The Year in Review

Our version of "Chicken Soup with Rice"

In January its lots of fun
to live in AZ in the sun.
In Mom & Dad’s house, we did reside
Enjoy it once, enjoy it twice
Enjoying friends & family was so nice.

In February Callin started
crawling, every minute he darted
Into this and that he was
Work load doubled, first tooth bubbled
Eight month olds can sure get in trouble!

In March and April Dougie traveled
It was Baylor Medicine he dazzled
Ophthalmology tech he was employed
Non-stop eye balls this, corneas that
Those who listened were quite annoyed.

In May we headed to Cedar City
Doug and Cal were the cheering committee
As Annie dressed up in black robes
Graduation, Celebration
For a Masters in Education

In June our baby boy turned one.
On his feet, he could not be outrun.
The trip to Rocky Point was great
Lots of sand, sunsets grand
Soon time with family will be in high demand.

In July we sailed away
Doug thoroughly enjoyed the buffet
33 Smoots were found aboard.
Then we sailed some more, to a shore
Found just outside the Houston door.

In August & September it started looking hazy
Annie found single parenting quite crazy.
Doug, well he’s in he-e-ven.
Anatomy, YES! Histology- Fun!
When did you say, school will be done?

October passed with quite some speed.
Annie still makes time to read.
Teaching preschool, is lots of fun!
Miracles, we were blessed.
Callin Douglas is the best!

In November it will be
A celebration with friends and family
Blessings in abundance – wow!
Grateful once, grateful twice.
Grateful for our life with spice.

In December we will go away
To Africa for a stay
Papa, Grammy & Lindy we will greet
Elephants- wow, real lions – holy cow.
Are you sure its time to come home now?

Merry once, Merry twice

All seasons of the year are nice

For living a life full of spice!

If at first you don't succeed

After having the stool slip out from under him time after time, he did figure out how to open the drawer all the way AND stand on the stool by himself. It was too funny not to capture his struggles. And I have to say- hip hip hooray to my new camera that actually captured the moment I wanted not a full 45 seconds later.

This mess was exactly the reason I was not eager for him to accomplish this feat.

You Better Believe It

From hurricanes to snow- we have really enjoyed the unique year the weather in Houston has brought us!

We had our white Christmas after all. Too bad it didn't stick around longer than 1 night.

Thanksgiving Week!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Doug's sister, Lauren and her family joined us from Dallas to celebrate the week. We had a great time spending time with them. Stephen emailed me a list of some of his favorite memories from the week. I will include some of my personal favorite from his list.

1- Clogged toilet 2- Excrement on the carpet 5- Locked bathroom 6- Zoo 7- Basketball 8- Turkey Bowl 9- Turkey Trot 10- The short-cut 12- Settlers 13- Wikipedia 14- Callin running down the street while looking over his shoulder 16- Medical Terms 19- Perfectly moist Turkey 20- Perfect sliced Turkey 21- Apple and Mousse Pie 22- Pumpkin Cake 24- Missionaries 26- Galleria Mall.

I was super nervous about making my first turkey. Thank you to all those whom I pestered w/ phone calls. Thanks to Lauren and Tricia, the meal turned out delicious!

We feed 10 at dinner and then had 4 more stragglers show up a couple of hours later fresh off the plane from Mexico! Just kidding Low's, we are so glad you could join us!

Ella

Doug's little brother CJ's best buddie (did you follow that??) is serving in our area Vietnamese speaking. We were lucky to have Elder Thein and his 2 companions join us for the afternoon.

This cute moment happened while we were all busy cleaning up.

Grant Low, Cal, Ella, Kayla.

We were able to connect w/ Doug's family on Skype in Boston and Gilbert.

At the zoo

The weekend before at the Pearland High School Football game- quite the experience. Let's just say that here in Texas, there is not much that is more important than high school football! (And yes, it can get that cold in Texas.)

Tricia and Chase

My cute cute preschool students! I hope you like the Indie-Pilgrim mix-and- match costumes! Hey, anything goes in fashion these days, right?