So long, 2012!!!

 Dearest family and friends, I know many of you have used this blog to keep in touch with our lives here in New Jersey.  That is precisely why I started it in 2007; to keep you informed and involved in our lives half way across the country!  And, well, since I got an iPhone, I just haven't really been on our regular computer.  Therefore, our blog has fall by the wayside.  I am very sorry.  Fortunately many of you are on Facebook so you can see the pictures I post regularly.  I even post alot on Instagram, simply because I can do all of it from my phone.  Anyway, this is a meager recap of part of 2012 in pictures.  We have done alot this year.  Chris and I were just talking about how this was a challenging year for us.  We, by no means, have had to deal with anything even remotely close to what families in Connecticut have faced, thankfully.  There has just been alot that's happened, good and bad.  I tend to be a very pessimistic person, so I must admit, I am posting these pics as much for myself as for you!  We all take pictures of the good times in our lives, so I look back at these to remind myself ALL that I have to be thankful for. 

The pictures above were taken in Princeton, still one of my favorite places to roam around.

 My little angels in our backyard

 Philadelphia Museum of Art (the one with the "Rocky" steps)

Turtleback Zoo

 Going to check on the frogs :)

 Pretty :)

 Girl Scouts campout

 Archery at the campout

 NYC cab advertising Sister Act!!

 Us :)

 Jaron and his second grade class

 Boy Scouts Memorial Day Parade

 Concert Night!

 Friends at the pool!  Unfortunately, saying goodbye to Robbie and Emma who moved home to Virginia :(

 We took several beach trips.  They are the highlight of our summer.  Living an hour away from the shore is nothing compared to how far away we lived from the coast in TX!!!

 Us again :)  I tell Chris all the time he is my hero.  He thinks I am just being silly.  I am not.

 Princeton fountain.  This reminds me, we took this pic one Monday....Chris's night off from the show and after I had been at work all day.  This was the first summer I worked since 2001!!!!!  I taught drama and music at a summer camp in South Brunswick.  I complained about it alot, but it actually worked out really well and was a good experience!

 Looking for snakes......sheesh.

 This a sad pic.  We lost both of our sweet guinea pigs this summer.  Ron passed away first.  Harry was soon to follow.  Again, I complained daily about their smell, cleaning up after them, etc. but I sure do miss those little guys!

 More beach!!!!  Spending all day with your toes in the sand, playing in the waves, looking for seashells is just paradise.

 We also spent plenty of time in the city.  Most Sundays we would ride in with Chris, he would do his matinee and the kids and I would go to church.  The Sister Act theater and Times Square Church were 2 blocks away.

 Such a BEAUTIFUL baby.

 A bittersweet moment here.....this is from the last performance of Sister Act.  We found out in June that Sister Act would be closing in August.  We knew it was coming, but that still didn't make it any easier.  This pic was taken as all the actors were arriving at the theater.  These ladies here are super talented, and so is that handsome man!!  It was actually so neat to be a part of their final show, to see all the emotion and the goodbyes.  It was exciting and very sad all at the same time.

 Right after the curtain fell, we hoped in the car and drove straight to Maine.  Some friends very graciously offered us the use of their cabin on a lake for a week if we would shut it down for the fall!!!  We had one of the best vacations I can remember.

                                  

 It was rugged and perfect.

 This little boy was an excellent fisherman!!!

 We were really sad to say goodbye.  Especially since we had to go right home to start school and move to a new apartment.

 First day of school!!!  3rd and 5th graders!

 More sad news.  We lost a very special grandpa.  And a special uncle, both in Chris's family.  So hard to say goodbye and so hard to watch others grieve.

 And then the hurricane.  I told someone, I lived in TX, in Tornado Alley no less, for 30 years and never had to go through a tornado.  We have lived in NJ for 5 years and already had to deal with 2 hurricanes!!  This one was by far the most devastating.  Some people and places are still trying to recover.  It will be interesting to see what our beach looks like.  It will NOT be the same, that's for sure. 

 In October we moved from West Windsor to Plainsboro.  They are neighboring towns, and actually the same school district.  But our rent is cheaper.  Thankfully.  We were paying for location in West Windsor, and it had just gotten way too expensive.  But on to more important things!!  This is Jordan in her Halloween costume outside of our new apt.  Ain't she cute?!?!

 Perry the Platypus....no, it's just Jaron!!!  This little boy continues to be a walking encyclopedia.  He has fallen in love with platypuses, even wrote a book about them!!!!  Now he is working on a book about dinosaurs....are you surprised??  They both had to change schools, but they are still in the same school district thankfully.  They have been troopers about it.  Jordan especially still misses her old school, but fortunately will meet up with old friends next year in MIDDLE school.  Geez!!!!!

 At the park

 My adorable scout.

 We took this pic the day we got lost on a hike, hahaha!!!

 This holiday season Chris sang quite a bit with some Phantom friends at Redeemer Hoboken church.  And they even let me sing with them one service too!  It was great!!! 

 And now I feel I have come full circle.  We are ending our winter break and have really enjoyed this Christmas season.  However, we miss our family terribly.  I mean, terribly.  We really need to see you all again.  We watched some home videos tonight, and it just made me appreciate and love all of you even more!  2012 is gone now.  And it took with it all of its loss, disappointment, death and hurt.  Thankfully.  Here's to a hopeful new year.  And here's to the only hope we, the Texas Bohannons in New Jersey, have....and that's the eternal hope in Christ.  May He be with all of you until we see you again!!!!