2014 in pictures and words, part one (because it is SO long)

I have had so much fun looking back at all my pictures since January.  We have gone through many things this year, some highs on the mountain tops and some lows in the valley.  Through it all, God has been infinitely faithful to us.  I have praised Him and thanked Him so many times in this bumpy year.  I wish I could take you through every single moment, but I can't, or we'd be here reading until next year.  ;)

That being said, I am so grateful for all these crazy pictures that I take!  You might not feel that way, but the reason I take so many pictures is that I will remember all that we've been through.  I will hit the highlights of this amazing year.

January.

The most important thing I've done this year was to read through the Bible again, chronologically.  I eventually stopped going to the Bible study portion of it on Monday nights, due to scheduling conflicts, but I kept at it all year.

I have loved every single second of using this planner.  The more I used it, the fancier I made it with my colored pens and fancy writing.  :)  I also started using it as a reminder of what to journal or blog about.

On one of the first Sundays in January, our pastor called all the men down to the front of the church for prayer.  It was beautiful and powerful, seeing all these manly men kneeling before our Lord and asking Him for guidance and wisdom on being the spiritual leaders of their homes.

Some fun parts of January included Nerf gun wars at night, basketball games (Noah's), field trips to Skyzone with our homeschool group and a fun ladies night out at Central with my mom in love.

February.

 I focused on gratitude starting on this month.  I journaled a lot and read a lot of my Bible.

It snowed!  My dad's lake froze over, partially, and Drew discovered his awesome photography skills.

Disciple Now weekend happened at church, for our youth, and I spent a lot of time with these people.

We were totally obsessed with the Olympics the entire time they were on.  And Sean Lowe might have mentioned me in a comment on Instagram.  :)  No big deal.  Just a really cool celeb from The Bachelor.  

March=birthday month!

The older boys went to Winter Jam at the FedEx Forum.  They sat this close.  We debated about them going, because of road conditions, but we let them go.

These handsome fellas turned eleven!  We had a sleepover here for them, and the next day, we all went to the park.

This young man turned fifteen, and thus began the longest next twelve months of his life.  :)  I told him that even though we might yell at his driving a LOT, we really did love him.

My mom in love and I got to see this movie at a sneak peak.  It was such a fun night!  We had dinner at McAllister's before the movie and afterward, they interviewed us in front of a camera.

 This beautiful lady below is my sister Terri.  She was hospitalized in this month, due to pneumonia and complications from that.  She almost died.  Several times.  I am happy to say that as of today, she is a walking, talking and driving miracle.  God was obviously not finished with her here on this earth, and she lives on, much to everyone's delight and amazement.  Praise God for His faithfulness, and for the fact that He hears our cries.

We celebrated my dad in love's seventy first birthday and my sweet daddy's eighty third.  Happy, anyone?

April.

This fella turned fourteen.  And received all his favorite candy from a special someone.

 Noah found the golden egg at Kinnucan's and won twenty five dollars!  He applied that toward a pair of Chaco's.  Drew and Graham bought some as well.

I saw my best friend and her angel baby, we had fun at our community groups on Sunday nights, we did ministry at Brinkley Heights and Easter happened.

 The last weekend of April found us with my dad, when the boys bought him this flag with their own money.

And I prepared for surgery, which turned out to be a little more major than I had hoped.  But again~God is good!  And as I write this, I feel like a new woman, after a full year of sickness and no energy and the inability to do things.

May kind of slipped in quietly, as I spent the entire month doing nothing.  I recovered fully during this month and watched more television and movies than I care to admit.

 Friends brought me flowers and Starbucks, they cooked for me, they loaned me movies and favorite television shows on DVD, and my awesome husband answered my every call.  He cared for me, nurtured me and put up with all my crazy hormones after having this surgery and listened, with a sympathetic ear, of how horrid I felt for weeks after my surgery.  Turns out anesthesia does that to me.  He was precious and so were my boys.  They cleaned, cooked and cared for me way more than any young men should ever have to care for their mom.

I read a lot, and the boys were gone a lot~either to my husband's parents or to church events.

 And sweet summer time was officially ushered in by Memorial day.

I got a flat tire at O'Charley's.  Not just flat, but completely ruined.  Todd spent hours trying to get the spare out from under my car, only to have to leave it until the next day.  Then he spent hours at the tire place, buying a new tire and having the rest of them rotated and balanced.

June.

Summer community groups started with pool parties, kids were sent to camp, we swam and we enjoyed friends.  

We went to the Pink Palace, our church had its first backyard Bible club and the youth (and me!) went on an inner city mission trip called Street Reach.  It was amazing.  All of it.  

 And some sweet friends got hitched!  I made Toddley pose with me.  :)

 I adore weddings.  They always make me cry and make me feel all mushy afterward.  I'm sure my husband loves that.  ;)

July.

We swam and enjoyed more time with friends and we all looked forward to our fifth summer of going to First Kids Camp.  It's one of our favorite things to do all year and we always have a blast.

I adore these months of no schedule, lots of friends, flexibility, staying out late and being together.  We don't do much, but what we do makes us lots of memories for later in life.  :)

We stuffed backpacks for the Brinkley Heights kids, I drove a fifteen passenger bus (!!!) and I read an amazing book by one of my favorite people God ever placed on this earth.  

I will conclude this post for now and continue on with part two in another post.  My pictures are getting out of hand.  ;)  

Love to all.