Every New Year's Eve, I always find myself asking the same question I asked the previous New Year's Eve..."Where did this year go?" It really is true that time flies. Even more so when you have kids, especially now that mine are in school. There have been some years where I've said, "Thank God this year is over!" Then there have been years where I've said, "I hope next year is as good as this one has been!" As far as 2010 goes...I guess I would say a little bit of both phrases. Actually, I really could say that about every year. When I was thinking about this year, month-by-month, it made me realize just how many wonderful things have happened. It also made me realize that there are things about this year that I am glad are over. There are some things that I wish were over, but unfortunately are going to carry into 2011.
I usually send out a Christmas letter with our cards that lets all of our family and friends know what we've been up to this year. I didn't have the time or energy before Christmas, so I figured I'd sum up our year in this blog post (or try to, anyway.) So, 2010 in a nutshell...
We rang in the New Year last year at church, followed by champagne and dessert at our house with Josh's parents. They had been visiting for several days and we had a wonderful time. We wish we could see them more often (along with all of our family members.) The kids continued with gymnastics at Pink Pearl Gymnastics. Their instructor is Margaryta Booth. She is amazing! Josh continued to play drums for church, which he loves. I continued to co-lead a Moms bible study that meets every other Monday morning, as well as volunteering with several other things at church. I think the main thing that happened in January was that we finally found out what Hailey's food allergies were. That began a very life-changing journey for us (in a good way.) I had a bit of a scare and ended up needing a mammogram to rule out possible breast cancer. I praise God that the test was clear and everything is OK. The end of January brought a snow storm with about nine inches of snow. It broke records for Virginia Beach.
February was a fun month. We attended our annual Wave City Care Auction and won bids on some great items. That was my first auction and we really enjoyed it. My wonderful husband surprised me with a Valentine's Day getaway, just for me, at a hotel and spa called the Founder's Inn and Flowering Almond Spa. It was for two nights and a day of spa treatments. It was very needed and very appreciated. My Mom flew in a few days later to be here for Sarah's 3rd birthday party. We didn't tell the kids she was coming. What a surprise it was for them! We took them out to dinner and when we got them out of the car, my Mom was waiting outside the restaurant. The look on their faces was priceless! We celebrated Sarah's birthday with a "pink" party and it was fabulous. One of the most important things that happened in February was that Josh and I were asked to become Area Pastors at church. It is such an incredible honor to serve with the Area Pastors, especially under such amazing leadership. We have really been enjoying it.
In March was our church's annual Women's Conference. It's one of my favorite events of the year. All things girly, lots of great speakers, lots of tears, lots of chocolate. Other than the conference, March kind of just "marched on" as usual.
April pretty much continued the same way. We celebrated Easter and then Hailey had Spring Break. We did some fun things while she was out of school, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed not having a "schedule."
May came and it was time for Hailey's Kindergarten end-of-the-year play. I made my first set of cat's ears and a tail for her to wear. The play was "Mother Goose" and her part was to recite the poem "Hey, Diddle Diddle." She did a great job and I was so proud. She was really nervous, but no one could tell...not even me. : ) Josh and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We went to this amazing Brazilian restaurant and had a wonderful time. The next week, we went to Busch Gardens for the first time. (Well, for the kids and I anyway.) We had a blast! Josh rode The Griffin and I thought my heart was going to stop. I am not a fan of roller coasters. The kids and I sat and ate ice cream and popsicles while he dangled over our heads like a million feet in the air. That's what it felt like anyway. Crazy! I ended the month with a huge garage sale for our Moms group at my house. We had a very successful day and donated the money to Wave City Care.
June was a great month! Our church recorded our latest live worship album and it was so incredible to be a part of it. We went to Philadelphia for Josh's cousin Chris' graduation from Drexel University. We met Josh's family there; aunts, uncle, cousins, and had a wonderful time with them. The kids did really well during the graduation ceremony (thanks to cell phones with games on them, and really cool great-aunts.) They truly surprised us though. Philly is a really cool city! We had "real" philly cheese steaks at Geno's and walked around the city for hours. We had some of the best ice cream I've ever tasted too. Yes, I love food and I love to talk about it. A few days after we got home we had family pictures taken at the beach. That was actually really fun! I say "actually" because family pictures usually totally stress me out. Our photographer was Stacey Pryce of Cute E's Photography. She was the best! We celebrated Hailey's last day of Kindergarten on the 18th and summer began! Yay! We celebrated her 6th birthday with a backyard bash that included lots of water. It was really hot that day and the kids had a great time.
July brought lots of heat and humidity, which I love! Call me crazy, but I love the heat! My sister Dana arrived on the 14th to be here to celebrate my 34th birthday. It was so fun! We had a party on the night of my birthday at a great restaurant with a bunch of my close friends and it was perfect. We had a great time with my sister and I'm so glad she was here. The day before she left, we went to the Botanical Gardens with the kids and had a really good time, at first. I ended up getting bit on my back by a honey bee and it hurt like crazy! It was also very, very hot. I admit, as much as I love the heat, there does come a point where it's just a little too hot to handle. So, we made it through the day and as we were getting the kids in the car to go home my cell phone rang. It was my Dad calling and he asked if the kids were nearby. I told him they were in the car and that we were just about to leave. He asked if he could talk to Dana and I where the kids couldn't hear and I calmly said, "Sure, we'll step out of the car." Inside, I was mildly panicking. Not just because I had an instinct I was about to hear bad news, but also because there was a thunderstorm forming right over our heads and we were already beginning to see lightning. As most of you know, my Dad was calling to tell us that he had a mass in his brain. (To read his story, please go to his blog at http://www.chrisbayer.com/.) At the point of the phone call, there were a bazillion unanswered questions. Let me just say that I was so grateful to God that my sister and I were together when we got the news. It turned out that he had a seizure that morning (although at the time, he didn't know that's what it was), so he called the hospital and they told him to come right in. They did a cat scan and found the mass. The rest of that day was kind of a blur. We tried to enjoy the evening since it was Dana's last day here, but our minds and hearts were very full.
August came and it was time for our annual Wave Church conference. Every year we are blessed with truly great pastors and teachers from all over the world who come to our conferences and share incredible wisdom with us. It's something I will never take for granted. On August 11th, my Dad went in for brain surgery to biopsy the tumor. We were told that once they got in there, they would decide whether or not to just do a biopsy, or to remove the tumor. They ended up removing it. They also took samples of the surrounding tissue to send to the lab. At the time, they told us they were pretty sure it wasn't cancer. We were relived. But, we still had to wait for the pathology report to come back. So, we tried our best to live life normally and continue with our daily tasks. Waiting is something I can't stand. I've been trying my whole life to be more at ease with the waiting process. So far, I've been unsuccessful. On Thursday, the 19th, I got the call from my Dad that it was stage three brain cancer. I booked a flight to Seattle the next day and went home for five days to spend time with my Dad and family. We didn't do much of anything really. And that was fine with me. My Dad is amazing. He has taught me more throughout this entire journey than I ever thought I could learn. On the 29th, Hurricane Earl arrived. We braced ourselves, bought emergency supplies, and waited. It turned out to be milder than expected and everyone was fine. We went to the beach the next day and enjoyed the awesome waves!
September brought the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year. Hailey started first grade and Sarah started preschool. Just as we were getting settled into the new routine, we left for our trip to Las Vegas that we had planned months in advance. We met Josh's parents and my Mom there for eight days. My Dad was very sad to not be able to come, and we were sad that he couldn't be there, but he needed to stay home and prepare to begin chemo/radiation treatments. We had a great time (mostly) and packed a lot into our trip. The most eventful part of our trip, for me, was when I got stung by a tiny scorpion while walking around the rock formations at the Valley of Fire. Pretty appropriate name considering that's what it felt like when I got stung...liquid fire being injected into my foot. I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say I hope I never have to experience that again. I'm just incredibly thankful it didn't happen to one of the girls! I was sick for two weeks afterwards, but recovered fully.
In October, I started working with a personal trainer. I realized my need for serious motivation, and jumped into my new goal towards a new body. We celebrated Josh's 35th birthday on the 20th and began preparations for the kids' Halloween costumes. We had a great time with friends on Halloween and the kids got way too much candy, as usual.
Josh's cousin, Erin, came to visit us the first week of November. It was really nice to see her. Veteran's Day weekend began what we like to refer to as "The Markley Plague." Sarah woke up from her nap that Sunday with a 103 fever. She had already had strep throat twice in September and October, so I took her to Urgent Care Monday morning to have her tested again. It came back negative, so they said to just watch her while we waited for the advanced lab test to come back. By Tuesday morning, I had a fever of 102 and was miserable. That was the day the roofers came to start on our new roof. Perfect timing. : ) By the next day, my fever was over 103 and I had Josh take me to Urgent Care. I tested positive for the flu and started medication. By the next weekend I was even worse and ended up back at the doctor with severe bronchitis. At this point, Hailey and Josh also had the flu, so we were all sick together. Our wonderful fellow Area Pastors brought us meals and groceries and we are forever grateful to them. The following week, Josh eventually went back to work and I ended up with severe vertigo for about ten days. It was the sickest I've ever been and I was scared. A wonderful friend of mine took Sarah to school and back for me every day and picked Hailey up at the bus stop in the afternoon. She was a lifesaver! She prayed with me and encouraged me and I love her. Josh and the girls attended our friends' annual chili bowl cook off and brought home the golden trophy for his chili! It really was delicious and I am very proud of him. We celebrated Thanksgiving with wonderful friends during the day and with Josh's aunt and cousins in the evening. We have much to be Thankful for.
December started crazy and is ending even crazier! I love the Christmas season, I really do. This one has tested me though. Josh went on a business trip to Colorado Springs the week of the 6th. This was the same week I had agreed to put together auction baskets for Sarah's School Play/Silent Auction. Fun, yes, but incredibly exhausting. Josh doesn't know this, but it was the first time in my life where the clean dishes were in the dishwasher and the dirty dishes were piled on the counters and in the sink for three days in a row. Shhh, don't tell. : ) We left on the 16th for Seattle to spend Christmas with my family. We had a really good time just hanging out and being together. Because we had to fly home on Christmas Day, we had our big family Christmas on the 23rd. I love my family. We always have so much fun. We got to see a lot of our very dear friends on our trip and I am so grateful to have been able to spend time with them. My feet and legs were giving me a lot of trouble during the week and even more so on the day we had to fly home...Christmas Day. I was hugging my Dad goodbye and crying, of course, and I very flippantly said, "Well, maybe there will be a Christmas miracle and we'll end up in first class or something. Hahaha!" So, we said our goodbyes (after a very delicious breakfast prepared by Joe and Tammi) and headed to the airport with my Mom. We got to the counter and ended up being able to check our four bags for free! Miracle #1. We got on the plane and right when we walked on I heard someone call my name. It was a friend of mine from 6th grade that I haven't seen in like 14 years! She was one of the flight attendants. We went back to our seats and were getting settled in when we heard a woman announce, "Markley, party of four, please ring your call button." My first thought was that there was a problem with something. The flight attendant came back to our seats and said she had a surprise for us and to gather our stuff. She said we were going to first class! Miracle #2. So, we enjoyed our flight from Seattle to Dulles being pampered the whole way. God is so good! We arrived in Dulles with about an hour to go before our next flight to Norfolk. I'll spare you the details, but my feet and legs were not doing well at all and I was a mess. At least I knew that the next flight was only a 40 minute flight. We got on the flight and they closed the doors. But then the steward announced that we were having mechanical issues and that we would be leaving about 25 minutes late. Long story short, after sitting on the plane for over an hour they ended up having us get off the plane and the plan was to put us on a different aircraft. Well, we sat at the next gate for another hour at least and they ended up cancelling our flight. At this point, I literally thought I was going to go out of my mind with pain and I looked at Josh in desperation and said, "What do we do?" The main factor in this whole ordeal was that there was a major snow storm on it's way to our house and we needed to beat it home. So, after finally collecting our carry-on luggage we ended up renting a car and driving four hours home to Virginia Beach. We arrived in Dulles at 9:04pm and arrived home to Virginia Beach at 5:05am. God was with us the whole time and although there was already a lot of snow on the ground during our drive, the roads were fine and we made it safely. Miracle #3. We ended up with 15 inches of snow by the next evening and would have been stranded in Dulles without luggage for three days. We are now praying for Miracle #4...the airlines lost our checked bags and still have no record of them. I know that what's in our bags are only possessions, just "stuff", but it's stuff that means a lot to us. We know it will all work out OK somehow.
So, as this New Year unfolds, I'm excited to see what is in store for us in 2011. God has been incredibly faithful to us and has blessed us beyond measure. I pray that as you ponder the events of 2010, that you will look back and see your blessings and thank God for all you have. We are going into this New Year filled with hope, thankfulness, excitement, and filled with love for each other. 2011 is going to be a great year! In the words of some of my VA Beach friends, it's going to be Epic! I pray that each one of you will have an amazing year. I know many of you have endured hardships, sorrows, and losses in 2010. I pray for you all that you can look ahead to the New Year with hope for a bright future. I pray blessings upon you and your families, your health, your jobs, and your lives. I pray for failures to turn into successes and for sorrow to turn into joy. I pray for peace to invade your homes and cover all anxiety. We love you all very much and can't wait to hear your stories of what the New Year brings. Happy New Year everyone!
Love,
Josh, Tracie, Hailey and Sarah
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