Good-bye 2010

 I've had a couple conversations about my "6 months ago" post with some family members and as I've thought more about all the hard things that have happened this past year, I think I would feel ungrateful if I didn't talk about the good things that happened this year, too.  There have been so many blessings.  And so to end 2010, I want to write My Top 10 Blessings from this year.  So here we go...

10.  In January, after being uninsured for only 2 1/2 weeks, we found out Jake and I qualified for an individual health insurance family plan and the kids qualified for CHIP.  Both insurances have been huge blessings to us this year.

9.  Along the lines of 'health' the kids remained very healthy.  We had a few ear infections at the beginning of the year and a cold here and there, but they really didn't have anything major.

8.  The only car repair we had to do in 2010 were Jake's brakes.  No major house repair.  (Hopefully that luck continues.  Knock on wood!)

7.  Jake and I have both been able to work at jobs that we enjoy.

6.  I've managed to continue to stay active and exercise regularly, which you could say I'm fairly passionate about. ;)

5.  My cancer.  It sucked, I'm not going to lie.  But the fact it was caught when it was, it was operable, and my recovery was pretty quick.  All blessings.

4.  When we found out about the tumor, we had family, friends, and even strangers come out of the woodwork to help our family.  We had many thoughts, prayers, meals, letters, e-mails, money, babysitting, phone calls, and so much more sent our way and it was very humbling.  Many from our neighborhood put together a yard sale over the summer and the proceeds went to my hospital bills.  Those bills could have pulled us under financially, but thankfully, that extra money kept us floating.  And again we were humbled by loved ones who showered us with too many presents and food for Christmas. We felt VERY spoiled.  There are good people in this world, and it seems many of them live within a 5 mile radius of us!

3.  I have my girlfriends.  SO important.  They keep me laughing.  They keep me sane.  We are all there for each other and ready to drop everything when help is needed.  It's pretty rare to have such good friends and I know I'm lucky to have them in my life.

2.  We have a beautiful home, great neighborhood, wonderful friends, cars that work, clothes to wear, and food to eat.  It's humbling to think that there are people out there who don't have these basic necessities.

1.  We have each other.  As I look at this picture of our family in front of the Portland temple taken this morning, I'm reminded of where our family began, and of what our future could be.  This year has had its ups and downs.  We've struggled quite a bit.  But I've been reminded that in the end, what matters most is family.  My Family.  And the fact that we survived 2010 and came out nearly unscathed and stronger because of it, lets me know that we can handle hard things.  

Here are some pictures from the past two months that I'm just now getting around to posting:

My best friend, Naomi, came out to visit a month after my surgery, and then again in November.  I loved having two girls' weekends with her.  Her visits were never long enough!

 Waiting in line at Toys R Us on Black Friday with my BF virgin friends, Meighan and Kim.  It was so fun having friends to wait in line with and run through the stores together (and yes, it was FREEZING!  Can you tell?!)

In November Jake and I went out to DC for a few days.  We had a great time visiting all the museums and meeting up with other OA-takers for pizza.  Just wish we could have spent a few more days there.  Too much to do and see.

 Ben turned 8 in December and on his birthday he tested to become a high white belt in taekwondo.  (We won't know if he passed yet, until his classes start back up in a few weeks.)

 For Family Night we decorated the gingerbread houses Great-Grammy Call gave us.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that the gingerbread houses now come completely built, walls, roof, and all.  The kids just needed to decorate them, which they had a great time doing.

 The kids sporting their new pjs on Christmas Eve.  Ben is wearing, yep, you guessed it.  Mario pjs.  Emma's wearing Rapunzel jammies, and Josh is very happily sporting his new Mickey Mouse and Pluto pjs.

 The day after Christmas we headed to Oregon to visit Grandma and Grandpa Call, Aunt Whitney, Aunt Ashleigh, Uncle Chad, and cousins Jayden, Ryleigh, and Baleigh.  We stopped in Ontario, Oregon for the night and stayed at a motel.  The kids loved walking through the motel and checking out the ice machine and breakfast bar.  They all got to share a queen bed and it fit them perfectly.

 Jayden, Ryleigh, Josh, Ben, Baleigh, and Emma.  Emma is in heaven with all the estrogen surrounding her.  Ben, on the other hand, is pretty bored without some boy cousins around.  Thankfully Grandpa Call has kept him pretty entertained.

I took this picture for Jake's family.  Jake told them about my family's little Christmas tradition and I don't think some of them believed him.  It is true.  After Christmas my dad chops the tree down in the living room, limb by limb, until the only thing left is a Christmas stump.  Then my mom vacuums up the pine needles.  My parents usually would do it Christmas day, but they held on a few days so we could see the tree.  So, here is the proof, and Jake even took part in the "tradition" this time.

 We visited Jane and Leila (Justin's daughter) at the Vancouver Library.  She definitely blends in with my kids, the blonde hair and blue eyes.  She's a sweetie and the kids loved hanging out for awhile with her.

 The Call girls.  Don't ask me how many pictures we took before we kept this one.  You don't want to know. We didn't learn until a good 6 or 7 shots in that Ashleigh's shirt was see-through, so we made her put a jacket on.  You can definitely tell there is a resemblance between us all.