Home for the Hollidays

 

We hope that 2014 was as wonderful for you as it was for us.

Rebecca's year included a new year resolution to run a half marathon in less than 2 hours. A month and a half into her training regimen she developed a stress fracture of the heel and ended up on crutches, a kneeling scooter, and a walking boot for over three months before she was allowed to walk on her own two feet again. In March, Rebecca had to say goodbye to her twenties and embrace all the aches and pains that come with turning thirty. In June she finished work on her ProTeach Portfolio, with extensive help from Nathan and in August we found out all the blood, sweat, and tears weren't in vain as she passed her Pro Teach Portfolio which allows her to convert her provisional teaching certificate into a professional certificate.
Nathan has had a busy year finishing up his nursing prerequisites by taking organic chemistry in the winter, microbiology in the spring, Human Development and Sociology over the summer, and Statistics and 50 hours of community service in the Fall. All of the hard work Nathan put in this year and over the last two years finally payed off. On November 10th he was officially accepted into the WSU Nursing program and will start the BSN Nursing program in Yakima on January 12, 2015. Nathan also worked hard all year in the orchard doing jobs like pruning, mowing, changing water, spraying, thinning, spreading, gophering, and a million other things. His hard work payed off with a successful apple harvest and a 100% on our Global GAP audit. Nathan turned 30 in October and somehow has avoided most of the aches and pains that come with being so old.
Mu, our baby kitty, has had the most stressful, painful, and boring year of her life, and one we hope she never repeats. In March, we started to notice that when Mu jumped up on our bed she would hiss and growl. She started loosing weight and was limping a lot, growling a lot, and in general not a happy kitty. We took her to our local vet multiple times. They took x-rays, did laser treatments, gave her shots, and could not diagnose what the issue was. In April, Karen and Rebecca took Mu on a road trip to WSU Veterinary Hospital. They were able to diagnose her ailment as a luxating patella (kneecap locked out of place). She was diagnosed on a Wednesday, had surgery to correct the issue on Friday, and Nathan and Rebecca were able to pick her up on Saturday. She had to wear a cone for two weeks and was on strict bed rest for twelve weeks. She spent 10 weeks in a large dog crate or snuggling with us on our bed. It was hard for all of us but we think it was well worth it as she is back to her normal self.
Nathan and Rebecca were able to take a few vacations over the course of the year. We went to Cameo Heights Mansion for Rebecca's Birthday, Yellowstone with Rebecca's Family at the end of June beginning of July. Spokane for Nathan's Nursing School interview, and Longbeach, WA for our anniversary/Thanksgiving. On April 29th we finally purchased our first home and after many extensive do it yourself projects we were able to move in on December 5th. We are so thankful that the Krogers allowed us to occupy their basement for four years while we saved and waited for this home to be ours.

Love
The Kroger Family
Rebecca, Nathan, and Mu