So I got my visiting teaching done by the middle of the month instead of the end!!! I have to say I have the best, sweetest companion! Sheri, you know who you are!
I really loved this month's message because it kind of sums up our lives for the past year!
There have been so many tragedies for and in our family. My brother-in-law is still recovering from his latest trip to Iraq with his 30th surgery yesterday. My Aunt passed away from lung cancer. My Mother-in-law passed away after a 2 year battle with ovarian cancer. My husband is having health issues that are still unknown. We have been stuck in a little 3 bedroom townhouse that we outgrew when we moved into it four and a half years ago. And our best friends moved to Colorado a few weeks ago leaving a huge hole in our hearts and more time to ourselves than we know what to do with. Yes, we spent a lot of time together.
With all these problems that made for a really bad year one person commented to me earlier and said "Your family has a dark cloud following you everywhere! I don't understand how you get through each day." My first response was "well, I suppose we could just give up and quit". But the propper response has always been to take things one day at a time and trust that Heavenly Father will get us through those hard times.
This year was more than just hardship and pain. We made many wonderful memories. Robert was able to visit his brother in NC in February and we all got to spend quality time with Robert's mom before she passed away. I was able to bring my family to Moccasin and enjoy some time with my extended family before my Aunt passed away, and after. We all were able to attend my favorite cousin's wedding before my Aunt died and hung out with lots of cousins and family we hadn't seen in a while. Robert got a new truck - his brother was kind enough to give us his old 4runner after the accident that destroyed the purple beast (thinking twice befor the kids get to take driver's ed.-- Robert got hit twice, in two different vehicles, by two different high school girls!). Dan was not supposed to drive a stick anymore so, of course, he drove it from NC to WY on their way to take care of their mom as she passed away. Robert and I made a trip to UT and spent some quality time together trying to get some diagnosis on whatever it is that he has. Again we were blessed to see family. The kids got to see their Grandpa Briggs out of the deal too.
Robert's brother and sister-in-law were finally able to bless their marriage. We all went to NC to celebrate. It was the most relaxing and stress free vacation I had in a while. Robert went skydiving. The kids got their first rifle (which was left in NC) and got to go shooting with their Uncle, dad and a few other new friends. We made lots of new friends while we were out there!
We enjoyed the company of our best friends for Thanksgiving, a tradition that was started when we moved to Sheridan. Six families and a lot of food and a lot of fun!!!
We really have had more blessings than sadness this year. The following quote from this month's Visiting Teaching Lesson sums up this year very well:
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
I made the background using the masking tape technique. I used Sunny Yellow, Sunflower, Dutch Blue, Outdoor Denim, and Olive or Topiary inks. All from Close to my Heart. Happy Haunting stamp set from CTMH, and the awesome witch from Inkadinkado I embossed with Black EP after stamping with black ink. Layered that on some really old, retired Sunflower B&T (CTMH again) then onto a Black card. I distressed the Sunflower B&T with black ink, too. This was a fun card to make!