Remembering 2006

...from Christine's point of view.

As I sat & listened to the testimonies offered in our ward today, there was a common theme among each of them: love for the ward members & family. It was hard for me to sit & listen as one member after another expressed their loyal feelings for the ward. It made me so homesick for our old ward back in San Antonio. That ward was the closest thing to a home ward that our family has ever known. I started remembering where & what I was doing a year ago at this time:
- I was busy preparing for two Christmas parties in our home; one for the Young Women & one for the Relief Society progressive dinner.

-Our house was on the market & under contract.

-I was accompaning choirs at church & schools for Christmas concerts.

-Swim meets & birthday parties.

-House hunting in California.

-I was spending as much time as possible with my friends & the kids' friends.

-I finished reading the Book of Mormon. This is an important item. I remember I took Pres. Hinckley's challenge to read the B of M before the end of the year. After I did it, so many things happened that effected our family's lives, mainly Chris getting the job with Milgard & our house selling so quickly. I remember sharing my testimony of this with Kristin while on one of our 5:30am walks in the dark.

Other thoughts came to me during our sacrament meeting today. I longed for the same feeling of loyalty to a ward family as these members had & realized that only came with time & service while living in the same ward for MORE than a year. Our year anniversary of living here in Simi Valley is coming up next month. Sometimes it seems like we've been here longer & other times shorter.

We started out living in a two bedroom apartment when we first arrived. Fortunately, that only lasted about 6 weeks. We found a nice home to rent just a few blocks away. It was close to a big park with tennis courts. For the first few months it seems like we lived at the park because it was so fun! I found some women in the ward who belonged to a basketball group in the stake that played twice a week, so I started playing basketball! This is THE ONE thing I LOVE about living here. The women that play are so awesome both at basketball & in spirit.

The spring & summer came & the park days got put to the side as we found a new hang out spot at THE BEACH! The kids & I made every Wednesday our beach day. We collected cans & bottles from the sand & out of the garbage cans to make extra $ for the gas all summer. We made several trips down to San Diego to weddings & Lego Land. In the summer months we took road trips to San Jose to see the Dunford's, more weddings in Salt Lake & a bike race in Seattle. We did some sight-seeing in Hollywood & rode the coasters at Knotts Berry Farm. The wonderful summer ended with a camp-out under the stars at Malibu State park & a visit from Kristin & the kids.

Before we knew it, middle school orientations & meet the teacher nights replaced the fun in the sun. They added to my CTR 5 calling by asking me to be the Wolf/Bear Den assistant. Back were the days of homework, drop-offs & pick-ups at 2 schools, and having schedules in general. Which leads me to a quick update on what my kids are doing this year:

-Cassie is 12 & in 6th grade. This is her first year at middle school. She hates using her locker because it's too crowded to get to, so she brings her whole locker home with her every night. (typical first year having a locker behavior). She takes band as her elective & plays the flute. She is using the same flute I played when I was her age! Cassie loves the Young Women's program. She misses swim team, but has played intramural basketball at school & is participating in drama club. New talents being discovered every day! She is almost as tall as me & can wear my shoes & my shirts.

-Craig turns 10 this week & he is in 4th grade this year. He reads quite a bit & thinks about Legos & Pokemon in the time he is not teasing his siblings. His knowledge of professional football grows everyday as he watches the highlights & games with us. There is not one subject in school that he does not like. He misses his best bud Briggs A LOT! Craig really enjoys cub scouts & is very kind & considerate of the other boys in the den. He loves riddles & joking around though at home. (maybe at school too; I just don't hear about it...thank goodness).

-Colin turns 4 in just a couple of weeks. (yes, I had two kids in December. yikes!) He is the JOY of our family. We all love to spoil & wait on him hand & foot. He is very smart & cute. Colin mimicks everything Cassie & Craig say. He does come up with some things to say of his own that always catch us off guard & have us bent over laughing. He LOVES Legos, football, video games & goofing around with Craig. He is very good about hanging out with me all day while the kids are at school. He plays with the other little kids while the moms hoop it up at basketball every Tues. & Thurs. morning. Ramen noodles in pretty much all he eats, but that is about to change as his parents get serious about this little food habit.

As for Chris & I...
we are going to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary this next spring! Talk about time flying. Chris is going to do a bunch of bike rides this next year. He tweaked his old bike so I can ride it now. We'll see if I can get up to par to ride with him on some of them. We are looking forward to this new year of adventure. It will be interesting to see where I am writing from next year!