Year In Review!

Just a few minutes ago while STILL sorting pictures that I have taken this year, I saw this picture and the title for tonight's blog came to my mind. What I am doing with my pictures is really a review of our year...well, the last six months of our year, as I had already sorted the first six months at an earlier time. But this picture just sort of shows life...can't see the whole road ahead as to just where it will take you...you only get to see small parts of life at a time...and sometimes the skies are blue and sometimes cloudy...! This picture was taken on our way to NIH (National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD) in October on our last trip there for 2011. In all respects in looking back we have had a REALLY good year! The best part was the doctor telling us in October that Woody was one of the "lucky ones" that the protocol had worked on...praising God that we heard those words. Now...we know that it wasn't luck...that it was God working His will in our lives...and, we are very happy that Woody's melanoma tumors continue to shrink.

Woody walked to the library today and then ran an errand on his walk. He came home and has read, watched some football, and watched a library DVD. I got up and worked on the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. Nathan and Elijah came over for a while to play. Elijah was glad to be able to get back in the toy closet as I had it blocked with the coffee table during our Christmas festivities. It is good to have the coffee table out of the middle of the room...freeing up space (making it safer) for little ones to run back and forth delivering presents...plus there are enough new toys not to need to get in and see the old ones that day and for a couple of days after! After playing with the Fisher Price barn (that his Aunt Melany got for Christmas when she was two), Elijah walked over to the Fisher Price nativity and picked up the donkey and said "here's the donkey." And, I told him that there was a talking donkey in the Sunday School lesson that I was studying. He very seriously shook his head "yes" and then said, "and, camels spits." So cute! After I worked on my lesson for a while, I got busy again sorting pictures. Then I went downstairs and made our Mississippi Caviar (a yummy spicy black-eyed pea concoction that one eats with Frito scoops) for tomorrow...we're not superstitious...but we do eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day in one form or another. I went back to sorting pictures. Abigail came over after lunch. She meandered back and forth between the sewing room (where my lap top is...where I am diligently sorting pictures) and the family room where Goosey was. I finished a little handsewing that I needed to do and then went downstairs and enlisted Abigail's help in making soup. We made a cabbage soup...not one that I want all the time, but it does taste good after not having it for so long. Cabbages were on sale so Woody bought several...and the soup was a good use for almost a whole one. Abigail went home before the soup was totally finished and after I did the last steps on the soup, I came back upstairs to continue to sort pictures. Now...figure that most days I take "at least" several pictures...and they are stored in the computer according to the day they were taken...and, now, those pictures are multiplied by two cameras...that's a lot of pictures taken each month...and when you multiply that by six months...well, you get the "picture!" It really has been fun seeing what we have done over these last months...a good review...a good diary...and that is what this blog is, too...a diary for us...and with the pictures added in we have two good sources to remind us of what we have been up to over the year/s!

I still can't believe that 2012 is so close at hand...not many hours now till it will arrive. I wonder where God will lead us down the road of life this year. I'm sure that there will be good times and not so good times...but there is one certainty...God will be right there seeing us through.

God's blessings to one and all on this last day of 2011. Praying that you will realize God's blessings in 2012!

Oh, almost forgot...Woody got a summons to jury duty in the mail today!