My focus for this post will be a reflection of 2008:
What a year 2008 was! One of the blessings I’ve received from the past year is the knowledge of how good and comforting it is to have God standing beside us during each and every moment of our lives. It is sometimes easier to notice/lean on Him when we are struggling with situations in our lives, but it is just as important to be aware of Him when things are going well.
2008 began (as you know from the previous post) with Sara and I enjoying our time with our friends in Idaho. It has been wonderful that this seems to be an annual visit that we are able to make. Since my job allows me to have two weeks off from work during this time of the year, this has proved to be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with them that doesn’t feel rushed.
In April, Sara and I were invited to enjoy the weekend at the Oregon Coast with my family. It was one of the rare trips we are able to take altogether because it is sometimes difficulty to find a time and location that we can all get to together. It was a wonderful time, and Sara and I are both looking forward to the next time we get an opportunity to do it again.
Sara and I were also excited to get a chance to visit Disneyland again in June. This time we were able to enjoy our visit with her family. It was our nephew’s and niece’s first visit to Disneyland, and we really enjoyed watching their excitement and sharing the experience with them. Since we drove down with Sara’s parents, we were able to enjoy seeing the Redwoods as we returned home. In all of the times/trips I’ve taken to California, this has not been something I had seen before. It was a truly amazing area where I found myself in awe of the Lord’s majesty.
July was exciting for us since our friends from Idaho came out to visit us. An extra bonus surprise was that they came a day earlier than we had expected. I came home from work and they were hiding in the back room to surprise me. It was a wonderful surprise, and it gave us an extra day with them!
October and November of this last year was probably the hardest time of the year for Sara and I. We had a loss of some family members during this time. It was a blessing to be able to have our friends Scott (in October) and Jessica (in November) out for a weekend. We both enjoyed the time we were able to spend with them during their visits.
December was here before we knew it! The end of December was complicated with some crazy Oregon weather! We had a lot of snow and rather slippery roads. It ended up changing Christmas plans a little bit, but we were still able to enjoy time with family over the holidays before catching a plane to return to Idaho for a week.
Our year ended as it began . . . in Idaho! Sara and I have mentioned to each other how nice it is to be able to do this. We are hoping that as the years continue, we are able to have the time and resources to make this an annual tradition for our family.
Time in Boise allowed us much time to relax and enjoy being with our friends. We enjoyed a gift of a night in Cascade at the Ashley Inn and were also able to visit Bogus Basin. We were able to meet a new member of their family: Sophie. As always, there was much laughter, good times and we hated to see it come to an end. I did discover that I either need to become faster or better at my Disney trivia. I am not quite the Disney expert/nerd that I thought I was! Jessica seems to currently hold that title ;-)
As we are into 2009, I am looking forward to what adventures lie ahead for this year. I will also—hopefully—not have to summarize these adventures for you in a year from now, but will be disciplined enough to share them with you much closer to when they happen. Only time will tell, but it seems to be a job that Superman can handle!
Below is the pictoral summary of 2008:
2 comments:
Great post! I love the pictures at the end. Sophie looks so cute running her little heart out. I can't believe the year went by so fast. That trip to the coast seemed like yesterday. Can't wait to do it again.
Wow - how fast that year went by! Man O' Man!! Love the post & the idea of keeping our annual tradition going.....
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