A year has passed

I can't believe a whole year has passed since I last blogged! So much has happened, I don't know where to start!

In November of 2008, our oldest son Christopher moved to Chico, CA. He is working at Starbucks and taking a few classes. He loved it at first, but now that a year has passed he is ready to try something new.

In December, a very sweet family moved in with us. My friend, Desi, and her three babies lived with us for four months! It was wonderful! They had so much energy and really brought a lot of life into the house. They moved out in April of 2009, and my parents moved in in June!!


Having my parents here has been great, but it sure got scary in July. On the 13th my dad had a heart attack. He was in ICU for three days! My mom is severely disabled and the boys and I had to figure out really quickly how to care for her! That was quite an ordeal, but they really stepped up and helped a lot. Now we have In Home Support Services helpers coming in four days a week. Dad is home from the hospital, and we are finally hitting a rhythm.



In June, Benjamin graduated from high school, but just two weeks before he graduated he made a decision that changed all of our lives, he decided to join the Army. I am so proud of all of our soldiers, I am glad that he wants to serve his country. But it is really hard to wrap my head around the fact that he will be so far away and I will have very little time to spend with him over the next four years. As soon as I began to deal with that, he chose his specialty. He will be an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Specialist!! Yeah, scary! I asked his recruiter, "I have one urn with my youngest son's name on it, can you guarantee me that I won't have a second one next to it?" The recruiter said, "The Army doesn't give that guarantee." I said, "College does." Well, my pleas didn't change anyone's minds and Ben will be leaving tomorrow at 10:00 am for Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. I will miss him so much!!!


Just last week we had a HUGE going away party for Ben and had over 100 people show up to tell him good bye! He had a really great time with his friends, and was very blessed by their good wishes.


Zachary turned 17 this year! He is going to Enterprise High School, and seems to get taller every time I look at him. He has already had three different cars and loves working on them! He is becoming quite the accomplished mechanic and has probably saved me thousands by fixing my cars!

Fortunately I have something to occupy my mind, I got a new job! I will be starting in November as an employee with Shasta County! I will be an Eligibility Worker with the Cal-Works program! I am super excited for this opportunity! I can't wait to start! I am also more than half way through with my undergraduate work! I will have my BA degree in April!


Speaking of education, Charles has had quite a year as well! He began work on his Master's Degree! He is attending Drexel University in their Higher Education program! He is enjoying his time back in school, trying to get used to all the reading! He has served this year as the National Chair of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel advising the IRS! He is still working in Folsom as the Theatre Manager for a performing arts center for the school district which means he only gets a couple of days home a week, but we seem to be making that work for us.




So much has happened this year, and I hope to get better about posting in the coming year!