The End of 2009 and New Beginnings

As you can see, it is 2010 and I have not updated since July. As you can imagine, alot of things have happened since July's post so here is an overview of the 2nd half of the year.

August:

Family Mission Trip to Lytle, Texas with our FBC peeps. We had a great trip - you can see details of that trip on the FBC Missions blog. It was a great trip (very hot) and we became even closer to our Prosper families doing ministry on this trip together. When we got back from our trip it was time to move. Our new house was complete and we moved in over the course of our anniversary. It was worth it - we love the new house and it was great to be all moved in by the time school started at the end of August. Also, I started my new job teaching 4 year old preschool 4 days a week. I have 10 precious little ones and I love it.

September:

The beginning of football season - which is BIG in Prosper. FBC did our away game tailgates which are always fun (even though some were a little soggy). The highlight of September is homecoming. The whole town shuts down at noon for the parade and it's just a fun day to be with family and friends and watch some home town football (we won!). Also this Fall we began LIT (leaders in training) with our 4th and 5th graders at church. They began several service projects and had a great semester just learning more about God and serving other people.

October:

Kelsie's birthday month - she turned 11 this year. I can't believe how big she is now and grown up she seems at times. She is in that cute stage of being a little grown up but still enough little girl to remind us she's still our baby girl. We hosted our families at our house for her party and had a good time visiting and eating Kelsie's bday choice of cherry pie instead of cake. Kelsie made the broadcast team at school which means she gets to do the video announcements (with a partner) for two weeks for the school. She loved it! In LIT, they delivered Fall goody baskets to our Sr. Adults and it was such a blessing to see these kids interact with our older adults who were so thankful for the Fall baskets. Halloween was a little different for us this year too. Kelsie was Nancy Drew but didn't really want to attend any carnivals or anything this year, just trick or treating with friends. So, we went to the Jones house for dinner and pictures, the large group of kids broke up into smaller groups to trick or treat and we ended up with everyone back at our house for snacks and playing. I stayed home to hand out treats and gave away ALOT of candy! It was so fun.

November:

This month started off with Kelsie's 5th grade program at school and she had a little solo in it and so did her friend Kensey. They were both so fabulous - I was so incredibly proud of both of those girls, they are talented. The LIT kids made fleece blankets to take to a little nursing home here in Prosper. The 9 residents loved seeing the kids and were appreciative of their homemade gifts. The kids also took the lead doing Operation Christmas Child - they made posters, made announcements in Life Connection, collected items and stuffed boxes. So proud of their servants hearts. FBC had our annual Day of Thanks and Turkey Bowl at church - so much fun! Worship was sweet, we had a family meal and played some not so serious flag football! Kelsie started out playing football but quickly gave up on her team in favor of babysitting some of the little kids. The weather was great and we had such a great time playing - our team won the first game and then lost our other 2 in OT. We still had a BLAST and loved getting to know so many new people. We hosted Thanksgiving for Wayne's family at our house this year - Kelsie had a little extra time with her cousin Brittany during the holiday. We had a family from church join us too and it was fun having a house full. Our family played the Jones family in a friendly game of touch football after lunch - we lost but had a good time and maybe worked off a little of the calories we consumed. The day after Thanksgiving we went with MaMaw and Joy to see "Ice" at the Gaylord Hotel. It was amazing how colorful the ice was - it was the Grinch theme. Very neat to see and experience - including the ice slide.

December:

Kelsie made the UIL oral reading team and so she had her competition. She didn't make the finals but we were so proud of her making the team and working hard to practice. The 2nd week in December, the Rucker 5th grade went to Camp JOLT for 3 days. Kelsie had a blast and even though it was super cold, she seemed to love it and learn a lot while she was there. Wayne surprised me the Thursday night she was away with tickets to the Meyerson "Cheer" concert - it was a great concert and we enjoyed the evening out on a date. Another big treat for us in December was we got to go to a Dallas Cowboy game (played Chargers) at the new stadium. All 3 of us got to go and we were all amazed by the stadium and the screen - we were there for the first ever 3-D game - epic fail! After the game, we wanted to see more of the stadium so we wandered around enough after the game we got to see some of the Cowboys like Marion Barber come out and walk to their cars. December means basketball practice has begun and Kelsie has enjoyed getting back into that. Our church passed out food baskets to people in our community for Christmas and I was proud of the kids as they were singing carols and helping fill baskets - they really enjoyed serving. Of course, December means Christmas and we all enjoyed our time off from work/school and spending time with friends and family during the season. We went to Waco and San Angelo for time with family and we had time at home together which was much needed. We even had a white Christmas Eve and Day and then another snow after we got home from San Angelo. We have enjoyed the Texas snow since it's enough to play in but it's gone the next day and it doesn't mess up your life!

So - there's the overview of the remainder of 2009. It was a blessed year but also had it's challenges too. This summer was difficult as our church faced some challenges and changes but God is faithful to prove Himself as defender, protector and provider. We end 2009 not looking back but looking ahead at the things God has laid before us - people He has chosen for us to serve for His name's sake. I look at our church and I am continually blessed at their generous hearts, willingness to serve, and the love they show us and each other. We are blessed to be a part of the FBC family. I hope I am better in 2010 at blogging (with pics) and I will commit to try and post once a week - it's just a discipline I got out of the habit of doing. Keep us posted with you and yours! Love keeping up with everyone. More soon....