Happy New Year!

Amber and I wish everyone a happy New Year for 2009. The year 2008 certainly had its downs dealing with losing Amanda, Andy and Katelyn, but in review, we had many blessings. Amber and I were able to travel quite a bit with trips to Orlando, FL, North Carolina to visit my parents, and of course Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We are very thankful for Amber's pregnancy with Emma. Despite our trouble, God has and will continue to be faithful. It is hard to say at times, but that does not stop it from being true. If you just read the rest of the blog, you will know what we have been up to this past year.

Since our snowy night, we have finally gotten our new fence and minor roof damage repaired from Hurricane Ike. Yet, I still wait patiently for insurance money from Texas Windstorm to replenish our savings we used for the new fence and roof. Don't get me started on how bad Texas Windstorm is.

For Christmas, we celebrated the birth of Jesus with my parents that were in town for a week. We then went to Lake Charles, LA to visit Amber's family for a few days before the New Year. New Year's Day was quiet since I had to work, but still a nice time for just Amber and I to relax.

One of our main Christmas gifts was going to the Nutcracker ballet performed by the Houston Ballet at the Wortham Center. We went with my parents as that was part of their Chirstmas gift as well. We had an enjoyable time at the ballet. Amber enjoyed going to see the Nutcracker as a child, so it was fun to share this experience with her. It has been about 4 years since we had gone last. Overall, we had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year holiday.

The holiday still has some sadness to it. My grandfather Popa Hickernell, my mom's dad, passed away this past Monday. He was 93 years old and had lived a long life. He is survived by my grandmother, Mimi, who is 92 years old. Amazingly enough, she can still swing a golf club better than me as well as drive around town (which scares our family). Popa's memorial service will be this weekend. Our prayers are with our family as my parents will be driving up there today and remaining about a week or so to help take care of other family business.

Pictures - Amber, Scott and Drew and Sally at the ballet.