I'm going to NaBloPoMo in an attempt to revive this sad excuse for a blog

It has been almost one year exactly since my last post.  At that posting rate, why even bother having a blog? I'll confess, I have thought about trashing it several times, but I'm super low tech, and I use my blog to click to my friend's blogs.  I haven't figure out that new-fangled google reader thing yet.

I was considering starting a new blog so that I could emotionally move on without having to see my bleak  meager archives, but then I realized that my nine faithful followers may not be able to find me, and wouldn't that be sad. (That is of course provided that you haven't given up on me all together). 

When I saw on Bridget's blog (which you should totally read, by the way, because it an amazing example of what a blog should be) that NaBloPoMo was upon us (that is, National Blog Posting Month, wherein you post each day for the month of November) I thought maybe I should take the opportunity to get back in the swing of blogging. 

So here we are.  In the year since I last posted, we have had several significant changes in our family.  In fact, if I wanted to cheat, I could probably fill the whole month with posts about those events.  While a few of them definitely deserve their own posts, and will probably get them, I figured I would start the month out with a brief synopsis to get everyone up to speed.  Otherwise, my posts from here on out won't make a lot of sense.  So here we go:

I last posted on November 6th, 2011, a month after Hattie was born.  In December, Jason and I went on a once in a lifetime (though I hope that isn't literal) trip to the Bahamas, courtesy of his company.  We left the kids, yes both of them, in the capable hands of my mother-in-law for 5 glorious days of sunshine, luxury, water parks, dolphins, and general relaxation.  It was incredible!

Jason and I with a dolphin in the Bahamas

In February, Jason got a new position within his company that suddenly required him to travel 2-4 weeks out of every month.  It was a little rough there for a while, especially since he traveled every week in the month of March.  

A lot of his travel required him to drive long distances, and our 2002 Saturn just wasn't up to the job, so we "traded it in" for a brand new, 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid.  It is awesome!

I was called as the Girl's Camp Director for my ward, so in July I left the kids yet again with my mother-in-law (she's basically my hero) and got to relive camp for a few days.  

In August, Jason was offered yet another new position that required us to move to Fresno, California.  It was  a whirlwind move, with less than three weeks from the time he was offered the position to the time we were in our new home in Fresno.  It has been a bit of an adjustment for the whole family, but the move allowed us to rent a home with plenty of space for our family, including a garage and a backyard.

The view of our living room from the top of the stairs.

Two weeks after we moved, we had to put our beloved Jager down.  Our sweet dog of almost 9 years got cancer in her shoulder and the pain became so severe that, on her last day, she just lay and whimpered. It was heartbreaking, and her death left a hole in our family. 

Jager

OK, that about does it!  We are now brought current enough that I can write things without having to give a complete back story!  Wish me luck on my endeavor!