2010: A Year of Ups and Downs

2010 wasn’t our favorite year, and yet as we look back, there were certainly some amazing blessings and fun times mixed in with the tough times…and I guess that’s just life.

Kevin started 2010 with a hole in his head (literally). After finding a strange bump on his head, the doctors decided it would be best to remove it and make sure it wasn’t anything too serious. Turns out it was an ugly (and benign) massive growth called a lypoma! It’s gone now, but Kevin has a 4 inch scar that will come in handy if he ever needs an intimidation factor. While Kevin was recovering, Dawnie became quite sick. She was experiencing a miscarriage. Needless to say, January was a tough month.

After some healing, we were able to take a little time away and celebrate Kevin’s 31^st birthday. We stayed in Salt Lake and had a great time! We even hung out long enough at the downtown Apple store to convince Dawnie that Kevin needed an iPod Touch! Kevin also started at the University of Phoenix where he is currently pursuing a degree in Business Management.

So far in our marriage, we’ve had bad luck with our Anniversary. For our first, (in 2008) we spent the day at final dress rehearsal for a play Kevin was in. Our second was spent recovering from the death of Kevin’s Grandma Purcell. So we decided it was high time to do our Anniversary some justice. This year, we went on a cruise to Mexico! We went aboard the Royal Caribbean Mariner of the Seas. We stopped in Cabo San Lucas where we drove dune buggies through the desert, in Mazatlan where we toured a bakery, a furniture boutique and saw the Papantla Flyers, and in Puerto Vallarta, where we swam with the sea lions! On the ship, we saw great shows, ate great food, went to a murder mystery dinner, skated on ice, sang karaoke, and were even invited to hang out with the cruise entertainment staff! We finally understand why so many people say that cruises are the best way to vacation!

It took us a couple of weeks to get our inner ears back in balance, and before we knew it, we were blessed with a brand new little nephew! Lincoln Anthony Purcell was born on June 23^rd to my little brother Tony and his wife Abby. He is all chunk (just like Tony was) and we can’t get enough of him.

The rest of the summer was uneventful. Even Dawnie’s birthday was kind of a drag. At the end of August, Dawnie found out she was pregnant again. We were excited and decided that we definitely needed more space, so we packed up half of what we owned and put our house on the market. Sadly, Dawnie once again had a miscarriage. This one was tough. After lots of prayers and blessings, we were able to recover.

By the time November came around, we were ready for adventure again! Off we went to Arizona to spend Thanksgiving with our extended family. Kevin’s awesome Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Glen let us stay in their guest house and we spent an entire week cooking, laughing, playing Wii “Just Dance” and hugging and kissing all of our wonderful family. Kevin’s parents and all of his siblings were able to come. It was a fantastic way to spend Thanksgiving.

We got back from Arizona and barely saw each other again until Christmas! Kevin’s friend Todd called him in October to see if he would be interesting in coming to work at the Desert Star Theater in Murray. We’d been to see plays there and had always loved their irreverent brand of fun. Kevin decided “why not?” and was cast as Santa Claus in “Christmas Vacation: The Bipolar Express.” It was a lot of work, a lot of driving and a lot of fun!

And that’s how our 2010 was folks! There were highs, there were lows. We look forward to seeing what fun 2011 has in store for us!

Love,

Kevin and Dawnie Purcell

New Calling

A few weeks ago the Bishop called and asked if he could come over. Kevin told him he could come as long as he didn't make him leave primary and he laughed. When we met with him that night he asked me to serve in the Relief Society Presidency as the 2nd Counselor. This is a job that I know well since it is the one I was in prior to being called to teach Sunday School. I told him that we are trying to sell our house but he said that he wanted me to serve just the same (actually he said he would pray that we dont sell our house OR that he would find me a job closer to home and a house inside the ward boundaries...either works for us!). I was sustained on January 2nd and am trying to get by footings.

I am over the Relief Society Meetings and am always looking for new and exciting ideas. If you have any send them my way! I am grateful for the opportunity to serve and forget about myself and all my insignificant problems.

Christmas Report

Okay, so I know that I am so late with this and I still don't have the pictures to add to the post but I thought I'd catch up so I could stop feeling guilty and do better in 2011. Our Christmas was AWESOME! Kevin had so much playing Santa Claus in his play. We were sad it was over but glad that he could catch up on his sleep and we get to see each other once in a while. Kevin got a Nook and I got a Miche bag (I know...we are way spoiled).

Instead of presents for my siblings this year we went to the Melting Pot together. Once we got our seating figured out (there were a few tense moments when they wanted to split us into two tables) it was such a fun dinner and we are glad we went. My favorite was the Creme Brulee dessert. If the pot hadn't been so hot we would probably have licked it clean.

We went to Temple Square to see the lights with Kevin's family and had a great Purcell Party on Christmas night. We had a wonderful dinner and played games/watched movies until about 2 am. That might have been a judgement error when we had to get up at 6:30 am to get ready for church and our ward's Christmas program with the choir. We had one soloist cancel at the last minute but Kevin bore his testimony instead and it really made the program. He has such a strong spirit and I love him more each day!

New Year's Eve was okay. Kevin had to go to the playhouse and do two shows that night so I went and got some chinese food and stayed in for the night watching GLEE! He was able to get home at 11:30 pm so we got to ring in the new year together.

All in all we are very blessed and are grateful for a time of the year to reflect on our blessings, both spiritual and physical, and get ready to start anew. We love you all!