2010... year in review.

What happened in our family in 2010?

Well, in January Samuel turned 5. Liberty smiled a lot. Aunt Amanda came to visit. Michael, Benjamin, Emilie and Nathanael were in the spelling bee for our homeschool group. Benjamin had 6 teeth pulled and we got a lot of snow.

In February Liberty smiled a lot. We got a big enough table for our family. Kids played Band Hero a lot. (so did Tom) Tom bought a really big TV. Christopher went into a big boy bed. Liberty was blessed.

In March, Nathanael turned 7 and Christopher turned 2. Liberty smiled a lot and rolled over. We got even more snow. Yes, in Amarillo, Texas. Emilie got a hair cut.

In April we went to Utah for a week and Emilie turned 10. We visited Salt Lake City and had a lot of fun exploring BYU again as well as climbing the Y. We saw lots of family. At the same time, Tom was interviewing for a job with Russell Stover candies. We had an enjoyable Easter and Tom also had a birthday.

In May, Tom was offered the position with Russell Stover and we got ready to relocate our family to Kansas City, Missouri. We decided to pack up the house before we found a new one... to get it on the market sooner. We started sorting and getting rid of stuff. Officially, Tom had some time where he was unemployed, homeless, and left his wife and kids at his parents' house... but he did have a job he was starting the next Monday and we did own a home.

June started off on that note but also with our family being in Nauvoo for Tom's sister Amanda's wedding to our new brother (and uncle) Cameron. It was pouring rain and Christopher was puking everywhere, but other than that it was wonderful :). Tom's youngest sister turned 16 the next weekend... again with Christopher puking everywhere. Tom's parents were so patient and so great as to let me and 8 kids stay with them while Tom was in Kansas City starting the new job. We didn't know how long it was going to be, but every weekend saw either me (and Liberty) going to Kansas City or Tom coming to Illinois. We found a home pretty quick but issues led to complications and it worked out that we are renting the home until our house in Amarillo sells (pray for it to sell soon!). And Liberty started crawling.

In July we celebrated Independence Day together, the kids and I also travelled to Kansas City to celebrate "Cow Day" with Dad, and then see Toy Story 3. We also got to see the new temple site, and start moving into our new home. Liberty started cruising along the furniture and smiled a lot.

In August, we saw 110+ temperatures, especially on move in day. We started exploring our new area, started making friends, and started the new school year with homeschooling, and for Michael, high school homeschooling and early morning seminary.

In September there was a really bad microburst that damaged our entire neighborhood and left us without power for a few days. Thankfully temperatures were starting to cool down and it seemed to miss the temple building site completely. Ever since the area has been plastered with roofing company advertisements and signs. We were able to get our roof replaced as well... after all the inspections and paperwork, the roof work got done in November. Our family continued to explore and learn our way around. We also got to go to a Kansas City Royals baseball game, thanks to some friends from church.

In October we took advantage of the free zoo admission for Kansas City residents. The kids and I had a blast exploring a much larger zoo than the one in Amarillo. We went a few times in October and a few times in November. Also in October, Benjamin turned 12 and received the Priesthood. We also had Cedric the hamster join our family. He's a more active family member than Kenny the snake. We also celebrated Halloween. Another big milestone was getting our Timothy out of diapers. Everyone got sick for a while and Samuel even had a trip to the ER for pneumonia. Everyone is well now, of course.

In November, Liberty turned 1 and started to walk, just in time for a trip to Grandma's in Illinois for Thanksgiving. Timothy turned 4 and started writing his name. Michael turned 14 and advanced to a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. We had some cold weather but nothing white... Michael took part in National Novel Writing Month (50K words in 30 days... we didn't see him much... he did 25k which is awesome!)

In December we started out with Benjamin and Emilie taking part in a Geography Bee and holding their own quite well. We got a new camera just in time for some snow... not enough for snowmen or forts yet though. Liberty is getting really good at walking and nods her head yes and no for questions, though she also squeals in different tones to get her meaning across. We celebrated my birthday as well as Christmas.... and then the following week celebrated 15 years of marriage as well as a great New Year's Eve!

We are so thankful for this year, for all the changes, good and bad, for all the experiences, also good and bad and sometimes just odd or frustrating. We are happy, healthy, learning, growing, busy, we have friends and family, near and far. We have hope, we have faith, we have our knowledge and beliefs.

Bring on 2011 and let's see where it takes us! If it's anything like 2010, I look forward to it all!