Answered Prayer!

We are so thankful for the start of a new year. We had many things to be thankful for in 2009, but are looking forward to what God has in store for us this year. God first blessed Matt with a new job. He is now with a different engineering firm and seems to be very happy! While we (especially the kids) were blessed to have him at home, it was time for him to return to what he enjoys doing during the day (even though we know he loves the kids endlessly). Now we can look back and see God's protection over us and we can't be more thankful for that! God is Good - All the Time!

Happy New Year!

Well, one of my goals for 2010 is to journal more. I decided that one way for me to do that is to keep our blog updated! So, here we go!

I'm going to start off with a brief overview of 2009:

• January - We watched the finalizing touches of our new house! The excitement was noticeable all around and the packing was well underway! There were many "organized" boxes, suitcases and piles all around waiting for the house to be completed.
  
• February - We closed on our house and finally moved in! We had SO much space to organize and so many belongings to find again (we lived with Matt's parents for 6 months)! The kids were excited to see many toys that were packed away. It was like a second Christmas for all!
  
• March - We spent a lot of time at Lowe's! We started making the house look like ours! There were many trips made to find things to personalize our new home. Our weekends were quickly consumed!
• April - Aly turned 4 and had a My Little Pony Party. It was a fun time to celebrate her birth and to have people over for the first time. I thought we'd have everything pretty much done by the party, but boy was it HARD work trying to get it presentable! :) Thanks to Matt's cousin, we acquired our first pet - "Lola" the fish! (She was given to Aly for her birthday.)
  
• May - We spent this month doing a lot of our favorite May events! Aly ran in the Indianapolis 500 "Rookie Run", Mommy ran in the "5K" and Daddy ran the "Mini Marathon". We also watched the 500 parade which is always a favorite event for the kids!
• June - We spent lots of time outside! We got to know some new neighbors and continued to watch houses go up throughout the neighborhood. We also added two members to the household! Matt's parents sold their place before they could decide where they were going. So, they ended up moving in with us! It was our turn to return the favor!
  
• July - We were blessed with guests for a week at the beginning of July. Matt's sister Jenny, husband Darrell and daughter Samantha came and visited over the 4th of July. It was nice to have family time and do some fun things together (although the Indians game got rained out!). We concluded the month with an annual trip to MI for a McCalla family vacation to the lake. We had a great time enjoying the fellowship and fun activities.
• August - Aly started her first outdoor "team" soccer league. She's done indoor classes that revolved more around skill building, but this was her first "team" experience. It started out rocky but got better as the weeks went on. She had a great time and learned a lot! We also spent time at the fairs (county and state) as that is always a family favorite. The kids like the animals, Daddy likes the woodworking and Mommy likes the misc. creations and cakes!
• September - The biggest adjustment of the year, was that I made a job change. Matt's work had been slow (due to development being minimal because of the economy) and so I needed to return to full time work that could offer our family more stability and benefits (should I need to provide them). It was a rough change at first, but was a good change for the family.
• October - Of course many weekends were spent tailgating at Purdue games throughout the fall, but we won't talk much more about that.... :( The kids had a great time dressing up for Halloween and going door to door with some neighbor friends. Aly dressed up as Barbie Mariposa for the "first round" and Kai-Lan for the "second round" in the neighborhood, while Braden was always a firefighter!
• November - Of course we spent this month celebrating Braden's 2nd birthday (his 1st real party) with a Mickey Mouse party. On his actual birthday, we went to a new jump place in the area with family. It was a great time for the siblings/cousins!
• December - We spent the month doing a lot of family traditions. Picking out a tree, decorating, going to the parade to see Mr. & Mrs. Clause arrive, visiting with Santa and his reindeer, decorating a gingerbread house, buying and wrapping presents, making Jesus' birthday cake and spending a lot of time remembering the true reasons for our celebrations.

We were truly blessed with a healthy and happy year. We are so thankful for all the wonderful times we had as a family, as well as the precious time spent with others. We look forward to having many more fond experiences in 2010!