Kodak Moments of 2013

Hail, hail, the gang's all here!

For the Mahans, the highlight of 2013 was Kelli's wedding.  On June 28, in the Mount Timpanogos temple in Utah, she married her best friend, Tyler Esplin.  Of course we were thrilled for them both, and just as thrilled for the opportunity to have everyone together.  As you can see, we are becoming quite the crowd.  These are the people that mean more to me than anything in this world.

Mara telling stories

Here is the next highlight of 2013 for the Mahan Clan.  Mara Mahan Guzman was born on Sept. 17.  She is perfect, bright-eyed, and beautiful!  We were so excited at the end of last year when we heard she was coming, because after the baby BOOM of 2012, we were sure that there would be no new babies in 2013~ glad she had other ideas!

Don't you love how she decorated her cap?

Tyler and Kelli after her graduation

And the third major HAPPY event for our gang was Kelli's graduation from Colorado Mesa University. On December 13,  she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Elementary Education, Math emphasis.  The icing on the cake---she has been hired at New Emerson Elementary, where she did her student teaching, as the 5th grade Math teacher!  The 5th grade teachers job share, so it's a part-time position, but what a blessing!  Especially for a new college grad halfway through the school year!  She loves the school already, and we know she'll be a great asset to their staff!

Lizzie: June 2005-April 2013

Into every life a little rain must fall.  This was a downpour.  In April of this year, we had to make the painful decision to put down our Lizzie.  I blogged in greater detail about this earlier in the year, so I won't repeat the whole story.  Look at that face.  I miss her so much.  I've had dogs my entire life, and she was the best.  Trust me, that is saying a LOT.

Quincy's blessing day-Feb. 1, 2011-four generations

And now for the hurricane.  This is one of the best pictures I could find of Betty Irene Mahan, who left us VERY unexpectedly on January 12.  Not the best way to start the new year.  She went in for heart surgery in early January, had complications, and didn't recover.  We miss her so much.  She was so lost when Gramps died in March of 2006, and carried on as best she could without him for almost 7 years.  She was strong, fiesty, opinionated, and fiercely protective of her family.  As we've carried on through this first year without her, we see her influence in so many little things.  When I open my silverware drawer, I smile because she helped me organize the kitchen when we moved to Montrose, and she was SURE I would rearrange everything she had set up after she left.  I didn't.  Her sons are doing their best to carry on without her, but it's tough.  Michael called her faithfully every week to chat.  We went to Silt for Mother's Days, Thanksgivings and Christmases over these last few years.  We dragged her with us to Washington state for a wedding, Utah and Texas for baby blessings and graduations, and to Denver for birthdays and a baseball game.  She was a pretty good sport about it all.  But she felt like a third wheel without my father-in-law, and we could never convince her otherwise.  So, I like to think that he came for her that night, and she just said "OK, let's go."  She knew we'd be OK without her.  And we are, but not much more than that.  For now, anyway.  We'll do our best to honor her legacy.  She raised two terrific sons, who now have their own wonderful kids and (in Michael's case) grandkids.  Her determined spirit and strong work ethic have been inherited by her boys and grandkids.  I hope we will all make her proud.

December 2013

I'm sure everyone I know and love has had similar highs and lows this year.  Such is the nature of our earthly existence.  We revel in the joys, and cling together in our sorrows.  We have a strong belief that a loving Heavenly Father watches over us, strengthening us and sharing in all the events that make up our daily life.  We just celebrated the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Through Him we will all be together again, and this knowledge helps us weather the stormy AND the balmy seas.  I'm so grateful for this knowledge, and I just hope and pray that I've come through this year a little wiser, a little kinder, and a lot stronger.  I wish the same for you. 

Love, Cindy