Claire said her first words "byebye." Truett started Thursday School this month...we both love it!

October- Claire got her ears pierced and had her first Halloween. We also visited the corn maize and pumpkin patch to celebrate fall. This was Rhett's birthday month!

November- Claire turned one year old! She also started walking this month. We also started realizing just how much Truett has changed and grown....he learns so fast! We also lost a dear friend, Patty Mote, this month.

December- Rhett and his brother bought a camper this month for us to have fun in...or so they say, haha. ;-) I spent lots of time in the kitchen making Christmas goodies and we all had a wonderful Christmas with our family. Our beloved Caeser passed away this month, leaving our heart with an empty feeling. We then got a new puppy named Cooper to help the kids cope.

**I know there's a lot I'm missing, but those are the most important things. Other than what I mentioned, we took several small trips to various lakes during the summer and Rhett and Truett attended many Muleshoe H.S. football games...all the way to state! We also worked hard on our house, as usual. We finished our kitchen, put in new carpet in all bedrooms, wood flooring in living room and hall, refinished cabinets in hall and bathrooms, took down cinder block fence, etc... We're finally getting there!

It's easy for me to look back on 2008 and see nothing but loss and heartache and sometimes it does seem that way, but honestly we are all very blessed...not with material things, but unconditional love from all of our family members, good health, and more importantly- time. Time to spend together, time to love each other.... I'm very privileged to be able to stay at home with my children and watch them every single second as they grow up. We're also privileged in that Rhett has a good job that allows him to spend lots of time with our family. I'm anxious to see what 2009 has in store for us! HAPPY NEW YEAR!