:) Finally it's up! I've been working on this post for quite a while!
It's hard because we have 3 computers that all have pictures on them, and they all
It's hard because we have 3 computers that all have pictures on them, and they all
have different pictures on them! So I had to go through them, and then do sorting (so
that we didn't end up with a 300 pic. post) and then figure out what I wanted to
write! I was trying to decide if this was going to be a "deep" post or just lighthearted...
I think it might be a little bit of both.
Anyway, this is how our year started out!
A small (but loud) New Years Eve party with lots of confetti at midnight!
February was Rachel's and My birthday! 18!!We were assuming that it was just going to be a quiet day at Grandpa's house,
(which would have been perfectly fine) but came home to do schoolwork, and found a houseful of girls!! *and Jared and Sawyer* :)
March was when Pegasus started up! It was fun from the very start, even if it was a little cold at first...
The drives to and from Pegasus consisted of Rachel and I blasting music in Chucky(the truck) and yelling any and all conversations instead of turning it down ;)
April we convinced Dad into driving us (and a 9 of our girl friends + Mom, Aunt Amy and Jared) to Iowa so we could go to the WinterJam concert! Oh it was SO good! We were a little far from the stage, but our seats were the first ones on the stadium seats so we could see great, and there was no lack of sound equipment so we could hear great too! Until the concert was over that is ;)
It was also Eldena's 2nd Annual Easter Egg hunt! Aunt Amy organized it last year, and enlisted us to help this year! Our yard was "headquarters" and Rach, Kathy Z., Zoe, and I all were in charge of different age groups who were hunting in different yards! Have you ever tried to imagine how hard it is to hide 200 easter eggs in 25 minutes?? Heh, well by the time 150 was hidden I had started to just toss them around the yard and wherever they landed that's where they were "hidden"! And I think poor Rach had 300ish eggs to hide! :/
Easter :) Grandpa was doing great that day and was taking lots of pictures of everybody whether they wanted photographed or not! We didn't mind though! And later I took him home and he was exhausted and sore, but still had a huge smile.
Speaking of Me taking him home, Rachel and I got our Drivers License's!!!!! April 7th!
In May, Grandpa came home from a hospital stay and Hospice started to come to the house. And let me say, that is one superb group of people. I don't think there are enough good words to say about them! They definitely get 2 thumbs up from me!
May 20th was Grandpa's birthday!
I asked him what he wanted for a birthday meal and he said "chocolate cake and caramel frosting!" So that's what he got :)
By then Mom had moved in with him to be able to take care of him, and us 3
were spending all our free time (which was a lot since school was out) at his house. We made so many good memories.
Daddy/Daughter :)
The weekend after his birthday almost all of Grandpa's kids and grandkids were at his house. And we PARRRTIED! It was the first time in a long time that that many of his family was all together. :) He certainly was one special guy.
This year I also got to know a lot of my Mom's family a lot better, that's been super nice!
On the night of Dad and Mom's anniversary Rachel and I kicked Mom out of the house
and Dad came and picked her up to take her out to dinner and a short walk before
they came back for dessert. Crystal came over after work and was busying herself
by crocheting hats, Crystal tossed the hat to Grandpa so he could inspect it, so he
tried it on and when I went to take a picture he made this epic face :D
And Devyn turned 4 on June 4th!It was her golden birthday! 
Wanna make any wild guess on what just may have possibly been the best thing of
Wanna make any wild guess on what just may have possibly been the best thing of 2010?? Just maybe... (hear the sarcasm??) June 14th, around 3 o'clock, Josh,
Crystal, Rachel, Jordan and I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane!!!!!!
Crystal, Rachel, Jordan and I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane!!!!!!
Oh how I love this picture... I smile every time I see it. Oh whatever! Any time I see any of the pictures from this day I get a giddy smile!
I can't believe we are actually getting to do this!!!!
I was the first one out of the plane. I was never really nervous, but when I saw this my stomach/heard did a little flip...
I love clouds. They have always intrigued me, and one of my dreams had always been to one day really be "in" the clouds without an airplane covering me :) Guess what! The thing that almost stopped us from being able to skydive that day was the cloud cover. But it cleared just long enough for us to be able to jump, and I got my wish!!! Besides skydiving I got to be in the clouds for almost a minute!!! :D And got some great photos to last a lifetime!
And as instructed, we all came back in one piece and perfectly fine and as soon as we got "home" we went and gave Grandpa a group hug. That's all he asked for ;)
And he even hosted a party for us and our friends from his bed! He let us invade his house and eat pizza and snacks and watch my skydiving video a ton of times on his big tv.
June 28th was Mom's 50th Birthday! And so we celebrated with DQ ice cream cake! And filling the garage with 75 balloons... :D
The June birthday girls!
Grandpa loved getting to see all the people who stopped in all day long to see Mom! Even Taffie got to come for a while!
July wasn't a very good month... Literally the only thing I can think of that was enjoyable was Ignite Chicago. It's a big Christian music concert/weekend with over 20 bands playing. We only got to go one day, but it was pretty cool! The rain in the morning stopped, the sun came out, and we (especially Rachel) got sunburned.
There were probably at least 6,000 people there, and we got to see some of our favorite Christian band, and discover some new ones!
August we worked hard. We were a part of Tools for Schools! TFS gives backpacks and school supplies to the underprivileged in the area. And its a big event! Instead of having people come and get handed a backpack and feeling like "Yay, here's a charity handout", the object is to help them and let them keep their dignity! So there's lots of fun and games and food so that it can be a family thing and people are less uncomfortable!
We got to Camp Reynoldswood (where TFS was being held) around 7 a.m. and stayed busy and working until around 9 p.m. Did I mention that it was over 100 degrees, really humid, and all outdoor?
This year besides games and food, their was a blow up bouncy house, a fire truck and firemen hanging out letting the kids tour the truck, hay rides, coloring pages... All sorts of fun stuff! Normally I get tired of people and reach a point where I'm "just done" with people, especially when it's that hot, but I loved every minute of the day! I would have did it again the next day if I could have!! And wouldn't you know the next day it was only 80 degrees :P
Stevie!! We had been around Stevie and his family before at different stuff, and it was always just a "Hi" and that was it, but working together all day we really hit it off, and have now adopted him and Michael (his brother) as our new little brothers! They are so awesome!Oh and Ty's in the picture too! Ty is the TFS pencil mascot that Rachel has gotten to dress up as for the 2 years that TFS has went on.
September was Six Flags! :D Very fun! It didn't really hold a candle to skydiving as far as "thrill" goes, but it was an adrenaline rush, not too hot, and Josh and Cameron came with us :)
September was Six Flags! :D Very fun! It didn't really hold a candle to skydiving as far as "thrill" goes, but it was an adrenaline rush, not too hot, and Josh and Cameron came with us :)Whenever Mom sees a picture of a roller coaster she always says "Wow, I feel like that's kind of what our year was like, like we were perched on a roller coaster that's just getting ready to take off, then we are riding it and holding on for dear life... And now we are just getting into the home area". Heh, I think she may be right.
And the ride home may have been just as enjoyable as the day and rides were :P
October we went to another concert! This one was at Jared's church. Him and Aunt Amy and the two other people they took (Stevie was one of them), were some of the first people in line and saved us spots! So we were so close to the stage that we could touch it!!! :D That was SO awesome! Silly Jared felt the need for earplugs... Pfft!
November was Rachel's and My first time voting.
:P Mom and Dad drug us out of the house really early so we could all go together and they could get pictures. And Dad ever so kindly offered to take us out for breakfast later, but we had to get home and do stuff so we never ended up going.
And Tommy's Hut! That's always a highlight of November! This year since us 3 all drive and our parents are more comfortable with the idea of us driving ourselves somewhere we were at Tommy's Hut all but I think 3 nights that they were open!
Most nights Rachel, Sunny and I would all be down at "the End" and got the fun/hard jobs! We all liked being on the time crunch/having to fit all the stuff in, and not get the line all backed up!
And Emily and Matt came some nights too! It was fun to hang out and work with them!
And the ride home may have been just as enjoyable as the day and rides were :P
October we went to another concert! This one was at Jared's church. Him and Aunt Amy and the two other people they took (Stevie was one of them), were some of the first people in line and saved us spots! So we were so close to the stage that we could touch it!!! :D That was SO awesome! Silly Jared felt the need for earplugs... Pfft!
November was Rachel's and My first time voting.
Most nights Rachel, Sunny and I would all be down at "the End" and got the fun/hard jobs! We all liked being on the time crunch/having to fit all the stuff in, and not get the line all backed up!
And Emily and Matt came some nights too! It was fun to hang out and work with them!One night we all went to DQ afterwards. That was a very unique memory, and I'm thinking next year it'll have to happen more often! Wait, it'll be this year... I haven't quite adjusted to the fact that it's January yet :)
In November, the week before Thanksgiving was the last week of Pegasus for the season. :(
In November, the week before Thanksgiving was the last week of Pegasus for the season. :(We had a sort of party to be like a send off and everybody brought snack/desserts... If only somebody would have brought forks! I am quite looking forwards to the next begasus season beginning!
Crystal, Rachel, Jared, Dad, Reid and I pulled an all-nighter to go Black Friday shopping! And then after getting home we watched some of the movies I had bought!
December was busy, but we didn't get many pictures. We did go in for a family photo shoot the day of the Ugly Sweater Party. Ah, yes, the Ugly Sweater Party... :D That was fun! And of course going to Willow Creek for their Christmas service, and Christmas itself, and Jason and Stephanie's wedding, and fun stuff with friends, and and and...
I'd say this picture pretty well sums up our year! Kind of a "We survived, Hallelujah!!!"
Crystal, Rachel, Jared, Dad, Reid and I pulled an all-nighter to go Black Friday shopping! And then after getting home we watched some of the movies I had bought!
December was busy, but we didn't get many pictures. We did go in for a family photo shoot the day of the Ugly Sweater Party. Ah, yes, the Ugly Sweater Party... :D That was fun! And of course going to Willow Creek for their Christmas service, and Christmas itself, and Jason and Stephanie's wedding, and fun stuff with friends, and and and...
I'd say this picture pretty well sums up our year! Kind of a "We survived, Hallelujah!!!"So long 2010!!!
So many things happened this year. A lot of bad, but still plenty of good. It was a hard year. I'm glad that it is finally over. But mixed in with the bad/hard, was the good and lighthearted stuff. The fun times with friends, lots of stuff with family. I'm welcoming 2011. Bring it on!
So many things happened this year. A lot of bad, but still plenty of good. It was a hard year. I'm glad that it is finally over. But mixed in with the bad/hard, was the good and lighthearted stuff. The fun times with friends, lots of stuff with family. I'm welcoming 2011. Bring it on! So here's to a brand new year! Here's to wishing for the good dreaming of what'll happen next!
Happy 2011 everyone!!
Well, that was my end of year post! Was that okay for you all? :) I hope so because I won't be doing another one for a whole year!
We went and picked him and Stevie up and then, once we got him to wear
Steve gave in first...
Jared dutifully recorded the event as it happened... On his brand new
And we talked and talked and talked (hard to believe eh??)
And then we played '
And well, when our parents got home, they asked what all we did that night...
:D We had a nice time, and hey look, me and 