30 December 2007

2007 in Review

Happy New Year everybody! I can't believe this year is coming to a close, and I haven't even had time to tell you about Christmas! I guess we'll have to wait until Jan. So I thought I'd close out this year with a review on our busy, busy year!

1. Sariah was born late 2006 & we spent all of 2007 watching our beautiful baby turn in to a fun, active, bright, personable toddler. She's such a good learner! She loves to run around, read books, ask "What's that?", meet new people, say "Hi!". Its such a change from baby, and its been so much fun all year round! Our lives have been blessed since she's around!

2. We've had lots of fun visits! My friend Jess visited us in Jan., my friend, Richard, came in May, Doug's sister & family (or as I like to call them, Jenny & the boys) visited us in June, and Doug's parents came to visit at the end of July! Each trip had its memorable moments and we enjoyed having everyone. We hope they come again!

There were also lots of fun trips. Sariah is quite the traveler! She and I took 3 trips together. Once to Austin in March, to Cleveland in June for Richard & Chrissie's wedding, and then to Utah to visit my Oma and see my nephew's blessing in October. Finally, all three of us went back to Utah for Christmas, where we got to see family, including Doug's Grandparents, his Aunt & Cousins & his Sister, Susan & Chris. Each trip was really great. I miss seeing everyone often! Sariah's really good on a plane, too. Sariah is still free to fly until age 2, so I'm hoping we'll be able to travel again next year, but we'll have to see how money is!

3. Church has been really great. Our ward is full of young families with small kids. Our 3 nurseries are proof of that! Its grown in numbers since we moved to Madison, with new people almost every week (or so it seems!) For example: we just had 2 families move in yesterday!

I am still called as a ward missionary. In August Doug was released from being a ward missionary and called to be the Ward Mission Leader. About that same time our Elders were transferred out and replaced with Sisters. We've enjoyed having the sisters around and being involved in their work. About a month ago, a new family, the Brandon's, were also called as ward missionaries. They've brought a new, revitalizing spirit to our meetings, which is great!

We've tried several new things with missionary work this year. The Missionary kits, the mini-Firesides in peoples homes. We hope next year to continue bringing the spirit of missionary work into our ward. Best of all, there's a Baptism today, which we're looking forward too.

4. Doug's job is continuing to be awesome. Its busy, sometimes stressful, but Doug enjoys it & his co-workers. The perks aren't bad either. The first year and a half has flown by! Doug has had lots of deadlines come and go, and he's doing really well. In July (or Aug,. I can't remember) his whole team had a celebration and all went to see The Simpson Movie, which Doug really enjoyed. We also enjoyed the Anniversary Dinner in April and it was the first big date we had since Sariah was born. I enjoyed getting all pretty and having some time with Doug. The food was really good, too!

5. I've had an up and down year. Early in January and I had some really bad chest pain and we called 911 and went to the emergency room. Turns out I had gallstones and my gallbladder had to be removed. Six weeks later on Feb.19 (after some doctor mix ups and stuff) it was finally removed. By then I had lost 10 lbs. and was really sick of the no fat diet. It was nice to eat real food again! (Which I did too much of, probably.) In June I was having some real weird cramping pain, so I went back to the doctor and had an ultrasound, and to make a long story short, the dr. said it was time I lost some weight, plus my cholesterol was really high (and other stuff that was causing the cramping pain.) So in Oct. I started eating better and exercising, and I had lost 25 lbs. (until I went to Utah and partied too much!)

I've also enjoyed being crafty this year, learning to sew, crocheting an afghan, recently I've been painting things. All things I'm hoping to carry on into the next year!

6. A big one! The Friday before my surgery in Feb. we put an offer on a house and it was accepted! We closed on our first home at the end of March. We love owning our own home. Its been such a blessing to us. Sure, I haven't been really fond of all the snow shoveling (and there's been TONS of it this winter!), but its wonderful to have a place for us. We're really enjoying making improvements. I've even enjoyed planting flower bulbs, which was a suprise to me! A big thanks to everyone who's been so kind in helping us create our new home! I still have tons of new projects to work on next year, but isn't that the fun of owning your own home?

We've been really blessed this year. Next year should be even better. We're looking forward to sharing it with you! We love you all! Happy New Year!!

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