1. Baby!
Without a doubt, the top spot goes to our sweet daughter’s birth. Michaela Joy born in May of this year. I love her more than I ever could have imagined. It has been a life-changing experience in the best possible way. If you’re married and on the fence about kids, DON’T BE! Children are such a blessing! She is such a blessing!
2. Daddy!
This may be cheating a little as it is an ongoing event and it goes along with #1, but another highlight has been seeing my husband as a dad! I’m not even being biased here: He is the best dad and a better father than I ever imagined he would be! I mean, I knew he would be a great dad, but seeing those dreams come to life before my eyes has been wonderful. He is loving and patient, yet adventurous and fun. She knows she is completely safe with him and that he has her best in mind (even if her little 8-month mind can’t put that into words quite yet…). It has been an awesome picture of what our relationship with our Heavenly Father is and should be like. It truly is amazing!
3. Family!
We have been so blessed with opportunities to spend time with both of our families so that they could meet and get to know Michaela. Both parents spent time with us right after she was born.
June: We flew to El Paso to visit my husband’s parents and granddad.
(this pictures is actually from our Christmas visit… I couldn’t find the one we took with him in June)
July: Then we flew to CA for a wedding and Michaela met her uncles, aunt, great-grandparents, and lots of other relatives. HUGE highlight was also finding out we will welcome a niece/nephew in Feb 2013! My brother and his wife are just 6 weeks away from their due date.
Another HUGE highlight was welcoming a new niece (River Grace – just 10 days older than Michaela) and new nephew (Micah Thomas). In September, we spent a weekend in the Dallas area
where Michaela met her new cousins on Tim’s side of the family.
Nov-Dec: Then we spent time with both sides of the family for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Lots of travel makes for a sick baby and (hopefully) good future immune system, right?
4. School & Work!
Not many people would put an exclamation mark behind those two words, but we’ve had some exciting changes on those fronts! I know it was one of my few posts earlier, but I’ll say it again: Tim was promoted to Captain this year! He also started his MBA/MHA through Baylor (Army-Baylor) here in San Antonio. Sic ‘em Bears!
UPDATE: One of the biggest highlights came when we found out his internship will be in Modesto, CA next year!! I couldn’t be more excited to spend a year close to family! We are so blessed to have this opportunity as part of the military where you rarely (if EVER) get a say in where you go next. Wow. I still can’t believe this is true. California, here we come!
5. Extracurricular!
In our world, extracurricular really just means ‘sports.’
This year Tim helped coach the All Air Force basketball team to their 6th straight gold medal in the Armed Forces Basketball Tournament. His shoulder injury and school schedule kept him from playing, but he enjoyed coaching just as much. Almost.
I completed my post-baby fitness goal of running my first (and likely only) half marathon. Yikes. It was a great experience, but more exhausting than I expected. Now that we’re a couple months passed it, I can look back with a little more fondness. Who knows? Maybe that running bug will come back and I’ll want to do another one… not likely though. All in all, it was a good experience and one that I am grateful for! I did enjoy the training and learned a lot from it.
6. Travel!
My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary this year! They wanted us to join in on the celebration, so we all (minus my brother and 8-month pregnant sister-in-law) went to Kauai. Traveling that far with MJ wasn’t easy, but the trip was so worth it. This was definitely one of the highlights of the year! Happy 30th anniversary, Mom & Dad!
There you have it! I’m sure I missed lots of highlights, like my friend Liz and her son coming to visit (why didn’t I take any pictures??). It was a full year, that’s for sure. Looking forward to 2013! I’ve got some goals and things on my heart for this year. Hopefully I’ll get around to sharing them with you soon… like before the next New Year.
Blessings, y’all!
