2009: Our Year in Review

January 2009: Playing at the park in Senoia, Georgia

February 2009: Noah turns 6 years old!

March 2009: Welcome Katherine Rebecca Hornback!

April 2009: Our house in Georgia is officially up for sale.

May 2009: Noah graduates from Kindergarten!

June 2009: Father's Day

July 2009: July 4th at Grammy and Papa's house

August 2009: Amie, Chris and Heather with all the kids: 8 cousins.

September 2009: Rachel has her tonsils out and begins to feel better immediately.

October 2009: Halloween

November 2009: Rachel's fourth birthday

December 2009: A visit with Santa Claus

2009: What a year it has been! If we thought we saw a lot of changes in 2008 we out did ourselves in 2009. Our biggest change - Our family grew by one. One amazing little baby girl joined our family and changed it in all the right ways. We also made another huge change - after 12 and a half long years - we finally moved home. Let's start at the beginning: January saw us begin our year during a visit to Tennessee surrounded by our family. On return we had a 3D ultrasound of our beautiful baby girl -- so amazing to see her up close and personal like that. Noah lost more teeth and the kids and I enjoyed the weather down in Georgia by frequenting the local parks. February saw Noah turn 6 with a Star Wars: The Clone Wars birthday party- It saw Rachel giver herself her first hair cut and me trying hard to repair her work without butchering her too badly. We had a fun visit from the Hendrix family down in Georgia and we also traveled to Tennessee for a short visit where we got to see the first snow of the year. March saw the loss of Abbie - our first 'baby' - our first dog. She lived to be 12 years old - we still miss her very much. We took the kids putt-putt golfing and bowling - both of which they loved. We had a big snow in which the kids got to make snow angels, build a snowman and have snowball fights. Noah had his first soccer game of the season and scored 2 goals! But most of all, March brought the much anticipated arrival of Katherine Rebecca Hornback - Our Kate-Kate. A gorgeous redheaded sweetheart that would complete our family and fill all of our lives with joy. April would see us begin the month with our baby girl in the NICU - a heartwrenching week of worry, hope and relief when we finally got to bring her home and begin adjusting to life as a family of five. We learned that Doug had been hired by the TYS airport in Knoxville, Tennessee and what a joyous day that was - to know that we would raise our children in my hometown. The town Doug and I met in and where our families were - where they would grow up surrounded by people who love them and get to see them often, not just a couple of times a year. We officially put our home in Georgia up for sale. We had visits from Mamaw and Grammy and Papa as they welcomed Kate into the world and our family. May saw Noah graduate from Kindergarten - Kate sleeping through the night, first smiles and a developing of deep love between sisters and brothers. It brought packing. Lots of packing and preparing for our move. June saw more packing, a trip to Tennessee to find a rental home and Father's day. July saw us through our move and a month of traveling for Doug before he officially joined us in Tennessee. We caught up with old friends while our children made new ones. Noah prepared to enter the first grade at Foothills Elementary School and we made our first trip to Dollywood as a family of five. In August Noah started school, Kate rolled over, we had a visit with Amie, Olivia and Dave and Doug and I attended the Maryville/Alcoa game where Alcoa kicked Maryville's butt (Thank you very much!). Doug started training at TYS and was very happy with the change of pace. September saw Kate turn 6 months old - she started solid foods and hated them. Rachel had her tonsils and adnoids out and did awesome with the surgery and the recovery. She is definitely a trooper! In October we moved into our condo - we loved it! Darla helped us find the perfect one. Rachel started gymnastics and the kids were excited about Halloween - we had an Anakin Skywalker, Minnie Mouse and a little pumpkin that was way too cute to spook anyone! Kate started saying Da-da, much to Doug's glee. November saw Rachel turn four with a Hello Kitty birthday and her first birthday party with friends - she was so very excited. We shared Thanksgiving with all of our loved ones and thouroughly enjoyed fall in the Smokey Mountains. Kate got her first tooth and Noah started playing basketball. December brought Noah's first basketball game. Kate got to meet Santa Claus for the first time and the kids enjoyed Christmas -which was magical for Doug and I because we got to see it through their eyes all over again. Kate discovered how very much she loves food - any kind of food as long as she is the one eating it. December also brought Doug and I to 13 years of marriage. It is incredible to think that we started our life together 13 years ago and in February we will see 15 years together since we started dating. It has been a wild and wonderful time. I thank God everyday for him and our children and for all of our family. We would like to wish you all a Happy New Year. May your 2010 be blessed!