A Year

It has been a year since I blogged. So here is our past year in bullet points, along with some pictures.

• Emma Sanders turned 6 and we had a "Fancy Nancy" Party
• Kevin was able to come for the 2nd time and spend Christmas with our family. He stayed for 3 months and even went to school with Nanach! It was such a blessing and once again we were sad to tell him bye.
• My second nephew was born January 2nd. Grady Marshall Ikerd. Smitten again with a giant amount of love for a beautiful nephew with ginger hair and big loving brown eyes. 
• ES and I took a trip with some sweet friends over winter break to St. Louis. American Girl Doll Store and Snow Tubing made for some great memories. 
• Braxton had back surgery in March and just for the record no surgery is ever minor. We spent 23 hours in "surgery center" because they won't keep you for 24. What started out as "he will be home by lunch" turned into hopefully y'all will make it home before breakfast. Oh and on my birthday, so as to make sure to not miss out on attention I passed out in the hospital room when they brought him back from surgery.  
• Bennett turned 11 in March and grew what seemed like 2 feet in a year
• My brother and his wife announced at Easter that they would be expecting a baby in November. We could not be more thrilled and can't wait to meet Bo very soon!
• We went to Honduras this past summer. Emma Sanders went for the 1st time and looks forward to hopefully going back. We were able to work in a special needs orphanage and spend time with Kevin. We also took two former U of M football players, Mitch and Will, who have become like family to us. It was a great week for all involved. We kind of love that place. 
• First ever adult only trip since our honeymoon. Braxton and I traveled with our dear friends Chris and Cindy to Grand Turk. Lots of rest, relaxing and laughter!
• Preston turned 16 and got his license and a car. I in turn developed an ulcer and started taking blood pressure medicine. Until I realized how helpful it was that he could drive and I became a huge fan of his driving ability! 
• Preston started 10th grade, Bennett started 5th, Emma Sanders started 1st
• Preston plays football for ECS, Bennett plays for the Colts PDS intramural team and ES is playing basketball this winter and in the words of her brothers, "it could be a long season." 
• I got to go with the U of M football team to the UCLA game and took an all day walking tour of LA. I don't recommend doing LA in 36 hours with sandals. My feet are still recovering. 
• Emma Sanders lost her two front teeth
• Blessing of great friends and a tag along trip we landed ourselves in Disney for Fall Break. Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Universal. Another place where comfort of shoes way outweighs fashion.