Expecting the unexpected

As this year is drawing to an end I can't help but think over the past year. I think that the thing that I have learned more than anything this year is that we need to expect the unexpected. The year started and appears that it will end with this common theme.


We began 2009 in California, on a very unexpected trip. A few days before Christmas Spencer's grandma was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The doctors originally said that without treatment she had three to six months to live. This diagnosis came on December 19. We decided that we would leave the day after Christmas so that we had one last visit with her. We were in California until January 3, because we couldn't bring ourselves to leave, we didn't want to say goodbye. We finally made the trip back to Utah and just three days later she passed away.


Also right before Christmas last year, we moved out of our house, we had an offer on a house, but it was taking longer then expected. Every week we would think, this has to be the week, we will definitely hear this week. Finally, at the end of March we finally had our house.


We were finally getting settled in our house and we were contacted by a potential birth mom who was about to give birth. Again, unexpected, but so exciting. We quickly made arrangement and were preparing for a second child. We made the trip, and once again the unexpected, there were too many obstacles, and the adoption did not go through.

After that, I really started to think we were having a bad year. Things were not going the way we had planned at all...that is when I started my Thankful Thursday posts. I have been horrible about posting at all lately which I apologize for. I realized that we have so much to be thankful for. Just because things didn't happen the way we planned didn't mean that they weren't okay (even good). I am so glad that I did those posts for the few weeks that I did. It made me think every week about what blessings we do have in our lives.

I think I will always remember 2009 as the year that we learned to expect the unexpected...

(to be continued)