It’s been another great year- it’s fun for us to look back at the highlights as we move on into the new year. Probably the biggest event of 2010 was the birth of our precious Leah Mae. She is our miracle baby. We had given up on being able to have more biological children and had just started looking into adoption when we found out we were expecting her. She was eager to come to earth and surprised all of us by coming 10 days early. We named her Leah Mae, the middle name in honor of Dave’s grandma, Dorothy Mae. We really enjoyed visits from my mom and Dave’s parents as they flew out to Texas to meet our new addition. She is a sweet and happy baby. She keeps us laughing at her silly phases (right now she hangs her tongue out of her mouth 24/7) and is scooting around the house like crazy terrorizing the dog and finding delicious treats in dusty corners.
Sadly, just a short time after Leah was born, Dave’s grandma passed away. She was a wonderful lady whose positive attitude and life of service was an example to all of us. Dave was able to attend her funeral in St Louis and visit with his family there.
2010 was a busy year for Dave. Between work, a growing family, and a full-time job as Scoutmaster in our church ward he has not had a lot of free time. When he did have free time, he was busy with projects around the house. Together we painted and decorated upstairs for the baby’s arrival, pulled out shrubs and landscaped around the house, put in a largely unsuccessful garden, and did many other maintenance and upkeep projects. This past year was also a big medical year for Dave. He finally went to the doctor to get some issues taken care of that have been bothering him for years. After a lot of physical therapy that didn’t help much, Dave got surgery done on his wrist for Carpal Tunnel, on his elbow for nerve issues, and on his shoulder for impingement problems. (Yeah, I don’t know what that means either.) He is happy to be done with that and has made a new year’s resolution to stay away from doctors for a while.
For me this year the big thing was having Leah. After that, it’s pretty much a blur of sleep-deprived nights. I’ve enjoyed being able to pursue my hobbies this past year, especially gardening and photography. Texas is extremely difficult to garden in considering the heavy clay soil, the bugs, the heat, and the rabbits, but we were proud of the little produce we managed to get out of our garden. We have decided this year to try making a butterfly garden with flowers instead of veggies, and hope for better success.
Ellie has had a busy year too. She has been taking soccer and gymnastics, and is quite a little soccer star. Dave and I had a lot of fun attending her games and cheering her team, the Green Angels, on. She also started school this fall. She had a really hard time with it at first, but she adjusted and is doing really well. She is a great reader and a prolific artist. She was chosen as Citizen of the Month in her class in November and Dave and I feel really proud when we get notes from her teacher telling us what a kind and thoughtful girl she is.
In other big news, we didn’t move this last year! This is the first time in many years we haven’t moved and it feels good! It’s been great to start to feel like a part of the community and to have a chance to get to know people better in this area. 2010 was a great year for our family and we look forward to seeing what 2011 holds for us. Happy New Year and God bless all of you.
Dave & Charity Zincke
