Sunday, January 15, 2012

2011 recap

Well, It has been too long since I have been on here.  And looking at most of my blog list, probably hardly anyone noticed.  I have spent the last few weeks trying to decide if I was going to continue.  I am hoping that our lives have settled down a bit, and I can get back into the habit of posting regularly...mostly for the purpose of recording our family history....journaling...and if anyone is interested, they can continue to follow. 


2011 was quite a year for us.  Good, Bad and Ugly...that is for sure. 
Jeremy's schooling...3 months away from home and countless hours at the Fire Dept...and unfortunately many, many more hours than we anticipated....even worst case scenario.  BUT...he finally got his calls completed this week!  so, we can move on to the next phase...
Lori's Breast Cancer ordeal.  took pretty much all of 2011!  she had one final (hopefully) surgery last week.  Fortunately, she seems to be cancer free...we hope she stays that way.
Her cancer prompted me to finally get my first mammogram at 45...well, probably 44.  which turned out fine. 
When Jeremy came home from Idaho, he brought a friend, classmate...Sam, with his dog, Ottis.  They ended up living with us for about 7 months off and on, sometimes his wife would come and stay.  They were in the process of relocating and finally moved up here in November.  We love them, and really enjoyed having them with us. 
We also had some other friends live with us, while they were in the process of relocating and finding a job.  They were a family of 5.  They mostly slept in the Motorhome and shared the house, kitchen, so they wouldn't go stircrazy in there.  They were with us for about 3-4 months.  It went amazingly well, I think we all felt amazingly blessed through the whole ordeal.  They expected to be here only a week or so tops, but life didn't work out that way.  They had little ones 4 and 6, which was a joy to have around again...and a teen daughter whom Kas LoVeD!!! 
About the same time everyone moved out, we found out the house of our dreams was for sale, and we actually had a shot of getting it.  We were able to move in on Nov 12.  My birthday present.  :)  I painted all day for my birthday.  Everyone was super busy....so I bought myself a pie, and we basically ate it on the fly...but it was still an incredible birthday.  I was moving into a dream house that would be ours!!!It is a big, beautiful house, with a big shop, and 10 acres.  We are in heaven...pretty much. 
We felt very humbled, awed, blessed.  It has been truly amazing.  I think we have experienced enough in life to know that we can't take anything for granted....so, our amazement still continues... 
Business is still going.  I don't think we could live off our construction income if we had to, but it is definitely a nice supplement.  We feel totally blessed in that as well, because many businesses are going under.  At first it was out of towners, which was good, but then some of our friends started going under, especially ones who were hard workers with mad skills....people we care about...and it didn't seem so great.  We have had to take more jobs that we normally would have turned down, when construction was booming, but such is life.  It will be interesting to see what 2012 brings.  Will things continue to go down, or gradually start picking up???  we shall see. 
2011 was a big year for our kids!  Kasidee entered Jr High this year, and turned 13 at the end of the year...which put us into a new era....of a family of teens!  All of my kids being out of Elementary School was a weird thing.. it had me freaked out for a bit.  My daughter going into 'the big school' also was a little hard to take.  But, we are moving forward...and adjusting to this new phase.  Elijah is taking drivers ed...and will get his license.  and Kaleb officially started dating in 2011! 
We also have a new dog, Jack.  He's a male boxer about 4 years old...I think.  Great dog.  pretty much.
I almost forgot 2 things.
My parents and Amber are here for the winter.  Our house has somewhat of a mother in law apartment attached, so they are staying there.  They have been helping out a bunch with updating the house and outbuildings, and stuff.  They have been a great help, and good to have around. 

and....Almost my whole Simpson family came for Christmas.  It was soo great having everyone here, and we really missed those who couldn't come.  I hate living away from everyone. 


Well, I think that is the highlights.  We feel very blessed, and are grateful that the hard things, have worked themselves out, and the blessings have been incredible.  I forgot to mention sports....soccer, football, karate/mma, baseball, basketball, wrestling....we are busy, busy, busy..and very proud parents.  They guys have also been working on kayaking (thanks to Sam) and surfing. 

It will be interesting to see what 2012 has in store for us.  Hopefully, Jeremy will get his paramedic, and still have a job by the end of the year, and we will have done a bunch more to our place.  I know we can count on continued blessings, even along with the hardships.  But, knowing that the Lord is with us....helps us get through every situation.