{New Year}

2012.

I will forever look back on 2012 as a year when life changed dramatically for the Meek family.  It was a year of firsts and lasts and lots of happy memories and some sad ones, as well.  Here's my year-end letter, as promised...

The first half of the year was a combined amount of finishing strong with work, school and everything else, along with numerous home showings along with the normal busyness of the Meek household.

Gabe turned 14, participated in his final Robotics tournament, enjoyed being a part of the Five Valley Honor Band, graduated from 8th grade, and did an Eagle Scout project.

Bethany finished her 6th grade year, decided to give piano a try, gave amazing Irish dance performances, spent a great deal of time with friends and turned 12.

Micci turned 9, worked very hard at school, danced her heart out during the St. Patrick's day events and others, and continued with her piano as much as possible.

Jon recorded and produced two CD's, one of which is an EP with his most recent songs, and the other, which was a live album that required hours of prep and rehearsals from all of us involved.  All of this while continuing to study and complete his Church Planting Training, and get ready to move...He did the majority of the packing since he could work from home and I couldn't!

I graduated from the University of Montana with my Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, finishing my coursework and practicum classes over the summer before our big move.  I also served as chauffer to the three most amazing kiddos when I could during the month we lived with Jon's parents in Florence (about 40 minutes south of Missoula).

Our house sold in June, which worked out well, and by the beginning of July, we had placed a deposit on a place to call home in Spokane.  Lucy was able to come visit for a month, and we took a quick trip to Yellowstone National Park.  Lucy was also able to be with us for our big "Send Us" dinner, though she had to leave very early the next morning.  Our final weeks and months in Missoula were nothing short of amazing, filled with memories and love.

On July 24th, we pulled out of Missoula and drove to Post Falls, ID, where we stayed with friends and then drove into Spokane on July 25th and moved into our new home.  We are renting for now, and hoping to be able to buy a home this Spring.  After being here in Spokane just a couple of weeks, and beginning to wonder exactly what our income was going to look like, I was offered a job with Spokane Public Schools as a General Music Specialist.  I am currently working a .8 FTE, which means that I have Thursday and Friday afternoons off!

Since the big move, life has slowed in some ways and quickened in others.  After a "chance" encounter and mixup with Gabe's high school registration, he is now the 4th place freshman on the North Central Cross Country team, a team which took the Washington State XC title for the 7th year running.  Considering that the boy had never run before, we have all been fairly impressed with his talent for XC.  He is also still excelling in his studies, taking Honors courses and on track to begin Advanced Placement (AP) courses next year as a sophomore.  On December 27th, he went before the Mullan Trail District Eagle Board, and was approved as an Eagle Scout!  Jon and I are so proud of his hard work!  We plan to have his Eagle Ceremony in Missoula this Spring.

Bethany is enjoying her 7th grade year.  7th grade is the first grade of middle school here in Spokane, so lots of kids were making new friends, and Bethany has a great group of friends around her already.  She is enjoying her choir and production classes especially.  She also was recently invited to be a part of the yearbook committee and took part in the middle school cross country program.  Irish dance has become a fond memory for Bethany...but she is enjoying other activities, so that is ok.

Micci is still dancing and has made several friends in her 4th grade class.  She also seems to have won the heart of her teacher, who has nothing but praise to say about her.  She is going to be considered for a special program here called Tessera, since she is so far ahead of her classmates in both reading and math.  All in all, our kids are thriving and we are super proud of them!

Jon is working on getting an afterschool club going here in Spokane called Guitar Club, which is after school group guitar lessons.  So far, it is going well, but is definitely having some of the fits and starts of a startup business.  We hope that it will become something that we can offer to kids as a service in the future, so that we can be a blessing to our community.  Our small church is going well and we are looking for a location outside of our home, hopefully by the end of January.  Our neighbors are awesome people who we have a "kindred spirit" with.  We truly love our neighborhood and the people in it.

As for me, I'm doing well with all the changes.  My job is good, and challenging, which is also good.  I know that it is where God has led me to be and while it is a steep learning curve to relearn how to teach music after so long, I'm enjoying it and having fun. 

So there is my year-end update...It's been quite the year, and quite the ride.  While we miss our family and friends in Missoula, we are also enjoying making new friends and creating a church family here in Spokane.  I'm looking ahead and looking forward to what 2013 will bring!!  (I'm hoping for transporter technology so that I can see all of my friends and family from around the world whenever I feel like it!)

PS...Dolly continues to be our sweet, lovable dog.  She loves us and we love her.  She spends her days sleeping and watching the squirrels who love to torment her from the trees in front of the house.  It's a dog's life.