Pix 'n Prose: 2009 - Year In Review

This year, as the year wound down, I browsed through a couple thousand photos, remembering the best parts of 2009.

My boy got baptized.

My other boy bought a car. And my third boy (not pictured bought a truck.)

I spent many evenings at the beach, walking. And taking. And taking pics.

In February, I zipped over to Winnipeg to visit Vern and meet Lawrence and Ellie's twins, Noah and Anna.

While I was there, Drew broke his collarbone.

Dad only had one health emergency this year, yay! His hospital visit was short and sweet this time. He will probably outlive us all...

And yay for having another son with a driver's license... Max passed his road test during the week that dad was in the hospital:

In March while Drew and Max were in Florida, enjoying the sunshine and the beach, I went to Cultus with a puzzle-addicted friend and enjoyed a freak snowstorm.

In April, Jesse married Sharalin

and we're so glad he did

she's a welcome addition to our family.

Clint was one of his groomsmen...

Then in May,

Stuart joined the family by marrying Vanessa. Yay for weddings.

In June, for the first time in 9 years, Clint, Max, Drew and I went on a vacation together. We went to New York City.

We stayed in a brownstone in Harlem. And lived to tell about it.

We were there for 5 whirlwind, memorable days. The day we arrived my mom fell down the stairs at home and broke her ankle.

We saw The Lion King on Broadway, went to the top of the Empire State Building at midnight, strolled through Central Park, saw the amateur show at the Apollo, were in Times Square the day Michael Jackson died, walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, spent hours in museums, shopped in SoHo, took a Harbour cruise and and and and got caught in a number of epic rain storms.

Three days after we got home, Clint took a quick jaunt over to Winkler, Manitoba and then two days after that, left for Paraguay and Brazil.

While he was videotaping the MB World Conference highlights, Mandi, Max, Drew and I joined dad and mom and their friends on an Alaskan cruise:

It was fabulous.

We tanned, played games, ate continually, read alot of books, saw shows, visited ports,

saw ice bergs and glaciers

talked

and enjoyed spectacular scenery.

Three days after we got home, Drew and I rented a motorhome and joined our friends at Creationfest.

While we were there, Clint was sick in Brazil. He was quarantined and bed ridden for a week, poor boy.

By the end of the summer, was all better.

2009 saw him make some big changes in his life; he quit his job at Northview, moved out home and became a fulltime Arts student at UFV. He loves it. Both living on his own, and being a student.

In October, I went on a bizarre, unbelievably awesome 6 day cross-Canada trip with Arrow. I spent the weekend on Prince Edward Island, then was in Moncton on Monday, Toronto on Tuesday, Edmonton on Wednesday and Calgary on Thursday.

So much fun.

I live in a beautiful country.

In December, Max followed Clint's lead and moved out too. He's living at his dad's place and working at Langley Concrete with the rest of the O's.

So. 2009 brought some changes to our lives; (living arrangements, job situations, the color of my house) while some things stayed the same (none of us got married, I still feel blessed by my family & friends, and I still drive the Durango).

As I look to the new year, I love the quote that my friend Tricia had as her facebook status this evening (apparently it is from King George VI's new year's speech, years ago...)