2012 Your going away.

So 2012, it seems you came yesterday and now your saying good bye, my how the year has flown by. It is a bit blurry because of how much we have done. Let's see shall we?

We started finishing packing, Mom got over just having a baby. We cried as we got rid of all our animals, we cried some more as friends came over and helped us finish packing, we cried as we look at our back yard with no animals and our home for eight years (the home that half my brothers and sisters had ever known), home cleaned and boxed up. Then moving three and a half to four hours away to San Antonio to live in apartments, that are 75% refugees and have about ten different tongues spoken around here. (Shock!!) Then school was out for the summer and we got a lot of time in with the kids here. We had a ton of laughs and jokes with them (good memories), the newness wore off, it became too hot so no kids wanted to come out to play, and we played alone a lot. Summer seemed to last FOREVER. We took a trip to Houston and cleaned the house some more while crying some more at everything missing and such. School started up and by then Jonathan and Emily were a year older. In September, Richard, Daddy, and my older brother, Zach, turned a year older. Oh and my other older brother, Seth, got married, and one of my nephews, Bryce, turned one (yes, I'm an aunt!). We took another trip to Houston visiting friends in the first part of November, we came home sick (we had great friends that shared their sickness with us ;-). For Thanksgiving we were invited to share Thanksgiving dinner with family from Iglesia de Puerta de Restauracion and a couple of days later we celebrated Rosie's first birthday. In December Justin had his fourth birthday and we took a trip to Houston for Christmas on the 23rd-27th. Now it's the last day of the month in this year. As I'm writing this I realize I forgot to write half of the writing and book reading I did, all the school and a ton of little things that I just forgot about because of how much of a blur this year has been.
Before I forget everything I'm thinking, I will say bye to this year thanking God for all the friends (many older and younger than me, I have this thing that I never find a friend the same age as me), for letting me start really growing up (taking more off Mom's shoulders), I have grown spiritually, not in height (still only 5'1" :p ), I have watched my brothers and sisters more this year than any other time of my life, I am learning to become a better friend (to the few people that are my real friends), I have stayed up too much and should have gone to bed more, eaten too much sweets (holidays), not gone out side half as much as I wanted, I need to read some more, do more school and read the Bible much, much more. In other words, I have changed from being part of a young woman to much more of a full young woman.

I have work to do now and my Aunt just came over so now I have somethings to do.
Bye
~ Joannah

P.S. Here are some pictures from last year.