New Years Ever 2010

Another year is down and we have so many reasons to be thankful.

As we ended 2009, our financial situation was very grim. Phillip, however, went back to work in February working out of town in Clinton. He worked there until mid December. The situation was getting more difficult for Matthew and we were very thankful when he took a job at The Children's Home in WS. Being a single mom through the week was not easy and I have a new respect for women who do this day in and day out. I looked forward to his help and prescence each weekend he was home as Matthew looked forward to having his daddy home to love on and to tickle him.

Matthew has been in preschool this year and is getting ready for kindergarten each day. He continues to have his own personal challenges with speech and memory. He doesn't always understand what we are talking about and we find he needs extra patience and love to work through his own frustrations with learning new things. We are still trying to give him all the opportunities we feasibly can to experience new things.

During this year, Brittany lived with us for a time her last semester at UNCG during her student teaching. Phillip was away and Matthew and I enjoyed her company. During this time our Nephew Nick was courting who will be a new niece to us this coming June. He and Amanda, who started dating over last Christmas, will tie the knot in June 2011. We have come to love Amanda and are so happy for Nick for finding the love of his life. Also, around that same time Brian, my brother's son, will graduate high school. Brian was born the September after I graduated UNCG. I remember leaving work that day and going to the hospital to see him. He had just been born and was so tiny. Now, he towers over me and is so very talented. He is hoping to go into music education at Western University. He has already been excepted and now is just waiting for his music audition. Our other nephew Ryan remains in our prayers as he is determined to start his life in Colorado far from family. We wish him our best but we wish he'd come back here!

Michelle moved this year to Tennessee. She actually moved Matthew's bday weekend to take a job in a larger school. She'll be there til she finishes her degree the end of 2011 and then hopefully will come back closer to us. Matthew misses his "special aunt" as he calls very much.

We lost a family member right before Christmas this year. My mom and dad's dog of 11 years finally lost his battle with cushings. They have been very dedicated to his care since his health worsened in May. We will miss their "Happy Dog".

We have so much to be thankful for and so many goals we continue to set to improve ourselves and our lives. Hopefully later tonight Phillip and I can put a few of those on paper so we can work together on the same path.