A New Year Reflection

It is time to say goodbye to 2010, but the year will not be forgotten. 

Scott and I enjoyed a year of firsts.  We celebrated our first wedding anniversary in March with a trip to the Biltmore, we bought our first new home together in July, and I was the first to turn 40 years old. We both continue to work our same jobs with him at Home Depot and me at Tulip Grove Elementary.  Our children keep us busy as does our involvement in church.  We love every minute of it – even the sometimes hectic schedules!

Austin is a Freshman at Mt. Juliet High School.  He is 5 months away from getting his driver’s permit (which doesn’t seem possible).  He is still involved in sports, and had the honor of playing on the Middle School basketball team which won 3^rd place in the City Tournament and Babe Ruth 13 year old Baseball team which won the Tennessee State Championship title.  He hopes to play for the High School baseball team in the coming years.  He remains active in the church youth group, and enjoys all the typical teenage stuff like texting, ipods, and spectator sports.

Andrew is an Eighth Grader at Mt. Juliet Middle.  He has outgrown everyone in the family and takes great pride at “looking down” to Scott.  He played Spring and Fall baseball and is now venturing out to try his hand at football.  He has lots of friends and enjoys socializing through texting, Facebook, and “hanging out”.  He remains active in church and his youth group.

Taylor is a Fifth Grader at Elzie Patton Elementary.  She loves playing softball both during the Spring and Fall seasons.  She made some great defensive plays and hit a couple of homeruns.  Between seasons, she was selected to play on a travel team and played in several tournaments in the surrounding area.  She has found a new hobby in photography and enjoys snapping photos of her everyday life.  She is a very social, active, and happy “pre” pre-teen.

Annaliese is in Second Grade and only 1 week away from turning 8 years old.  She played a season of softball and was lucky enough to have her mom as a coach!  She continues to enjoy dance and takes tap, acrobatics, and ballet.  Her new interest is in basketball and began her first season in this sport two weeks ago.  She is kind hearted always looking to make other people smile and is planning to work with me in several service projects in the next year.

Tanner is in First Grade at Tulip Grove Elementary.  He is a joyful child full of energy, laughter and smiles.  He loves all sports and tries to keep up with the big kids.  He plays baseball and basketball and gives both sports his all.  He had surgery in March to correct a hole in his ear drum.  The surgery was medically not considered a success, but for all practical purposes, has done its job.  He is now able to swim without ear plugs and remains ear infection free.  There is no slowing him down and he lives every moment of life to its fullest.

As a family we have been blessed in many ways, but the year also brought its own trials.  Our city experienced a major flood where many homes were lost or damaged.  Schools were closed for several days for recovery efforts.  The Cocke’s lost a family member.  Tanner had to have major surgery.  Transitions and disappointments gave us challenges that we had to overcome.  But, through it all, we have traveled a life journey that has definitely had more ups than downs.  We look forward to a wonderful and blessed 2011!