Thank goodness for pictures!

The reality is that last year was HARD! Kurt's condition, my scare and surgery, Evan's surgery (which was unsuccessful), trying to keep the business running, more health problems and procedures for me, each child had issues arise from Kurt's hospitalization so we had to figure out the best way to help each one of them (which, of course, they were all different!), Evan's 2nd surgery, making BIG decisions about different things, dealing with problems at the business, etc. My nerves were shot. I had a really hard time. October and November were really hard months. I struggled bad. The stress of worrying about Kurt's aneurysm is exhausting. He has this large aneurysm just sitting in there and I was (and still am) constantly worried that it would (or could) rupture. I am doing better now with this but it still worries me. It is never out of my mind.

Looking back at those months, I couldn't really tell you anything good about them. I just remember feeling completely overwhelmed and exhausted BUT thank goodness for pictures! I look back at picture and realize that we had some great times during those hard times. We were so BLESSED! How easy it is to forget that during hard times. So I am choosing to look back and those months and see the good times. Here is one of them:

August 2014 - Kurt wanted to take his crew on a deep sea fishing trip. Our friend, Marty, knew how to organize one so Kurt and Marty invited friends to come along with our crew. We decided to make it a camping trip also. We had been discussing the idea of a puppy (but I totally wasn't ready!) and found some white labs that we wanted to visit down by Monterey. So we planned it out and made a trip to see puppies, stay at the ocean and then travel up to Bodega Bay, where they were leaving for the fishing trip.

I didn't get any pictures at the puppy house. They were absolutely adorable and so cute but, like I said, I just wasn't ready to take on a puppy. I knew my nerves and stress level just couldn't handle tackling that right then. We then drove to the beach at Seaside and stayed the night. The next morning we got up and walked down to the beach and had a great time!

Look at this amazing family that we have!

Our first attempt at a family selfie! Hey, where's Evan?

2nd attempt - there he is!

A jogger had mercy on us and took a picture for us!

The girls being silly!

Then we found this awesome ledge to jump off. I don't even know how long we stayed there jumping but we have a LOT of jumping shots!

The walk back to the trailer.

Then we drove up to Bodega Bay, where the ship was going to be leaving from the next day. We were able to park the trailer right in the parking area and this was our view right out our door.

 These are the most amazing guys we could ever ask for! They were so understanding during the weeks of Kurt's hospitalization. Kurt was so worried that he was going to loose his crew due to no work but they told us not to worry, that they would be there when we were ready. We are so truly blessed to have them work for us! Kurt wanted to thank them so we took them on this trip.

Evan and his buddies Hunter and Nik.

Ok, so the trip didn't go as expected. The water was really rough and the boat rocked a LOT! As soon as they hit the open water Kurt started throwing up. His system just couldn't handle the rocking motion. He started the trend was shortly followed by just about everyone on the boat. They pulled in hours earlier than I expected them and I got really nervous and thought something was wrong, possibly with Kurt (see, never out of my head) but they had came back early because everyone was sick. The only way Kurt and his buddy Erik could stop throwing up was to lay down inside the boat like this:

That was how they spent the majority of the trip. Yikes! I am pretty sure our crew doesn't want us to thank them this way ever again =-)

Despite the sickness, I think everyone has some fun. They all got some fish to take home so there was a small victory there.

Overall, this was a great trip and one that we won't forget about for a long time! I am so thankful for pictures to remind me of the good times during the trials! I am also so thankful for my family. We have so much fun together and I love them so much!