Okay, okay - now that I'm done reasoning with you on why I'm so late with this, here it is! 2013 was an eventful year for our family, full of twists and turns, stresses and disappointments, celebrations, and lessons worth the learning! Here's a much too brief recap of what our year looked like.
Randal had lots of great races this past year. He competed in the Dirty Kanza ride up in Emporia, completed the 100K for Heartspring here in Wichita, and did a couple of Duathlons as well. Though his big event in OK did not end the way we anticipated (a flat on the first bike portion that knocked him completely out of the race), he got 2nd overall at the Mudwater here in KS and did great at his other events as well! We even traveled to OK again for the Warrior Dash for the 2nd time with a great group of friends and had a wonderful time. He continues to train and is really excited to be an active member of the Kansas River Valley Triathlon Club.He is still very active at our church and continues to hone his guitar skills and is working on blending in some mandolin skills for the fun of it!
I had a great year of working with some of the organizations that I love and experienced an overwhelming amount of personal growth this year, which is always exciting! I took over leadership of the women's ministry team at our church and am very excited to see how God uses the women of our congregation in the future. Though I struggled with more health issues this year and had a very stressful time working towards correcting a previous misdiagnosis, it was good to get answers and to have a game plan going forward. I got to travel with my sweet Grandma Barbara to my beautiful cousin's wedding in North Carolina and we had a blast on the trip. I also went to several concerts this year, including Justin Timberlake (internal scream) and had a great time seeing some of my favorite bands.
Mason finished preschool and then started Kindergarten and I can't believe it still! He played soccer last Spring and that was it's own adventure! We had a couple of great snows in 2013 and the kids both had a blast! Mason loved building snowmen and helping Randal build an igloo in the back yard.
Madison is still doing speech therapy at Mason's school and is making incredible progress. We're so thankful for the staff there and how much they care about Madison. She turned 4 in December (are you kidding me) and wanted her ears pierced, so that was her gift from us. As of this writing, she's almost had them in long enough to be able to change them out, so that will be an exciting day on the horizon!
We had lots of exciting here-and-there happenings in 2013 as well! My brother Marc married a beautiful woman named Kathy and made me a sister again and we couldn't be happier! My sister Kelli announced that she was pregnant and is due just a week after my other sister-in-law, Katie is due! They are both having boys, which means extra fun for Mr. Mason with his 2 new cousins and he is pretty pumped!
Randal and I both lost a grandfather in 2013. It was a very long road for both my Grandpa Bob and for Randal's Papa. We are blessed to know that they are no longer in pain and that they both will be seeing us again (I sing "soon and very soon" every time I say that!). It was hard to let go...as it always is when you lose someone you love! We rejoice knowing that they both are Home and waiting for us!
God continued to show me what grace and love meant in 2013 and continues to show Himself to our kids, which is such a beautiful thing. We continue to have great chats with Mason about God and Jesus and he asks great questions. I can't wait til that guy pieces those things together and gives his life to his Savior!
We are very excited for all that 2014 has in store, but that's a whole 'nother post!
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