Greshams - Est. 2007: January 2014

Wow, what an ending we had to 2013! Since I last posted, we finished up harvesting and celebrated the holidays.... sort of. Our November was pretty rough. The kids both had strep, and Landry had a double ear infection, too, which set her back in her weight gain progress. By Thanksgiving, we all had the stomach bug. On top of that, my new nephew, Gray, got RSV and stayed in the hospital the whole week of Thanksgiving. We didn't even celebrate with Heath's family because Londyn and Gray were cruddy and contagious for a while. Thankfully, we all recovered and were well for Christmas!

Heath and I had a trip planned to Lajitas with a big group during December, but it was cancelled due to weather. I didn't mind all that much that it was cancelled because I was having a lot of anxiety about leaving Landry after her regression from being sick. We ended up going the next weekend to Dallas and meeting up with family to tour the Gaylord ICE exhibit again. It was SO crowded!!! When we went last year, it wasn't bad at all. We thought it could've been worse this year because we went the weekend after Dallas had the snow/ice storm. It was shoulder-to-shoulder the whole way through, and I felt like I couldn't get out of there fast enough! Coming home, we were pulling our camper and trying to get back in time for our church's Christmas program when we ran over a ladder in the middle of the road. The car in front of us swerved around it really quick, and there wasn't any way for us to miss it. When we got home, Heath's new truck had to go into the shop to repair everything the ladder tore up.

The next weekend, we took our camper out to my parents' house and stayed out there while Jordan and Rachel were in town. It was nice to be able to stay out there and spend good time with them! We had Christmas with my family a few days early since they were in town, and then we had Christmas with Heath's family on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, we had our own family Christmas, and then we stopped by Ben and Keelee's for brunch with all of their family on our way to Kerrville for some time away. (We have a new camper, so we are taking advantage of using it while work is slow for Heath!) We pulled the camper down there in Heath's old truck since the new truck is still in the shop with the parts on national back order. Yay. When we were 2 miles from Kerrville on the evening of Christmas Day, we lost a wheel off the pickup. I've not had an adrenaline rush like that in a long time! We were on the interstate, and it was dark, and just not a good situation! I've praised Heath over and over for handling everything so well. We were all over the road trying to get stopped, and before we even got off the road, he was assuring me that we were okay. He jumped out and started making phone calls, and I got the kids out of their car seats and held them and cried! Heath's grandparents live at the RV park we were headed to, so they came out and brought a guy to haul the camper to the park. A wrecker came and took the pickup to the shop. Everything worked out that day in the end, but we were both shaken up over it for a while.

We had friends help us out, too, making things so much easier! A guy coming in to Kerrville from Levelland brought us a set of tires and wheels Heath had at the barn, and Heath had them put on while we were down there. Heath's friend Russ and his family came down and followed us home just to make sure everything was okay. Low and behold, Heath's pickup started messing up, acting like the turbo was going out, so we left the camper in Junction. Heath and Russ went back the next day to bring it home with Russ's truck.

So, yes! We are glad to have 2013 behind us. I heard someone refer to this year of farming as having three years of weeds in one. I thought that phrase nailed it for us, too. Heath worked so hard and ran himself ragged trying to beat the weeds. I see the drive he has to provide for us, and I admire him for how tirelessly he works while staying devoted to being a good daddy and husband. I've been reading Job this week and was reminded that the Lord doesn't always reward faithfulness in the ways we think He should. This year, the crop wasn't an honest reflection of the work Heath put into it. We are still grateful for how He provided for us. He always does!

I am, of course, thankful for the progress Landry made in the past year. When I think about how helpless I felt this time last year with her, I can see how the baby steps with her have added up. She is still far from a typical eater, but I have had so much support from friends and family. We still consider our family "normal and healthy", and for this, we are truly blessed.

I never posted Halloween pictures. Here are a few!