Catching Up With Life

I really hate when life takes over and all the best laid plans end up kicked to the curb. Sure seems what has happened to our family in 2012.

So much has happened to us all since that dreadful phone call on June 16th but it also seems like nothing really mattered since then. But life goes on, as my Dear Sister, Debbie, was fond of saying and that is how I have to live the rest of my life. I don't have to get everything right I just have to keep trying.

So to play some catch up with our life, DS turned 14 in July, so hard to believe he is 14 and taller than I am (not really that hard to do) and really reaching for his dad (6'). We never went camping this summer like we had planned to do but DD was able to take part in 3 different Girl Scout Camps including horseback riding and horsemanship skills. She had a wonderful time. One camp was iCamp...internet without the internet. Sadly she got sick and ended up coming home Saturday night instead of Sunday Afternoon.

September rolled around and we began our second year of schooling at home using WAVA. I love how great the kids are feeling about school and that even sick they never miss a day.

My mom is now a part-time Albuquerque resident to help my brother-in-law with the kids. She really enjoys it there but we miss her. One of her favorite things in NM is my nephew's football games. My sister used to take 1500+ pictures at every game, she was the team mom, mom has not gotten to the point of taking that many pictures but we have seen many pictures of a #53 Jersey which she claims is my nephew.

In October there was Debbie's birthday and her son had a football game on her birthday. Those kids played their hearts out and they didn't even know. Later that same month we had my birthday, I had no desire to celebrate, it just didn't seem right.

In November my mom came to visit and was able to be here for my other niece's 16th birthday. Mom was back in NM for Thanksgiving and had a nice time with BIL's family. We had a quiet Thanksgiving here with just the 4 of us and our dogs.

December came and with it was the opportunity to bury Debbie's remains next to her Dad in Tacoma, WA. BIL, mom and kids came up on December 5th. My little niece stayed the whole visit with us and I had a great time with her, we really bonded in June. On December 8th we had a graveside service that was small but gave some of the final closure we could all us. On the 10th BIL and kids went home to NM and mom stayed to have Christmas in WA and be able to see her doctors.

Update on our VA claims:
In October DH's final VA claim came through with 100% for PTSD but the VA is proposing to have him declared incompetent for VA Purposes, meaning he would not have ultimate control over his VA benefits. We are now on day 78 of the competency claim and so far there is nothing to report, good or bad. They say that no news is good news but only time will tell.

On the brighter side of life I have decided I needed to be doing something to I started knitting again. It feels so good to lose myself in some yarn and a pattern. So far I have made several scarves and I am on my 4th pair of socks in 8 weeks time. I have a few other projects I would like to tackle soon as well as some earrings I need to make.

So there is a quick catch up on our life for the last 6 months or so.