2013 to this point in review with pictures

I believe I have an obsession with birds.  The birds in Missouri are so beautiful and varied compared to the ones in Idaho.  Having said that, life in Idaho didn't leave much time to be able to watch birds, nor did I have a bird feeder.  But I love the birds here with their vibrant colors.  I have literally taken hundreds of pictures of birds at my bird feeder, just waiting for that perfect picture.  They are so easily scared away and the zoom lens I have is manual, so I have to do all of the adjustments.  Lots of the pictures are a little fuzzy.  They just don't want to pose the way I want them to...go figure.

We also learned what ice storms were, before and after snow.  In the early morning sunshine it looks as if the trees, fences, everything, is coated with diamonds.  Deadly driving, but stunningly beautiful.  Photos can never do justice to the reality.

February brought our first real taste of Winter, with snow, ice, wind, and cold.  Beautiful to look at inside the house with a warm fire roaring and a cup of hot chocolate in hand.

2012 in picture review....

Rachel and Marsi came to visit in February.  I hadn't seen Marsi since she was little, so it was a lot of fun to be able to see who she was becoming and what her personality is.  She has a big personality for a little girl.

Stan and I were able to go through some caves outside of Springfield, MO.  Isaac and his family, and Rachel and I went in 2011, and it was so great I wanted Stan to be able to see it.  It is one of only six 'drive through' caves in the world.  It is so beautiful and there is quite the history to this particular cave, including speak easies, the prohibition, and the KKK in the early 20th century.  With all that happened here, I'm so glad that most of the natural beauty of the cave remained intact for everyone to enjoy today.

We have some predators on our little piece of earth.  Stan was able to trap some, and kill another one.  Notice the bulges in the snake.  Those are the eggs it ate.

We had Isaac, Heidi, and their family visit us in August and we went to the Pope Reunion in Colorado together.  Stan and I had just bought an above ground swimming pool.  Isaac helped put it up and we started filling it.  It was COLD, but everyone, except me of course, wanted to try it out.  The kids stayed in until they turned blue!

We had a bit of a delay on the way to Colorado, but the kids were good and had a good time while we waited.  I was amazed at Caroline and Zach crawling on the asphalt, it hurt just watching them.

Sara had a monumental moment in her life.  She graduated from the Nascar Technical Institute.  It was a long, hard road for her filled with a tremendous amount of difficulty, but she did it and it well.  The only girl to graduate in this particular graduation, and one of the highest in the class.  She earned this one!

I have really missed Phillip and Nicole.  Not being able to be there when Ruxin was born was really hard for me.  But I was able to go back when Phillip blessed him.  I wish we could see more of them.

For Thanksgiving, we went to Kentucky to be with Alex, Brydie, and their family.  Stan got a deer, Alex got scoped!  We had a great time!

Isaac, Heidi, and their family came for Christmas the second year in a row.  We love having them!  Stan's Brother Brian and his family came for a day as well.  Amy brought play dough and other goodies for the kids.  They had such a great time!  Amy will be one heck of a Grandmother!!

It was also Charlotte's birthday on the 26th!

So, as challenging as 2012 was, we had some great times with our family, which is the most important and meaningful thing there is.  The older we get, the more precious these times are so us.