A Fantastic Holiday, fantastic year

Hey all. Yep, it's been 4 months since my last blog. I really want to better at this :)
I can't believe it's 2009. We're fast approaching the year they made Back to the Future 2 about. I have yet to see flying cars and hover boards, but we do have TV's that you can hang like a picture frame, and then there's the Wii Fit. Get in shape while playing a video game? That should have been in the movie.

Anyway, crazy 4 months for my family! In September my dad had an operation to have his right foot amputated. He has been in pain for 15 years, and although the procedure itself was scary, it was a huge blessing for him to have freedom from the pain. My mom had taken time off work to care for him, but she had an accident herself, and broke her knee cap. So two weeks after my dad's surgery, my mom had a total knee replacement. And a few days after that, my brother developed a bone infection that kept him in the hospital for 3 weeks. Craziness. Because of all this, I was able to take 6 weeks off work to help them out. Outwardly, things looked chaotic and difficult and painful, but honestly, we never had a bad day. Spirits were incredibly high and we felt God's hand on us. I was amazed at my parent's courage and faith to face the most difficult thing they've experienced in 30 years of marriage. I felt that we grew so much closer as a family this.

The Christmas season was amazing. This year we decided not to exchange gifts, but rather do stuff together as a family. My mom, grandma and I spent a lot of time baking and sewing aprons. We went to the Cascade Christmas (which gets better every year) and enjoyed hanging out. The greatest gift to us as a family was having my dad spend time with us. Because of his pain, when he's home he's always laid up in bed, and it's been this way since I was 10. And even when he was able to hang out, it was very short lived. Now that he didn't have pain, he ate with us, and even stayed up till 11 playing games. He's a new man. Here's a pic of him and his new leg :)
and some more family pics :)

The day after Christmas, Shelby and I and some friends went up to her grandparent's cabin. The snow was fresh and stunning, and there was tons of it! The cabin is wonderful anytime of the year, but with the snow and icicles and fire place, it was magical. It was great to get up there, be with great people, and do nothing. Perfect vacation.




I finished up the year in Disneyland with my sister and nieces. My sister planned such an awesome trip. Not only did we spend 3 days in the park, she took us to a "Pirate Adventure" dinner in Buena Park! I'm absolutely stunned at the kind of talent that exists in Southern California. Everyone is so professional and sharp and loves what they do. Disneyland around the holidays is the BEST! Everything is transformed into Christmas perfection. My favorite part was "It's a Small World - Holiday!" Jingle Bells in 6 languages? That's awesome! I also had a fun surprise when we were watching the Christmas parade.

I've know this guy since Jr. High! He's a triplet, and he and his brothers all work for Disney. It was so fun seeing a little piece of Redding in Disneyland :) Everything was amazing. The holidays is definitely the best time to visit the park, even if it's crazy busy. The only letdown was that it was so foggy at night, we didn't get to see the New Years fireworks :( But we were riding around on the Matterhorn right before the countdown so that kind of made up for it : ). Awesome vacation. I'll be the first to admit, my heart definitely sank the day we had to leave...

Alright, so...2008. Awesome year. I have lots of hope and expectation for an even better 2009! Here's the to new year!