Archive for December, 2008

I don’t know what your thoughts are, but for me, this year went by really fast. As usual, there were moments that couldn’t go by fast enough, and then there were moments that I wish could have lasted a lot longer. As I was importing our family pictures from the Christmas holidays this morning I spent some time reflecting on the great events that happened for our family this year. Here are just a few…

• It snowed on January 19, 2008 and my kids had a blast. (I barely beat the snow home from a business trip and was dead tired from my red-eye flight so I didn’t really get to enjoy it. Bummer.)
• My niece, SPC Kalie Frantz, who proudly serves in the U.S. Army was able to travel back stateside for a visit with the family in March. We got to spend an awesome evening with her on March 15, 2008.
• Easter was early this year and as usual, my kids had a blast hunting for Easter eggs at my Dad’s house in Homer, GA and at our house as well.
• Spring Break was a great time for us too. My son got his first experience on a 4-Wheeler that my Dad bought. He bought it to “use around the house” in the mountains. My daughter got her first experience on a 4-Wheeler too. The first time she got on it by herself the drove it straight down a hill and off of an 8 foot high embankment. It was a scary moment but she escaped with only a couple of scrapes and a bruise or two.
• My daughter Brittanie turned 8 years old on April 11. She had her first “girly” type party. It was loads of fun but more than I could stand at times. Even so, I found great joy in her joyful experience.
• My son Stephen turned 11 on April 20. He’s growing up to be a really cool young man.
• On my birthday, May 8, my business partner Kevin Gilbert and I took the day off and went down to the Ted for a Braves “business man special”. In case you don’t how I feel about baseball, there is really only one thing wrong with it. It is not played year round.
• This year we celebrated Mother’s Day and Ginger’s Birthday together with her family. I’ve had several of my newer friends tell me that they’d love to meet Ginger cause they’ve never met a “Saint”. Oh how right they are.
• On May 22, my son Stephen Graduated from the 5th grade. A great milestone in life.
• On May 25, Stephen hit his first home run ever. Another great milestone in life.
• On June 8, Brittanie participated in her second horse back riding competition. She brought home two first place ribbons and a third place ribbon. I’m so proud of her cause she was riding a very stubborn horse that day and she really made him work hard.
• Our family spent June 14 – 21 in Destin, FL. It was a wonderful vacation.
• On July 11, Ginger and I got our iPhones. We waited in line at the MOG Apple Store for about 3 hours. My favorite part was calling the folks at Verizon to let them know we were dropping them. What a fun experience the whole thing was.
• My Dad, who as many of you know has cancer, had a hip replacement on September 11. He continues to recover well.
• This was the first year where my son Stephen wasn’t interested in trick-or-treating for Halloween. He ended up going anyway and we let him and two of his friends go out around the neighborhood by themselves. They thought this was a big deal. Brittanie of course had a blast and enjoyed dressing up as Hannah Montana.

Of course after Halloween you know the year zips right by. Thanksgiving and Christmas were awesome and you’ve already heard about those so I won’t drag this post on since it’s already long enough. 

Bottom line, our family has had a great year and we’ve been very blessed. I’m looking forward to 2009 and expecting it to be every bit as great as 2008 has been.

Feel free to post a comment if you have a memory of something that you experienced with our family this year.