Countdown to our Five-Year Wedding Anniversary: 2009 in Review

My sincere apologies for not posting 2009 yesterday. You see, yesterday was our actual anniversary and a busy day at that. I worked all day, and Mallory kept the kids. At 2:30, he called me at work in a frantic and brought John Mark into the office- covered in hives. This is about the 4th time he's had hives and we don't know the cause. It scared the mess out of Mallory (every other time he's had hives, I've been alone with him). So, it was a busy day full of unexpected events, but ended well with a sweet date night (more on that tomorrow).

Here's 2009 in review:

I don't remember much of January/February, but I do remember an ice storm, lots of snow and cold, cold, COLD. Brrrr.....

In March, we went to Orlando. It wasn't advertised as this, but it was a "scout out the land" trip to see if moving here would be a possibility. Mallory interviewed with his company, we house hunted, and we visited Orlando Grace Church, which is now our church home. We had started church-hunting when the thought of re-locating had just come on the radar screen. We found OGC first, listened to sermons, emailed the pastor, read the website entirely, and hoped it would be as good as it seemed via internet. It was. It still is. We love our church. It has made this transition across the country so much easier.

May 6, 2009- Welcome Amelia Lee Gabriel!

We were thrilled to join in Madison's Bicentennial celebration the weeks before we left.

Late June, we moved to Orlando. We lived with Mallory's parents until we got our bearings, then rented a house just north of Orlando.

In October, we celebrated John Mark's 2nd birthday. We partied in Orlando and Birmingham. We also attended Charlie and Dalila's wedding (my cousin) in October.

Christmas in the Sunshine State.

2009 was a physically exhausting year- a baby, a move, new jobs. We are grateful to be on the other side.

Finally, we'll catch up to the present tomorrow and I'll highlight the best things in 2010 (thus far) and share photos from our date night last night! See you soon!