New Years Eve

We spent the last several hours of 2012 doing what we love best....just being together. Grandma Julie, Suzi, Thomas, Hayden and I had take out Olive Garden for dinner. We then sat down for a family game night with Suzi. Boys vs. Girls on Sequence....girls pulled out a victory by a very small margin. Then we were taken down by the boys in Logo game. Hayden is absolutely amazing and knows every logo out there. After playing that game, I wonder if I ever pay attention to commercials or slogans. After those two games, we decided to watch a couple of movies on Netflix and HBO. And, rounded off our crazy night, watching the ball drop and heading off to dreamland.

I loved that we did make time to talk about a few of our favorite moments of 2012.
#1 in our book...mom surviving treatments and that no matter how weak I am, I was hear to celebrate another new year.
#2 - Simonton Family Cruise to the Carribean. Definitely a dream vacation.
#3 - Oceanside Beach - always our favorites.
#4 - Secret Santa and Christmas Angel.... oh how we felt loved by them.
#5 - The many games, talks, movies watched and all the time we spent cuddling up on the couch together.
#6 - New school. New friends.
#7 - All of our family that has taken such great care of us. Our friends that we consider family. And a ward family that is remarkable.
#8 - Our Father in Heaven and Savior being apart of our lives every day. Feeling the Holy Ghost and making it a priority to choose to do right.
#9 - Cousins. Cousins. Aunts. Uncles. Grandparents. And all the fun family moments.
#10 - Miracles. We have seen and experienced so many miracles this year. We are grateful for each and every one of them. We are in awe of the goodness in our lives.

Although the above list was in no particular order, it made us realize how blessed we are. How many wonderful people that surround us. The love that has been shown to our family in 2012 is something we will never forget and always cherish. The acts of service that we have received has been so far reaching, meals brought in, treats dropped off, homemade bread enjoyed, testimonies born, friends to play, reaching hands to pull us up, multitudes of people have come together to bless our lives, quiet acts of service, surprises for Hayden, love showered upon us, and more gratefulness than our hearts can even hold.

It has been a year of miracles like no other. We have felt the Lord's power and seen His hand each and every day in our lives. Whenever we choose to look, we see Him. He has not left us alone but has walked each and every moment of our trials with us. We cherish the relationship we have gained with our Father in Heaven and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

2012 will be a year we look back on with so many mixed emotions. Mostly, we will cherish the love we have experienced and all the ways that we were blessed by so many, especially our Savior and our Father in Heaven. We most treasure one another and our Savior. We have gained a testimony that He lives. He knows us, our circumstances and is aware of all of our needs both big and small. To Him, we matter, whatever our hearts desires, the Lord is aware of them and desires to help us. We will leave 2012 knowing that our Savior has walked this path with us. He has never left us stranded, he has lifted us, guided us, sustained us and greatly blessed our lives... we are beyond grateful and our love for Him is without words.

Thank you 2012. We definitely experienced life to the fullest. We learned a lot and we are a better family for having experienced all you had to offer. Thank you for a wonderful year.