As 2013 closes...

I get to have a moment of reflection.  I see all these post on Facebook about how their past year has been.  Sometimes I can smile and laugh with those memories.  And sometimes I tear up as I remember those memories right along with them.

And at other times I learn more about their lives.  While most of my friends on Facebook aren't people I've ever met in real life I'm connected to them.

So here is my moment of reflection:

In 2013 we completed a tough year.  We had my Mother and Father In Law visit along with my two Brother In Laws.  They came to be with us during our rough time.

We buried our son at the end of January. 

Slowly we moved on with our lives. 

We celebrated Kyler's 8th Birthday and then Quinton's 6th Birthday.

We kept as busy as we could.  The boys with school and swimming lessons and friends.  Arnold worked and I volunteered at school.

In April I was offered a new job at church.  I worked there and volunteered at school. It was so nice to have something to do that really gave back to my family.

During the summer we had a full house.  My nieces from Cambridge came to spent most of the summer with us.  It was a great experience!  We had so much fun! The kids did day camps; church camps; zoo camps.; then another camp in Sarnia.  and back again fro some fun after the long weekend.  It was great.

At the beginning of the summer Quinton and Arnold went to Alberta to have some fun.  They both enjoyed their time with family and checking things out.

At the end of August my dad started radiation treatment for his cancer.  And while he did that we also found out that my Mother In Law was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Our lives have been caught up in learning more about cancer and living each day to the fullest.

We also moved my parents into a new house.  It was kind of hard.  It was the house I had known, and had a lot of our family memories. While their move was only around the block it's a change for all of us. 

September brought some new fun.  Kyler was in grade 3 and Quinton was in grade 1!  What a change to do full day school.  Jack was a big help getting the kids off to school when I went to work.  I also began working every day as a lunch room supervisor!

Shortly before the end of September I got to go to a wine weekend with some incredible girls!  We has a blast!!  While we were there Arnold got to speak to our real estate agent. When I returned we began our hunt for our house.

We found a house, purchased a house and moved in all in less than a month!  It was a crazy month for us.  We tired to close on my birthday but it didn't quite work out that way.

Our new house took up a lot of our time.  We tore out the carpet upstairs and put down new flooring, including the subfloor and click laminate. I painted the room.  This is all after demoing a wall that was between the two rooms.  It was a lot of work.  We also tore up the basement floor and the ceiling.

We finally moved in, with the help of a lot of people from church and Arnold's work, one of the last few weekend in November.

On November 28th we went out and got our Christmas tree.  This is the way we remember Otis's Birthday :)  So far it's working!  We enjoyed getting the tree and bringing it home and setting it up.  I'm so proud of it.

The boys and I started celebrating Christmas right from the beginning of December.  I finished working in the church office and was now back to school full time.  Arnold was lucky enough to take a few days to work from home and get some things done at the new house so his hours were a bit all over the place. 

Just after school ended we had the blackout from the ice storm.  While spending some time at Arnolds work the first day to keep warm we ended up in Sarnia.  Arnold "worked from home" the Tuesday then had the rest of the week off.  Arnold and Jack headed back to Sarnia on the Saturday and our power went on shortly afterwards.  The little dudes and I came back to Toronto on the Sunday to a nice warm house!

And now... as the year ends I'm taking a moment or two to reflect on how this year has gone.  And while it didn't start out as a happy year I'm glad that this year is over and a new one begins.  While tomorrow may just be another day it is the first day in a new year.  I pray that God will grant us a year that we will remember; a year that we can spend praising Him; and most of all a year where we make incredible memories with our family.

Happy New Year Readers!  Enjoy these last few moments of 2013 and bring in 2014 with a smile!