Adios 2014!!!

Adios 2014!

  (My year in review)

January 2014 - Happy New Year!!!!

Granny's Baby Tiny

January 2014, started the year being expensive. The first week of January the transmission went out in my Honda CR-V. Can we say Ka-Ching??? My mama celebrated her 76th birthday. Other than that, the start of the year was rather uneventful.

That's Crash. Hopefully she will last a few more years!

Jess' Baby Kolbi!

Then February rolled around, bringing with it, the snow! We got a dusting in January, but got several inches in mid February. I got to stay home for a few days because Gwinnett County actually closed! It was awesome! I even built a snow man! 

February is also when I started talking to someone on Facebook...Lindon! We began talking on Facebook and he quickly became a good friend!

My Snowman!

March 1st was mine and Lindon's first face to face meeting. We had a great time exploring Athens and getting to know one another.

Me and Lindon.

March is full of birthdays for us! March 23, my grandson, Greyson, turned 3 My daughter, Jessica, and I both had birthdays too.

Happy 3rd Birthday Greyson!

In April, me, Amber and Chris, did the Color Run at Road Atlanta. We had a blast!

Spring brings hope and renewal, but also, some sadness. Our good family friend, Debbie Helton, passed away. With happiness and joy, there must also be some heartbreak and tears.

We celebrated Easter at Chris' Aunt Joy's. She is so gracious to open her home to all of us that we may celebrate Easter together!

Abel, Greyson and lots of cousins at Easter!

Lindon introduced me to a group of wonderful young men, a gospel quartet, called The Old Paths. Over this past year we have seen them in concert several times and I have gotten to know them and they are just an awesome group of young men who praise God with their music!

Also, Lindon and I begin going hiking. Over the course of spring and summer, he and I started going to different Georgia State Parks and county parks, hiking the trails, getting in better shape and just enjoying nature!

June brought more sadness along with the warmer weather. My step-brother, Tony, passed away early June. It was sad to see him go because we had just gotten re-connected a couple of years earlier after many years of no contact.

June also brought VACATION! Once again, we were able to join Chris on his Rescue Rodeo through his job with Georgia Power, to St. Simon's Island, Georgia. Lindon joined us and we had a great time at the beach and exploring St. Simon's!

Me, Lindon and the boys in Jekyll while on vacation.

Lindon and I celebrated the 4th of July at a festival in Auburn, Georgia. July also found me in the E.R. one day with gall stones. I opted to NOT have surgery to remove it. So far, so good. We'll see if 2015 brings back gall stone problems! Hopefully NOT!

Greyson and Abel, St. Simon's Beach!

In August, Lindon I hiked Talullah Gorge. Out of all the hikes we've been on, this one has been the best so far! It involved crossing the river by jumping from one boulder to the next, getting on all fours to cross rocks and boulders, sliding across a sheet of rock that goes almost straight up and slick from rain, and getting rained on. That was one of my all time best days of my life! We also went to the Garlic Festival near Cleveland, GA this year!

September 4, my grandson Abel turned 2! We celebrated him with a party in the park! It was fun to get the family together! Lindon and I went to the Jug Tavern Festival and enjoyed a good concert.

Aunt Faye helping Abel blow bubbles!

Happy 2nd Birthday Abel!

Flo

We went to the Georgia National Fair in Perry, GA, in October. Lindon and I headed up to the North Georgia Mountains to see the changing leaves. I transformed into Progressive's spokes lady, Flo, for Halloween. Also, my sister-in-law, Faye, hosted a Memorial Cookout to honor my brother, Bobby, who passed away last year.

Color North Georgia Mountains!

November brought much to be thankful for! We celebrated Thanksgiving down south with Chris' cousin Andrea. She welcomed all of us into her home and we had enough food to feed an army!

Our bunch...enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner!

 
Granny's Girls celebrated our annual gathering of Granny's blood daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters for the 10th year, I think. Stacy hosted this year, and she had us all meet at Master Mixers and we painted our own picture for Christmas! We had a blast!

The boys and their dogs, Foxy and Henry.

Granny's Girls - 2014!

Other happenings in December...Lindon had a birthday! Our family got together at my brothers to celebrate Christmas and the year ended with me home on the couch sick!

This year my son in law, Chris, changed jobs. Amber continued to stay home with my grandsons. My  'adopted daughter', Grace, got engaged, got a new job, and bought a house. Jess and Justin moved in to a new home and continue to do well in their jobs. All my children seem happy and content with their life. My grandsons are growing like weeds and are so intelligent and have so many positive influences in their lives. I have a good person in my life with whom to explore the world with!

It has been a fairly decent year, with some sadness sprinkled in with the happiness. I am looking forward to a New Year with new opportunities and more places to explore. I am hoping God continues to bless us as he has, and that we find even more favor with him. I am not really making any 'Resolutions' for the new year, but do have a few ideas for change. I would like to pursue purchasing my own home. Maybe work on my degree again. Hopefully be physically active again this year. With God's help, all things are possible!

The boys and their truck from Uncle Bobby and Aunt Faye!

God Bless 2015!

Me and my brood...2014!