2012 in Review

So where did the last 365 days go?  Well one at a time they passed into history, that's where.  I am thankful that I still write in my journal at least once a week because this online blogging still hasn't caught on for me.  I do however log in often to read what everyone else is blogging about.  Sounds kind of nosy huh?  Oh well.


So 2012 is over.  Let's see how things went.

January:
  We live in a new house, which is a huge disaster.  Boxes and boxes of stuff in every room.  No pictures on the wall which makes the house echo.  I lived with the everyday surreal feeling of facing the fact that we now live in Las Vegas and I don't have a job to help define me anymore.  January brought Hepatitis A shots for all 4 girls as Nevada requires them for school when Wyoming does not.  Courtney and Renae started school on January 10th.  Shelbylyn & Delanie started on January 24th.  Dan left for Carson City two weeks after our arrival for at least 4 weeks.


February:
Still living in a new house.  I am dreadfully depressed.  5 hours alone everyday is horrible.  Not sure how I managed to function for the kids.  I continued to work on putting things away in this new cavern.  The girls were miserable too.  School here in Las Vegas is a whole new can of worms that we never could have imagined in our game of What If.  Dan is still gone to Carson City for training.  I spend at least 6 to 7 hours a day indexing names on Family Search.

March:
No more boxes to unpack.  Dan flew home for a weekend because we were about to jump ship and return to Wyoming without him.  I can honestly say I have never been so lonely ever.  I tried valiantly to keep a smile and bloom where I had been planted, but seriously, I was ready to leave.  Even my smarty pants Delanie would come home and tell me how she hated school.  WHAT!  The kid who lived for school, hated it here.  We were in big trouble.  My parents visit for a week to celebrate my Mom finishing radiation and getting to go back to work. 

April:
Spring break!  Yea!  Guess where we went, oh that's right.  We loaded up the car and the dog and the 5 of us hit the road for Wyoming.  Is it wrong to be so attached to the place that 3 of your 4 babies were born, where every single one of them started Kindergarten, were baptized and so many other life defining events happened?  We had a great week of eating at our favorite restaurants, none of which exist in Las Vegas, seeing friends and just being with family.

May:
Homesick kicks in again.  We have lots of company from Wyoming which helps.  The girls are counting down to the end of school. I continue to index alot!  Dan buys us a above ground pool, and swimming becomes an every day activity.  Things are getting better. Courtney turns 9.

June:
School is over finally.  It is getting hot!  I fly to Houston for two weeks to help out my bestie after she has major surgery.  It was a great two weeks of couch sitting, movie watching and food eating. The bestie makes me a to die for german chocolate cake with homemade carmel pecan frosting for my 27th,  ok my 37th birthday.  Then I flew home to get ready for the bestie and kids to come for a week long visit.

July:
HOT, that is how July was.  Fast another word to describe July.  The bestie and kids arrive and spend a fabulous week with us over the 4th.  Then it was time to get down to business and get ready for you guessed it a trip to Wyoming. We traded in the Denali for a 2011 Toyota Sienna.  The Denali turned out to be a real lemon and had been in the shop more than any other vehicle we had ever owned.  The van is gray and not flashy purple but I do enjoy driving it and it gets way better gas mileage.  23 days in Wyoming coming right up.  Shelbylyn & Delanie traveled with the youth of our Ward to Cokeville and then Martin's Cove for the pioneer trek.  Renae, Courtney & I left the same day and picked them up at the Cove 5 days later.  The remainder of our trip was spent between Casper & Gillette with a few day trips to Rapid City, South Dakota.  We finished school shopping as well.

August:
We returned to Las Vegas.  Delanie started marching band camp.  It was beyond HOT, like face of the sun hot.  We only ventured outside for short periods of time.  School starts a new year.  Delanie is super happy as a freshman, Renae is over the moon to be in middle school.  Shelbylyn is getting better at being ok with Las Vegas and Courtney still wonders what all the fuss is about.  Life is getting better.
We have settled into a routine.  We are pulling out of the funk.  And then...Dan gets called into the Bishopric of our new Ward.  2nd Counselor to be exact.  So then as a wife I have to sit back and say my prayers and thank my Heavenly Father for guiding my family.  I have to swallow my pride and tell my husband he was right when after at least a year he had been telling me, this move was the right thing to do.  He had prayed more sincerely and fervently than I about moving our family and starting over.  And now Heavenly Father is going to continue to bless us, even if I continue to be a cry baby about the whole situation.  Delanie turns 14 and we celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary, on the same day as usual, well at least the last 14 years since Delanie decided to share her birthday with us.

September:
Life has developed into our new normal.   Up at 4:30 am to see Shelbylyn and Delanie off to seminary.  Laundry days, bathroom days.  Continued weekly trips to the Temple.  After having to travel 4 hours one way to the Temple for over 13 years, Dan & I have decided to never take the fact there is a Temple in the very city we live in for granted ever again.  Bed by 8:30 pm.  Dan is happily off his FTO program.  Hercules (his patrol car) parks happily next to the van in the garage each day.  Dan loves working swing shift (2pm to midnight). 

October:
Each day I see the sun shining.  Projects like painting the exterior doors a much nicer tan color get done.  We organized the garage storage space.  The house no longer feels like a foreign country.  Things feel familiar.  Life is good, and each day I get up and see the good around me.  Renae turns 12.  She is now in Young Womens.  Our girls are getting older and the time with them at home is getting shorter.  Ok enough about that before I get all emotional.  Halloween in Las Vegas was fun.  No wind, no coats needed.  A first for all of us. 

November:
School continues.  My Grandma Frances flies in from Wyoming on the 19th and will stay with us until January 11 2013.  We have Thanksgiving at our house of course.  The first time in 5 years that both Dan & I have the day off from work together and we have dinner as a family.  Something to be thankful for. 

December:
The house is decorated for Christmas.  We decided to go ahead with our annual Christmas party.  Over 80 people invited and around 50 attended.  We did our usual games, had food and enjoyed the white elephant exchange.  It may be the last one we have, it just wasn't the same and maybe all good things have to end at some point.  Shelbylyn turned 17.  This must be wrong because I was engaged to her dad when I was 17 and that just freaks me right out.  Christmas was a very quiet day.  Dan worked Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  He got up around 8 and we opened presents.  I made a small ham dinner and then everyone went to bed.  I stayed up and waited for Dan so he wouldn't have to eat the plate I made him alone.   Dan of course had to work New Years Eve, we celebrated with birthday cake before he went to work since he turned 39.  Maybe next year for the big 40 he won't have to work...yeah right!

So that all sounds pretty depressing.  In all seriousness though, 2012 was a good year for us.  No major medical issues (I'm not counting depression), no one broke any bones or had to have surgery.  All our worldly needs were met.  We have a nice home, nice cars, my husband is gainfully employed doing a job he loves.  Heavenly Father continues to bless us each and everyday.