However, with that being said, I am very excited for the New Year, as am I always, for with a New Year, comes a hope of brighter things and the excitement of a new adventure filled with endless possibilities and the new found ambition we all seem to find in regards to setting new goals and striving to keep those goals and so because of that, I am truly excited to see what 2014 has in store for me and my family. But, before I get into our plans/aspirations of 2014, I would like to say, Happy Belated Christmas! I sincerely hope that you all had a lovely Christmas, surrounded with the people that you love and I would like to share our Christmas and all the fun things that happened in the Merrill home. Especially since I have not been on here to blog lately, which I am sorry about, my life got a little out of control and I needed to take some time off. Our home was hit with a plague of illness that prevented me from doing much of anything, for I was so sick and exhausted from it all, that I had to put blogging on the back burner and focus on getting myself and my family better. Thankfully, I can honestly say that I am back and ready to take to blogging again, for we are all feeling better! Hallelujah!
Now that I explained the reason for my absence, let me share a little bit about our Christmas. Here it goes, our Christmas this year was a little strange, first of all because of the plague that hit and second of all because it did not go exactly as planned. Let me explain, Christmas Eve was not as enjoyable as it has been in the past, due to sickness and Payten feeling miserable. At one point in the night, she spiked a fever of,
104.1, which left us worried and wondering if we were going to end up spending Christmas in the hospital. Thankfully we were able to get the fever down and keep it down, which meant that we did not have to go to the hospital. Yay for blessings! But you can now imagine from this knowledge, just how fun our night went, for anyone running a temperature this high, is going to be completely and totally miserable and therefore, is going to make sure everyone around them knows just how miserable they are, especially a child, which is exactly what happened. Luckily for us, it did not take long to get Payten comfortable again, that is once we figured out what the problem was exactly. Once we resolved that problem, our night went a little better and we were able to accomplish everything that we needed to accomplish for the next day.
Unfortunately, due to the lack of sleep from all of the pervious nights events, we completely over slept our Christmas morning and therefore had to postpone it until the afternoon, considering we had to be to Grandma and Grandpa Greene's house by 10am for brunch and we did not wake up until 8am! Thankfully, the news of postponing our gift opening until the afternoon went better than expected, for the kids did not complain one bit about having to wait, rather they seemed pretty content with waiting till after we got home from Grandma and Grandpa's house to open their presents, which was very surprising to me. However, we did take time out before leaving to Grandma and Grandpa's house, to see what "Santa" brought everyone and open all of the stockings, which I believe helped in the "waiting to open all our other presents" news. Here is a picture of the kids, right before we allowed them to go down the hallway to see what Santa had brought them,
Aren't they cute?! Unfortunately, Payten was still not feeling so hot and therefore slept through all the morning festivities. Which made me realize that by us sleeping in and causing "our" Christmas to be postponed till the afternoon, was in actuality, great blessing in the disguise, for it gave Payten time to feel a little better and to wake up, so that we all could enjoy our Christmas together as a family. So, you could say that our Christmas started off a little rocky, but it ended beautifully and I could not have asked for a better day. Here are some pictures from the day,
As you can see from all of the pictures, our children were beyond spoiled and we truly did have a beautiful day surrounded by love and laughter and what more could you ask for on Christmas?! This truly is a Christmas we will remember in our hearts for years to come. That night, I retired to my bed feeling overwhelmed for all the many blessings in which I was thankful for.
Okay, now that Christmas was reported on, I will move onto New Years Eve, etc. I am happy to report that by the time New Years rolled around, the plague that had hit our family was gone and we were all feeling better, which meant we could ring in the New Year with a bang and that is exactly what we did! The kids wanted to have a New Years party with their best friends and that is exactly what they did! We invited their good friends, The Schad's over for a sleepover/New Years party and while the kids played outside, etc. Joseph, I and my sister and her husband, as well as one of our friends, played a mean game of Monopoly, of which Joseph came out on top. After the games, etc., we went out back and set off fireworks. Once our fireworks show was over, we came in and got our cups ready for our traditional News Years Eve toast and we counted down the New Year! After we clinked our cups together, the boys, meaning Zachary and his friends, Jaxton and Ryker, formed a Conga line and went out front, going up and down the street, screaming Happy New Year! To say the kids had a great time would be an understatement! Here is a picture of all the kids, right before we clinked cups and rang in the New Year,
As I sit here and ponder what this New Year will bring to my family and I, I can not help but reminisce what 2013 brought us, which was many ups and downs, which I believe is what makes for a really great year, for not only do you have moments filled with blessings, but you also are given opportunities of growth, which end up being some of your greatest blessings, that end up being some of the most joyful, if that makes any sense. So here goes, below you will find a highlight of 2013,
First off, Payten had her trach removed!
Zachary won first place in his Pinewood Derby!
Zachary turned 10!
Payten started making great strides towards walking!
Payten received a new Orthotic garment called the DMO, which helped enable her to use her muscles better.
Joseph and I celebrated 11 yrs. of marriage!
Zachary started and successfully graduated from OT!
Payten received a pair of AFO's, hence the great strides towards walking!
First time ever that Payten was able to experience the beach and deep her feet in the water!
This picture makes me cry every time I see it.
First time the kids got to go to the San Diego Zoo!
Makenna's first time at the beach!
Our First family Vacation in about 7 yrs. and we went to Disneyland!
Zachary being silly!
Zachary after his spinal tap, which affirmed that he does not suffer from GTP Cyclohydrolase, like Payten does, phew!
One of Payten's many hospitalizations!
Emmett turned 2!
Emmett with his birthday money!
Payten's sleep study, that came back normal!
Payten turned 5!
Payten had her trach reinserted.
And last, but certainly not least, Makenna turned 8 and chose to be baptized!
Now, in all honesty, after looking through the events of 2013, how could I not feel extremely blessed and grateful?! It seriously was an amazing year, that had moments of heart break and as well as joy and it will be a year that will be remembered forever! So now you can understand little as to why I am sad to close that chapter of my life, yet excited to open a new chapter filled with many possibilities! 2014, should be a good year, at least I hope. First of all, we will be starting off the year seeing the specialist for Payten, who is in Utah, Dr. Swabooda, on the 23rd of January and we are hopeful that she will have some answers/suggestions on how to help better Payten's quality of life. Also, nursing has FINALLY been set up and with a new company too, which should be nice! Finally we will get some much needed help, which will help to relieve some of the stress Joseph and I are both under. Now after these two things, who knows what 2014 will have in store; all I can say is we are super excited! Typically I am not one who sets New Years resolutions, but this year I am going to try it and here are some of my resolutions,
1) Slow down and enjoy life more
2) Find myself again! For the past 5 years, I have lost myself to the service of my daughter Payten and I need try and take time to figure out who I am, again, and learn what I like etc.
3) Drink more water!!!!
4) Eat more whole foods and less processed!
5) Live happily and do something each day that will bring me closer to my God!
I think these are realistic goals, that are simple enough to succeed at and therefore I am excited to see what I accomplish through mastering these goals! Here are some goals that the kids have set,
Zachary, he wants to write a book this year!
Makenna, she wants be become better at dance and focus on gaining a better relationship with her Heavenly Father!
Seriously, these are the goals they set, not me, them!!!! And I think they are pretty awesome goals if I do say so myself.
As for Emmett and Payten, I hope to have Emmett fully potty trained this year and I hope to see Payten back to making great strides towards walking. So, here's to a good year, filled with great and many possibilities! I pray we all may see the beauty in what this year has in store for us and that we all have a healthy and prosperous 2014! Much love to you all and God bless!
Such a wonderful post! I loved reading this! Great goals!
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