Okay ... so a few months have passed by since our last post! Sorry, folks. Let's give a quick recap before I hit the bed and cross our fingers I'll keep it posted a little sooner! :)
October: We went back to St. Louis (with a side trip to Chicago) to visit family and friends for a little over a week. It was great to see my Grandmother and Russ from Wisconsin as well as meet Declan Isaac Orear (my younger brother and his wife's son). We also received some fun news while dining with the Orears: Greg and Kim are expecting their first child mid-May. :) YEAH!!! Through the tears of excitement, Fletch told me the first (to wed ... me) shall be last (to have a child). Praise the Lord it will happen one day! :)
We had an unexpected road trip back to St. Louis one week after we got home. My maternal grandmother passed away. It was a great time to be back as family again, reflecting on so many great memories I will always cherish. I will post a copy of Greg's eulogy at the end of this post for you to get to know the grandmother I grew up with and miss.
We also mourned the loss of a home church in October. We felt it was time to leave our home church of 3 1/2 years after the Pastors starting making decisions for the church that we didn't believe was good. The parting was hard, but we are believing God will bless us with a new home church in 2009.
November: I got through my 1st program of the year at school. The 4th graders did a superb job performing Teresa Jenning's program called "Freedom" which was about the freedom we possess as Americans. It was especially close to our hearts as Fletch is now a citizen and gets to enjoy the same rights as I have for the past 30+ years. :) I received many compliments from parents, administration and even the Board of Education President (who had a daughter in it) about the program. The board President was even commenting on it after his son's performance in December with the 5th graders!!!
November also marked the exciting time for Fletch to vote for the next US President!!! He was so excited to have that opportunity and I was proud of him for voicing his care in the future of America (even though we both voted for the loser!).
Thanksgiving was great with an awesome family we met at our former church. Unfortunately I had strep throat the weekend before. I didn't get to finish the 2 days of school that week, but we are grateful for my recovery before Thanksgiving! Thanks to Chuck and Charie and their children for allowing us to celebrate such a great holiday with you!
December: Poor Fletch started having tooth problems in December. It is now almost the end of January and he is still suffering pain from dental procedures! Praise the Lord we added him to my dental plan in August!!! December marked a time I almost broke my hand at school (ask me about it later) and the stomach flu. While I was at the doctor's office the afternoon of my 3rd and 5th grade programs, I got sick! Somehow I had enough strength to get through the 2 programs that night, but I missed the last day of school before Christmas break with the stomach flu. :( Fletch was still going through tooth issues; he also go the flu bug. :(
Luckily the bug left the house before my mom and dad got here for our 1st Christmas at our home! We had a great time with them and their greyhound, Lance. My older brother, Greg, and his wife, Kim, got here a few days after Christmas. The 6 1/2 of us (remember, Kim's pregnant) enjoyed a full day of each other before mom and dad started their journey back to St. Louis. Unfortunately the flu bug came back and Kim spent the last day sick in bed. :( Oye!
New Year's Eve: we had the awesome opportunity to spend the last hours of 2008 with our former worship pastor and his family and another family we served on the worship team with. :) It was such a great night to pray blessings into 2009!!!
January: After a great (but sickly) time off of work, Fletch and I started back at work. I got a cold; Fletch had a root canal. Boy, this is sure the year of illness!!! I had a great time at Colorado Music Educator Association conference at the Broadmoor Resort last week and am wondering how I'm going to fit all the exciting stuff I learned into the rest of the year's curriculum!!! :) I start back tomorrow and am looking forward to exciting all 720 of my student's lives in the wonderful world of music through Orff techniques! (You have to be a music teacher to understand that one!).
Fletch and are excited to see what God has in store for 2009. Maybe Fletch isn't as much as I am, but we are a great team and we know God has great things in store for us!!!!
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