Goodbye 2010...Hello 2011!

2010 was one of the worst/best years of our lives!

We welcomed our 2nd child into the world, Ivy Caroline Thomas, on 9/28/10. She is a beautiful little girl and we are blessed to be her parents. As most of you who read my blog know, she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis on 11/4/10 (www.caringbridge.org/visit/ivythomas). The weeks leading up to and since then have been some very stressful weeks. We are slowly getting into a groove and learning all that we have to do to take care of our sweet girl. She has quite a regimen that we have to follow...but we are going to do all that is necessary to take care of her and give her the best life possible.

On 11/25/10, Thanksgiving Day, our house caught on fire. That was such a traumatic day during an already traumatic time in our lives. The microwave in our kitchen caught on fire after we left to eat Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandmothers. Thankfully we were not home and most of our valuables were spared. Our kitchen was completely gone and there was smoke damage over the entire house. The company Servpro came in and cleaned up everything before Christmas. Now, our friend Bob who is a builder, (yes, Bob the builder), is renovating our home. We hope to be back in by late February.

On New Years Eve, Jason and I met up with my roommate from Clemson, Alicia, and her husband, Travis. We had dinner with them at Kanpai. After we left there, we stopped at a fireworks stand to buy a few sparklers for Ian. A sparkler is harmless right? WRONG! Well, maybe if you just hold it out in front of you and you don't wave it around over your head! Yes, Ian was waving the sparkler around over his head...and yes, a spark (actually several) fell down on him. One landed in the hood of his jacket and burned a hole in his hood. Another one landed in his hair. I looked over at him when I realized that sparks were landing on him and noticed that he had a stream of smoke coming from his head. I freaked! I ran over to him and started running my hand through his hair to find the source of the smoke. Well, I found it alright and squealed as it burned my hand. My squealing made Ian start screaming...and we ran in to get some water with Ian screaming, "my head is on fire, my head is on fire!" Thankfully, it did not burn his scalp...but Jason did remove several hairs that were singed!

Before the sparks started flying

Yes, 2010 was mean to us right up until the very end! lol

Anyway, 2010 is now gone...and we have a new year to look forward to...2011! We are hoping and praying for a better year! As we went through these trials during the last quarter of 2010, our faith grew stronger and stronger, and Jason and I were drawn closer to the Lord. We are actually starting out this new year with the goal of reading through the entire bible together...something I am ashamed to say I have never done. We are looking forward to what all God is going to teach us in the year to come and thank Him in advance for the blessings his has in store for us!