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January
We started the year by celebrating my niece’s wedding on January 2nd! Here’s a great family photo (L-R: Cody, Brady, Jennifer, My Brother Blake, My Niece Mikaela, My Niece/The Bride Raegan, The Groom Spencer Greer, My Sister-in-Law Kristen, My Mom, My Dad, Katy, and Tanner):
February
Houston experienced a snow and ice storm! Between power outages and water issues, schools were closed for more than a week!
Cody’s Basketball team finished District Champions with a remarkable 22-3 record:
March
We went to Lamesa for Spring Break, and the boys helped repair Gram’s fence!
April
Katy has been excited about Spring Sing ever since she started school at Dallas Baptist University. In April, I was able to pick up Gram and meet Jennifer at DBU to watch Katy. Gram participated in Spring Sing at Baylor and watched both of her daughters’ Spring Sings at Hardin-Simmons University.
May & June
Tanner finished Intermediate School, and Cody graduated from High School!
We took a family trip to Disneyworld & Universal Studios (the pandemic kept us from our planned trip to Hawaii—hoping to do that for Tanner’s graduation). We stayed at the Cozy Cone Cars Hotel at Disneyworld—lots of nostalgia for Cody. We made our first trip to Universal Studios and got a family photo in front of the E.T. Ride. At Disneyworld, we posed in front of at Magic Kingdom and the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom.
July
Jennifer and I enjoyed a getaway to Palo Duro Canyon and the Texas Musical in Amarillo –
August
First Day of School!
We celebrated Tanner’s 15th Birthday with his favorite meal (a rack of ribs)!
September & October
We made a family trip to Lamesa on Labor Day Weekend to celebrate Gram’s 85th Birthday!
In the top middle, we went to a University of Houston football game with Cody then made our first family of five Top Golf outing (Cody became interested in golf this Fall and even had a part-time job at a golf course—for the free green fees, of course!
Jennifer and I were able to go camping and canoeing with friends at Caddo Lake State Park—a tradition that has continued for more than 20 years now.
Then, for an early 50th Birthday gift, Jennifer took me to Game 3 of the American League Championship Series at Boston’s Fenway Park. While the Astros lost, we had a lot of fun as Fenway was rocking. We walked 14 miles that day, checking out Harvard, MIT, and the city of Boston!
At the bottom right, Tanner enjoyed his first Homecoming at Clear Lake High School. Mom made the mum for his date.
Finally, I made a trip to Dallas at the end of October to watch my brother Blake’s ordination as an Elder https://dentonbible.org/about/our-team/ at Denton Bible Church. It was great to be there, seeing him honored in that way—among a select group of men charged with continuing the legacy of Senior Pastor Dr. Tommy Nelson.
November
We started the month with a fun trip to Aggieland, where the Aggies beat Auburn!
Then, to celebrate my 50th, we enjoyed a family dinner at Red Lobster followed by Cookie Cake!
Tanner played in his only 9th grade basketball tournament at Alvin High School, and his team recorded their first 100-point game (to match his Dad’s 9th grade team!):
And we hosted my parents for Thanksgiving, giving Jennifer, Katy, and My Mom an opportunity to wear matching shirts!
December
We closed out the year with a special Christmas trip with Gram to Corpus Christi. First, Katy & Evan got engaged on 12/21! It was fun to celebrate such a special event with the Grandparents.
Then, we posed for our final Family of Five photo –
