Didn't realize it had been sooooo loooonnngg...

I honestly didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted - so now, being snowed into my house and not being able to go to work - I thought it would be an appropriate time to update...so here goes....
Yes, I did say the "s" word - "snow." We finally got some of the white stuff, which successfully made for quite a situation around here... I took the four wheel drive out this morning to see if I could safely navigate the roads to work...however, after going a mile down the road - I realized how unsafe a 45 minute drive to work would be. Not to mention, that upon stopping at the local gas station nearby - snow is a major event here - it's almost like having a movie star show up in front of your house. Inside the warmth of the gas station, the locals were sitting near windows watching and laughing each time a car slipped and slided down the highway. Talk about having a past-time - it went something like this in my mind:


"So, Bubba Jay, what did you do today?"
"Well, we watched that there idiot try to correct for that turn, and oooppsss...there he gone into the ditch."

Yea, okay...did I mention I've become bored sitting here....

Cody celebrated his 10th birthday in December - I can't believe he's been in our lives for that long. Of course, he thinks that makes him a teenager. Dan and I decided that he could stay alone in the house for a 10 to 20 minute period of time in the house while I ran to the store or whatever. When I first told him that I had a surprise for him, he wasn't quite sure what to think. He was in awe of the situation, but also a bit scared until I told him that while I was gone with Andrew and Nathan he could play the Wii. He jumped at the chance and since then he has had no hesitancy in staying at home for a short amount of time all by himself. Of course, the good news for Dan and I - as long as he sits in front of that Nintendo Wii - we know he won't be getting into anything else around the house....its the best hypnotic trick I've learned so far. It's like that commercial about Fixodent, "Fix it and forget it" - instead it's more like "Wii it and forget it."


The boys had a great time for Christmas...although, you can see from Andrew and Nathan's faces...they weren't too sure about getting their picture taken in front of the Christmas tree - or maybe they were just egging each other on because Nathan thought he looked better in his shirt than Andrew and Andrew disagreed...who knows. They might even be doing their best pirate impressions - "Aargh, Matey."We did make a winter trip to the beach this year. It's a long story, but needless to say, one of the families that I had previously cared for at work - well, we became pretty close. They had a large house (see pic) donated to them over the month of December to live at and invited our entire family to come enjoy some time with them while they celebrated Justin's end of chemotherapy. The house came complete with three stories, an elevator, and decks on each level of the house. It was very impressive, everyone was very nice, and we had a blast.
Andrew even got a chance to practice his name in the sand...while I got to practice my photography of the sunrise...

Cody has been doing fairly well in school - although his math is somewhat lacking - which we knew would be the case. Andrew is still having some articulation problems with his speech and has been recommended for more speech therapy through the school. His skills are improving, but he is still struggling with his numbers and letters (moreso numbers).

I continue to work the new job, and am loving it. Still working with most of the same patients I worked with inpatient in the hospital, but in a daytime only setting. Dan continues to work at Colony Tire about 10 minutes from the house and is doing fairly well there.

As for those of you wondering what is going on here/or has gone on here....let's just say, things took a turn for the worse, and as all stories go, there is always a turn for the worse before the story gets better. We are at the tail end of the worst and moving onto that "happy ending" it seems. As Dan and I approach our 10 year wedding anniversary this May, and we will celebrate in a way that is not unique, but will include some of our closest friends and family. We would love to invite all of you, but there is only so much we can do...keep posted for more details will surely follow - but think - May 9th........