2007 Year in Review
January
We rang in the New Year in Iowa City where we were currently residing with Todd’s brother, Jeff and his wife Narmin. Todd enrolled in one class at Kirkwood Community College while still working at CramerIT. Amy continued to work for Cerner two days a week from home. Andrew and John Lewis went to preschool two days a week and were just boys the rest of the time.
February
The boys and Amy made a trip to Alabama for an aunt’s funeral. We were glad that this was the last of our monthly streak of funerals for the year. On the way home, we hit 6 states and saw 6 grandparents in one very long day! We were happy to have a short reprieve from the single digit temps in Iowa but more importantly to support our family at the time of their loss. Amy also found somewhere to run indoors to stay in shape without freezing!
March/April
Sometime in the spring we decided to take the plunge for Todd to be a full-time student. In April we made a weekend trip to Rolla to buy a house. Amy’s parents were kind enough to corral the boys in the hotel while we looked, bid and signed contracts.
May
We hit a bump in the road when found out that Todd had been the victim of identify theft because we weren’t willing to pay off the Chevy Impala that was on his credit report. Many phone calls and some more phone calls and faxes and other faxes, thankfully this is resolved. Knowing who we really were, we packed up all of our things and said good-by to our friends we had made in Iowa over the previous 10 months and headed south to Rolla, Missouri. We moved into our home in a wonderful neighborhood. A few days later we headed to Kansas City for a neighborhood reunion.
June
Andrew attended summer school at the local public school with a class called “Around the world in 20 days”. Todd began his first classes at University of Missouri-Rolla with some of his fellow students from Kansas City. Our guest room had been used many times already and we enjoyed having company! We also became a one vehicle family – one non-human powered vehicle that is!
July
July found us starting our first adventures in home schooling! Through a lot of prayer and research, we decided that home school was the best option for us this year – Andrew’s first year of school. (I wanted to get started before the school year started in case it was a bust and we needed to send him to a conventional school!) We also started getting involved with a house church where we have settled.
August
August was Todd’s first semester of being a full-time student in about 15 years! He started hitting the books pretty hard right way as a junior in the Civil Engineering program.
Almost every day he biked the two miles to and from school! Amy ran a half marathon
in Chicago with some cousins after spending many many hours training.
September
The boys were able to start their new fall activities in September with AWANA, Wednesday School, Home School PE and Soccer. Wednesday School is run by a local church for home schooled children for a day of enrichment activities. Both of the boys can go and are even learning Chinese.
October
The fall seems like much more of a blur and earlier in the year as we settled into the school year routine and learning all our small town has to offer. The boys were able to go on a two week road trip with their Aunt Jenny seeing New Mexico and the Colorado desert. Amy met them in Kansas City for a weekend of hanging out with friends.
November
During the fall boys spent a week with each of their grandparents while Amy was doing some work stuff – training in Kansas City and a trade show in Chicago. Home schooling wasn’t a bust at all – it’s been a highlight of the year for mom at least. She has great students and they enjoy the learning. I think we’ll try it again next year, but it’s a decision to make for one year at a time!
December
The beginning of December meant the end of the semester and finals for Todd while the rest of the family supported him filling his brain to capacity. We must have been quite busy because we didn’t get around to putting the letter out until now! Our year has rounded out with good news. Todd was excited that he was shown favor by his professors when he got his semester grades. Amy was told that she will have a position at Cerner for at least three more months and not being eliminated on December 31st.
We are most thankful for the favor that we have been shown by Jesus Christ to be His children. We are thankful for His sacrifice of coming to earth as a man to be crucified and resurrected for our short comings. This Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus as the beginning of his earthly life which is the foundation of our faith and hope!
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