It has been an interesting year. 2008 brought many changes, lots of challenges. I think that it has not been one of my favorite years in my life, but I think that I will look back on this year later in my life and say, "That was where great changes began in me. That was where the growth started." It has been a tough year in many ways, but I can think back on other times in my life where it got tough for a while right before it got really amazing. I believe that is what 2009 will be--a year of seeing fruit where seeds were sown.
I keep a planner every year and I write memorable events in it as the days pass. Here are some memorable things that happened this year, 2008 (as according to my planner):
January 2: Quinn started walking.
January 7: Our two year anniversary.
January 10-12: A trip to Dubai for our anniversary.
January 13: Quinn went to the hospital because of a nasty stomach flu.
February 4-6: First felt quickening with Claire. I was 16 weeks pregnant.
February 23: Two years anniversary of the time we spent in Bahrain.
March 1: Back to the States from Bahrain.
March 4: Shawn and I passed the National Registry exam for EMT-Bs.
March 15: Shawn went to Harrisonville for testing during the application process for this job.
March 22: Shawn's 30th birthday.
March 27: Shawn offered job in Harrisonville.
April 5: Moved into our house in Harrisonville.
April 7: Shawn started job in Harrisonville.
April 15: Started my first garden EVER.
April 23: Kai's adoption finalized.
May passed relatively uneventfully.
June 13-15: I went to Louisville, KY for the Passion for Birth Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator seminar. My mom joined me.
July: The early part of July was spent developing, writing, printing and organizing my Lamaze course design.
July 27: Claire Elizabeth Cherri born at 2:56 AM, weighing 10 pounds, 3 ounces.
August 13: My first attempt at pressure canning.
September 8: Kai's first day of Playschool.
September 13-20: Shawn went to the National Fire Academy in Maryland for training in Community Education.
September 15-20: The kids and I visited my parents in Indiana; our first trip to their house there.
September 27: I learned to knit. I still haven't finished the scarf I started that day.
October 24: Attended the Kansas City Doula conference.
November 4: I turned 27 years old.
November 13: I began taking ballet classes again for the first time in years.
November 15: Kai turned 4 years old. That day we went to the circus for the first time.
December 8: Quinn's 2nd Birthday.
I pray that all of you reading this have a joy-filled and exciting new year--goodbye, 2008.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Our Family
I am usually the one taking all the family pictures anyway, snapping pictures while the kids play. This means that I rarely have my picture taken (thankfully!). While we were all dressed up post-church, Grame Cherri took a few pictures of us at the Cherri Orchard. They turned out so (surprisingly) well that I had to post them on the blog.
So here, we are--Me, Claire (5 months), Quinn (2 years), Shawn and Kai (4 years.)
Christmas 2008
Shawn worked this year on Christmas. His brother, sister-in-law and their daughter were doing Christmas activities with my sister-in-law's family, so we thought it might work out best if we all had Cherri Christmas at the Cherri Orchard the day after Christmas. After Shawn got off work on Christmas evening, we drove over to the Cherri's house.
Last week at school, Kai made "Magic Reindeer Food" which consisted of dried oats and glitter. It had a little paper attached to it that said to sprinkle this on the lawn on Christmas Eve. Before he went to bed on Christmas night, we took him outside so he could leave some food for the reindeer. He also left some milk and cookies for Santa, which Quinn took bites out of while we weren't looking.
We made sure to put it in a place it would be easy to sweep up. Kai is quite astute and I'm sure he would have known something was up if he had come out the next morning and there was still "Magic Reindeer Food" on the ground. He would discover the painful truth that there is no Santa well before his time.
Christmas morning we got up and ate french toast together as a family: Grame and Granda Cherri, Shawn, Kai, Quinn, Claire, Joe, Matt, Ashley Teal, Dolce and me (and Bo). We started opening presents and the kids had a blast! I think the adults had a lot of fun, too. I am thankful for a new blender, some pregnancy books and some clothes from Shawn and his parents. Shawn got a group gift from all of us--a tent. The kids got all sorts of little goodies from Grame and Grandpa, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Gabriel. We had a lovely Christmas dinner and spent the rest of the day playing with our new toys, eating and napping.
Christmas Morning 2008
Christmas Morning 2008, Part 2
Christmas Morning 2008, Part 3
Christmas Morning 2008, Part 4
Christmas Morning 2008, Part 5
Shawn shows Quinn her Christmas horse.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Quinn's 1st (2nd) Birthday
As you guys are sending in your Mother of the Year Award nominations, just remember that my daughter never had a first birthday party. Last year, Shawn was in Australia when Quinn turned one. Since it was just the two kids and myself at home, I didn't make a big fuss (or even a cake) on December 8th. Life started moving so fast and in the mix, we didn't ever celebrate Quinn's 1st birthday formally. Sad, but true.
To make up for it, this year we made sure to celebrate it with cake and ice cream. Family, presents--the whole works.
Quinn checking out the horse-themed cake Grame Cherri made.To make up for it, this year we made sure to celebrate it with cake and ice cream. Family, presents--the whole works.
Pictures from the Cherri Orchard
This weekend we went to Shawn's parents' house, affectionately dubbed the Cherri Orchard. I decided to post a random assortment of photos we took during our stay there.
Cousins! Dolce, Ilene and Kai hang out on the couch.
Claire hangs out with Daddy.
A Morning Outside
A couple weeks ago, it was supposed to be in the low 60s one morning, then have really low temperatures with snow and ice in the afternoon. We decided it might be the last time in a while that the kids could play outside, so that is how we spent the morning.
Here's Shawn showing the kids how to play hopscotch.
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