Out with the Old.....In with the New

Goodbye 2007! I will not miss you. In reflection of the past year I will not be sorry to say goodbye and hope that 2008 brings more happiness and joy to the Rohr family. This has been a tough year. I won't elaborate on the negative things that happened but can tell you that I have a short list of events that made my year eventful in a good way! So here's my short list.....

In no particular order of importance.....

Trey graduated!!!

**Don & I went on an 8nt Caribbean Cruise with Royal Caribbean. One of our favorite vacations!

**We bought a Jeep this summer. The kids love it!

We took the girls to their first Cubs game!

**Bailey joined our family in March. (our great dog!!)

My small group of 8th grade girls is awesome!!! (not all pictured but they're still awesome!)

That's it for 2007! Here's to a new beginning in 2008! Happy New Year everyone!!!

The Aftermath.....

Well we made it through another holiday! The presents are all unwrapped and everyone needs a stomach pump for all the junk food that they consumed! My house looks like an atomic bomb went off. It's probably going to take another week to sort through all the "old" to find a place for the "new".

Besides all the food and presents it was genuinely nice to spend some quality time with all our relatives. Everyone is so busy anymore you just don't get these moments very often. We played games and watched movies, laughed, and just really enjoyed being with each other. What a nice change of pace!

This was our first Christmas with our dog Bailey and she was so funny to watch around the tree and the presents! We had some things wrapped up for her and she actually unwrapped them herself! Don cheated a bit by opening the bag of treats and leaving one between the wrapping paper and the bag so that she could smell it. After getting the first one open though she knew what she was supposed to do and she got all her snacks and toys unwrapped herself! It was pretty impressive.

The biggest "hit" with our family this year was the Wii system that we bought for the kids. Even the adults couldn't stop playing it yesterday. My favorite game (of course!) was tennis, Don liked the golf, Keri is a pro at bowling, and Katie pretty much likes them all! Trey was fun to watch when he did the boxing and he even smashed me at tennis! (He got lucky!!!) I think I must have played for at least 4 hours yesterday. Last night my arm hurt so bad that I could hardly sleep. I'm not kidding! I am really sore!!! I guess it is a pretty good workout!

So here ends another chapter, another year, another Christmas. Thank you God for all your blessings and all my family! Although I am now "poor" in the pocketbook, I am "rich" in love with such great family and friends!

Bah Humbug!!!

I am not in the Christmas spirit. Usually by this time I enjoy listening to the Christmas songs on the radio and look forward to shopping for my friends and family......I just can't get in the spirit this year! What I'd really like to do is take a long nap and someone can just wake me up when it's all over! The kids are at an age where everything they ask for is really expensive so they won't have many gifts to open and I can't seem to find gifts for those "hard to buy for" people in my life......I'm just about ready to buy gift certificates and say "forget it"! I'm being a real scrooge so I'm going to pray for my mood to change. If that doesn't work then someone needs to just give me a good kick in the butt!!!

Goofballs!

Ok...keeping up with the spirit of blogging once a month...here's another one! I really don't know how you people do it everyday!!!

This was one of the rare occasions that my girls were actually getting along. Seems like lately all they do is pick on each other and fight. I keep telling them that one day they will realize how much they love each other! I get the same reply everytime...."Gross!" How do you teach your children to appreciate each other? Someone needs to give me the secret formula!

My youngest, Keri, has shown me recently how big her heart is. We have been praying together at night and she is really starting to open up and is not afraid to really ask God for his help. She has been struggling with her fear of sleeping in her own room at night and praying "out loud" has really been helping her. She's also been praying for safety for our family. It's so cute to hear her ask for safety and protection while we all sleep and for her brother to return home safely (since he's not usually home when she goes to bed). I cherish her vulnerability to open up with me at night. If I asked her to do that during the day when someone else might hear her she would never do it. I'm glad that she has found a safety net in God.

Katie has started Junior High this year and it's been a real transition. I feel great pangs in my heart while I watch her interact with her peers. She has gone through some major changes in her friendships this year and I can see her struggle sometimes trying to figure out where she fits in. It's in these moments that the protector comes out in me and I just want to run interference for her! I know that would only isolate her more so I stay back and watch. That can be so hard...girls can be so cruel. She's more reserved than Keri so praying together is not something that she is comfortable with. I pray for her every night that she will stay strong in her beliefs and not give in to the temptations of trying to "fit in" with the right crowd.....which is actually the wrong crowd. I'm really proud of her for how she's handled herself in front of these peers. I need to tell her that. Actually, I need to share my favorite scripture with her!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Over and over I've taken comfort in that verse. Life doesn't always deal me the hand that I want but to know that God has a purpose for everything that I go through....that gives me hope. This is what I want to pass on to my kids!