Christmas wRap 2013 – Our Year in Rhyme

Recounting the events of Twenty Thirteen
January, December, and the months in between.
Our year has been full of travel and fun,
So let us track back through the things that we’ve done.

January marked our first trip to Disney.
Levi was enamored with a duck named Daisy.
We met our good Florida friends at Legoland,
and enjoyed Sea World, doing much more than we’d planned.
(We were reunited with an aunt in many years I’d not seen
With talk of now, and my toddler days, and all the years in between.)

For February, David’s birthday, a Mario theme
Mario Karts on a 7, all covered in green.
We headed to Memphis for a Monster Jam show.
An oilfield friend now drives one – we just had to go!

A trip to Georgia in March to see Aunt Darlene and her crew
Stone Mountain we hiked, then to Houston we flew.
While Gary learned survival in his water trainin’ class,
The rest of us in Galveston, the time we did pass.
The sub Cavalla, ship Stewart, and a rig museum, Ocean Star
Boys learned about Daddy’s job, when he travels afar.
Mission Control, NASA and Galveston Beach;
Even Kemah Boardwalk was not far out of reach.
To think part of this trip was especially planned for
Stephen’s 3rd Memory Master round, as his family reward.

We wrapped up another great school year in May
And enjoyed our annual homeschool field day
Then it was time for our tour of eight mid-eastern states
(We aim to hit all 50 before they graduate.):
In West Virginia we toured coal mines and a really tall bridge.
In Virginia we met friends close to Blue Ridge.
In D.C. we learned about the world of spy.
In Maryland was Ft. McHenry, where that Banner did fly.
Then we traveled by boat to see Fort Delaware
And headed to Pennsylvania, so much history was there!
In Ohio we hiked among Native American mounds
And traveled to Kentucky to see a few horse race rounds.
In Indiana, we wrapped up our 2200-mile spree
At Lincoln’s Boyhood Home, so much we did see!

Stephen turned ten in July with his favorite: Garfield.
Then works for the fair he and David did build.
In August another grand school year began,
And before we knew it, we had another trip planned:
Lafayette, Louisiana, where the food is just ragin’
And the folks are so nice, but that’s ‘cause they’re Cajun!

October brought the ship Nina just close enough
For us to travel and board and learn lots of stuff.
Stephen said this year it looked a lot smaller,
But I think it’s because he’s gotten a bit taller.
Then it was off to Kentucky to see Days of Knights
Where we learned what the Middle Ages must have been like.

This year Stephen joined the church puppet team
Life-sized puppets and blacklights made a pretty good scene.
We waited ‘til the temp reached way-too-chilly
To tent-camp in Alabama, like crazy hillbillies!
But we had a good time with cousins, uncles, and aunts,
And Little River Canyon put us all in a trance!

(We also hit Ironworks and the Space Center in Huntsville
And enjoyed a trip to the observatory in Nashville.
But there are so many things I can’t seem to remember!
We’ll just skip forward to the month of December.)

As we come to this month when Levi turned five:
A party with monster trucks, which he’d one day like to drive,
And we’ve found that the Lord has something in store:
Would you believe we’re expecting Ferrell Baby Number 4?!

Now with Christmas upon us, the year but a blink.
Christmas is much deeper than we’d all like to think,
For we wrestle to fathom God the Son as a babe,
All the while His life a sacrifice to be made.
He left all his glory to become one with man.
It was all part of God’s great master plan.
So no matter what you’re facing this Christmas season
Take a moment to reflect upon the real reason:
It all started at that old stable rough.
This Boy: our Savior; He is always enough.

Our family wishes you a very Merry Christmas!
Gary, Brandy, Stephen, David, Levi, and Baby Ferrell