A Time To Reflect

With a new year upon us we've been reflecting on the past year.  It seems that since we got married we've been non-stop busy finishing up three college degrees, moving five times, buying two homes, adopting a dog, having two children and traveling.  Since I've never sat down and made a list of everything we've done in a single year I thought that I would take the time to do that now so that we remember... after all this is as much of a family journal for me as it is a fun place to show you all what I'm up to around the house.  So here we go:

January:
- We spent New Year's in Fort Collins with Grandma and Grandpa Eisenberg.
- We found out that we were expecting a boy!  Anyone can tell you I wasn't exactly thrilled about it, but really it's just that I was terrified of the unknown (I did grow up with all girls after all).
- We also found out that Mr. Handsome only had a two vessel umbilical cord as opposed to three, which caused a lot of concern.  This resulted in monthly ultrasounds and weekly non-stress tests the last month.  So many doctor appointments!  Fortunately everything was okay in the end.
- Draper Temple Open House.  We both volunteered for this and Andrew spent many hours finding volunteers.

February:
- We found our new home, even though we weren't looking.  It's only because it was in our neighborhood that we stopped and looked during an open house.  Funny how things work out.
- A week later we put our first home up for sale.
- So many house projects in preparation for an open house.  It still amazes me that we got two full pages of projects done in just two weeks.
- More Draper Temple Open House assignments to fill.

March:
- We got an offer on our home after just five weeks!  Yay!!!
- Brittany, Steve, Dublin and Caitlin visited.  We were able to take them to the Draper Temple open house.
- Draper Temple Dedication

April:
- Lots of packing!!!
- Andrew's parents visit for Jonathan's graduation.
- We all got really, really sick the week of the move.  Fortunately, Andrew and I only had it for 24 hours, but poor miss Ella Bella didn't fully recover for about two weeks.  We were so lucky to have friends who were willing to watch her while we moved.
- Closed on the sale of our old home and the purchase of our new home.

May:
- We moved on May 2nd and were so blessed to have so many great friends and ward members show up to help us move.  I think we had close to thirty people that were there willing to help.
- Mom, Caitlin and Aubrey visit to help paint the munchkins rooms.  Ella gets them sick too.  Oops!
- Fortunately Caitlin felt better soon enough to help me finish painting rooms.  I wouldn't usually have a problem doing it myself, but I was eight months prego and trying to still watch my 17 month old munchkin.
- Andrew and David run the Ogden Half Marathon.
- We were so lucky to get just about everything unpacked and settled in before Mr. Handsome arrived.

June:
- Mom and Caitlin arrive to take care of Miss Ella Bella while we are at the hospital.
- Mr. Handsome was born on June 3rd.  Everything went great and Ella was so excited to have a new baby brother.
- Trying to adjust to no sleep again.  The worst part of having a baby.
- Emily visits Mr. Handsome.
- Andrew runs Ragnar with his firm.
- Mary comes to visit the new baby and miss Ella Bella.

July:
- Camping with friends at Pineview Reservoir for Pioneer Day.

August:
- Cameron's baby blessing.  Thanks to all our family who made it.
- Thanks to Mary and Jonathan for helping me to paint our main living area.  It was a huge help with all the vaulted ceilings.

September:
- Glacier National Park and Banff, Canada Vacation.  We had so much fun and would love to go back again.
- David visits for Triathlon with Zach.
- Andrew's Lake Powell trip with his firm.  I take the kids and dog and visit Grandma and Grandpa Challman while he's away.

October:
- We took a trip to Florida to visit Granddad and GrandPam Fisher.  We had a great time while we were there.
- Both kids got sick once we got home from our vacation.  Ella had the swine flu.  Fortunately, Mr. Handsome only got a cold.  Of course it was three weeks before we could leave the house again.  Oh that was so miserable.  Plus we missed Halloween so Ella didn't get to wear her cute little costume that I made for her.  Sniff sniff.

November:
- We hosted Thanksgiving at our home this year.  Mary, Jonathan, Zach and Nivea stayed with us.  We also had James with us for dinner.  We had a lot of fun that week and it was of course nice to visit.

December:
- We literally had something going every single day of this month up until we left for Christmas vacation.  It was such a busy month with all of those mundane life things.
- We spent two weeks in California visiting family for Christmas.  We had a great Christmas and enjoyed our time with our families.

2009 was such a busy and eventful year for.  We have been so blessed though and have much to be thankful for.  I'm excited to see what 2010 brings us!