2012 Year in Review and Picture Slide Show of "Lift - Off"

It's hard to believe another year is done, a new one has started! This past year has definitely brought a lot of CHANGES to our family! It has not been easy, but we are excited for what God has in store for our family in this new adventure on the road in 2013.

As I look back on 2012, I can see the faithfulness of God in many ways.  This was definitely a year of ups and downs. At the end of May, my dear Grandmother, Faye Tubb, passed away at the age of 97.  I am so grateful that I had the chance to visit with her just days before she died.  I still miss her, but I know I will see her again someday in Heaven. I am sure she is dancing up there with my Granddaddy!

This year, Alan coached Micah and Nathanael's soccer team.  That was really a neat experience.  Alan had never coached before, and I think he did an amazing job.  He enjoyed it as well.  At the beginning of summer, we were afraid we would not have enough players to make the team.  We only had around 7 boys signed up at the time and we needed a minimum of 8. There was no coach or team manager for the team either. So, Alan signed up to be the coach and manager for the team!  We (parents of the players) all worked hard recruiting other boys to play on the team.  By the time the season started in September, we had 15 players!!!  We won some, tied some, and lost some...but mostly the boys just had a good time in the process!

Caleb enjoyed taking gymnastics at the local YMCA.  He learned all kinds of new tricks! Joshua really liked his gym class at our church preschool on Wednesdays.  Caleb and Joshua have both been learning to ride their bikes (with training wheels on) this past year. It has been fun to ride our bikes together as a family.

Alan and I have enjoyed working together in children's ministry as he served as the full-time Children's Minister the past 6 years at First Baptist Church of Ellisville. On Sundays, Alan was always busy teaching, organizing volunteers & students, greeting, and occasionally doing baptisms.  I worked in the preschool children's church co-teaching the Bible lesson and worship time for children ages 18 months to Pre-K.  I always enjoyed hearing them sing, laugh, and ask questions.  I miss seeing those sweet faces every Sunday now that we have moved away:(

The summer was always busy with VBS, events, camps, etc.  The boys and I actually were able to go to Older Children's Camp with Alan this year. (We had gone one time before in 2009).  I was one of the counselors, and Micah actually was old enough to be a camper! We really let him get the camp experience and tried to act as just "counselors" and not "parents" that week. :) All of the boys really enjoyed the swimming, games, food, and Bible lessons/activities.

We started back up homeschooling in September again. Micah is in 4th grade, Nathanael is 3rd grade, Caleb is Pre-K, and Joshua attended preschool at our church a few days of the week before we moved in November.  We have enjoyed homeschooling outside and inside the RV, and we have especially enjoyed the field trips the past month!

The past couple of months have been hectic with packing, sorting, donating/selling things, organizing, visiting, and traveling throughout Texas to see friends and family.  It has been SO wonderful to visit with loved ones.  I have truly enjoyed seeing everyone!  Actually, we expected to have all this extra time once we left St. Louis, and it has not been the case.  We have visited with many family and friends, celebrated the holidays (two or three times...ha!), attended 5 different churches for Sunday worship/Bible Study (together as a family...wahoo!), explored museums & nature, gone biking, played ball, visited 2 Six Flags parks, filled out bunches of paperwork & made tons of calls for moving/change of address stuff, made 2 visits to the DMV to become Texas residents, homeschooled the boys, worked on Alan's new ministry, and loaded, organized, unloaded, reloaded, organized, and reloaded stuff in the RV a gazillion times!!!! We have traveled to Wichita Falls, Arlington, Lake Whitney, Waco, Lockhardt, Austin, San Antonio, New Braunfels, back to Wichita Falls, Arlington, Livingston, Trinity, Conroe, back to Livingston, and now we are heading to Florida! I will be totally honest - it has been challenging and overwhelming at times! This is a huge life change for us, and we are still adjusting in many ways. We are still trying to figure out some kind of routine because every day has been different. Please pray for us!:)

Finally, we want to say thank you again to all of you who helped and encouraged us through this transition.  Thank you to our First Baptist Church family for the lovely girls night out for me (I love and miss you ladies!!!! - Jill)  and for the farewell reception for our entire family.  Thank you to everyone who gave us such generous gift cards, cash, and encouraging cards of support. Thank you to all of the church members who stopped by our house before we left St. Louis bringing us goodies, gifts, cash, etc.   Thank you to all of you who helped watch our boys so that we could pack.  Thank you for all of you who stored some of our things in your basements. Thank you to those of you that ran last minute errands for us. Thank you most of all for your loyal friendship and prayers as we start a new ministry.  I know I could go on and on, but I will just say another HUGE thank you to everyone who has blessed us in some way, big or small, anonymously or known...you know who you are! We love you and we are grateful for you!

I am still amazed at this incredible journey we get to go on across America with our boys.  There were so many times that we wished we could get out of the "rat race" for awhile and just slow down and enjoy life with our boys.  They grow up so fast, and it can be so easy to fall into the busyness trap.  Not all extra activities are bad, and I am not saying every family should sell everything, buy an RV, and travel together 24/7!  However, this was a dream for us, and we are so grateful for the opportunity.  It just fits our family.  We did enjoy so many wonderful church & community activities, and sports with our boys.  We are finding other ways to be active as a family on the road.  Also, people have asked me if it was hard to downsize and get rid of all our stuff. (We did store sentimental items, homeschool books, and clothing for the boys for next year). Actually, it was not so hard. (Earlier this year, I read the book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt.  Wow! I highly recommend reading it! If you have read it, then you can understand what I mean.) It really did feel good to get rid of the clutter and "stuff".   We were able to give to people by donating some of our furniture, appliances and other items.  We were so blessed when we were also the recipients of people's giving.  At our garage sales, we had people just give us extra money to help encourage us as we start a new ministry and spend more time together as a family.  After living in the RV since early November, we have realized more and more what we really need...just the basics.
Our prayer is that we can grow closer to God and grow closer as a family (not just physically in a tiny 37 foot long RV "house") and become better parents to our boys.  We hope to encourage other parents & families, small churches and communities through our new ministry opportunity as well.

So- on a foggy morning in mid-November, back in St. Louis, we made our dream a reality, and we "lifted off" to our new adventure.  My dear friend, Caroline, owner of A Better Story Photography, took pictures as we finished up the last minute packing, cleaning, and walking around the house one last time.  Our dear neighbors ended up painting the inside of our house for us that week because we ran out of time before we left.  (Thank you Sievers! Love you!) There were friends and neighbors who stopped by to bid us "see you later" (NOT GOOD-BYE!).  The boys enjoyed some time in the backyard as well.  So many memories here...the treehouse that Alan built for the boys, the tire swing that provided hours of entertainment, the yard to run, jump and play in...

Blessings to you and yours,

 Jill and the boys:)