It's time to say good-bye to 2010! I thought I'd post some of my favorite photos and memories of this past year month-by-month.
January
January started a new life for all of us - fittingly at the beginning of the new year. We put our house on the market and decided to take a leap of faith that we would sell it in one of the worst housing markets in history.
And we all looked forward to a lot of changes!
February was all about cleaning the house. And showing the house. And cleaning the house. And showing the house. Over and over and over again.
And Andrew started really reading for fun!
And I started wearing reading glasses. Ugh.
March
In March, we sold the house (still can't believe we sold it so quickly!) and bought a new one.
And we dealt with inspection after inspection and then negotiation after negotiation on both houses after the inspections found problems at both houses. It was the craziest month of the year.
April
On April 1, Libby pulled the best April Fool's Day prank ever on Daddy. You can read about it all here.
And we moved.
In May, we had to say good-bye to my grandmother. :( This was a life-changing weekend in many ways for me. I think I'm still working through all of it.
We did a lot of unpacking.
And Emily donated her hair again.
June
We really started settling into the house in June and totally fell in love with it.
Took some photos for Father's Day.
And took our first trip to the beach.
July consisted of a lot of beach and pool time. Probably the most relaxing summer the kids and I have ever had. We missed Maine tremendously but spending the 4th of July at the beach wasn't so bad, either.
And played in our vacation room. Still love this room and can't wait for the sun to shine again.
I had some minor surgery and having such a beautiful room for my recovery was lovely.
We sent Emily away to camp for a week and I cried buckets.
And we fenced in part of the yard. This was HUGE for us because it gave Sawyer total freedom. I love this fence.
August started out in a glorious manner. Day after day at the beach with friends.
Emily got braces!
We played in the water a bit more.
And then the fun stopped. And school started. A new school for all the kids. Change. Fear. Anxiety. And tears. A lot of tears.
September
In September, Libby broke her arm. Actually, it was broken in August but it took 2 weeks to get a proper reading of the x-ray and to get it casted.
And Libby had her first horse show.
Poor Emily was so unhappy at school that I don't even have any photos of her taken during September. She spent much of the month crying and begging us to let her go back to the previous school. This was probably the hardest thing she's ever gone through.
October
October started off with Libby's seizure when she got her cast off. While it took us all by surprise, she bounced back faster than ever and we moved on. Again.
Fall truly came to Indiana and found Tom and I enjoying some evenings out with friends and really enjoying some couple time.
Emily finally started settling into the new middle school and accepting her new life.
And I broke out the sewing machine for first time in over a year. Quilting keeps me sane.
We had snow early this year!
And the cozy days brought more time for quilting.
And one of the highlights of the year for me! Tom and I got away!!!!! For only the second time in over 13 years, we were able to take a trip without the kids. It was a very quick 24-hour trip but it was exactly what we needed.
December brought a lot of snow - all month long! And a lot of sledding with friends.
Decorating was a lot of fun this year!
And December also brought the first year that our Christmas tree fell down.
Emily truly loving her new school!!! And excelling at every bit of it. :)
And then Christmas. :)
2010 was not a "normal" year for us. It was a year full of change, fear, transitions, a lot of hard work (both physically and mentally), a year of re-grouping, prioritizing, and dedication to making things work. In the end, as I sit here on the last day of the year and think back on all of it, I'm sure that all of the decisions we made were probably the best decisions we've ever made.
We took many leaps of faith this year. And made many decisions to just keep forging ahead, not knowing what the future would hold, but believing that as long as we were all together, it would all work out.
And I do believe that we were right. :)
Happy New Year!