2013: A Year in Review

Have you noticed; it seems that the older you get, the faster time flies by.  It seems so long since I have written anything here – and, strange as it is to say; I really miss you guys!

So, now that it’s mid-April of 2014, I will ease into the “New Year” by summarizing my 2013, which turned out to be an important year.  I’ll just hit some highlights, by quarter – so my year will appear to “fly by” for you as well.

1Q/2013:

We opened the New Year with a fun trip to beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Our great friends, the Broussard’s, oldest son, Andy, was getting married in the romantic Loretta Chapel.  We enjoyed the wonderful ceremony and great social time with the Broussard’s, their family, and friends.  I was even able to get a day of skiing in on the day of the wedding.  The snow and slopes were great too!

In February, I participated in a mini-triathlon with my two sisters, in Duncan Oklahoma.  Thankfully, it was an indoor venue.  We all did great on the 300m swim, 8 mile bike-ride, and 5k run – I was even able to win first place in my age group.

2Q/2013:

The biggest news in 2Q was my participation in a 7 day Mission Trip to Nicaragua, where I got to practice my Spanish, work on some building projects and participate in Vacation Bible School for over 500 kids, in two locations.  We were able to go swimming in the Pacific Ocean one day, and I was able to help one of the Mission-trippers, who got a little too far into the ocean, get safely back to the beach.

3Q/2013:

This was huge!  Susan and I were so happy and proud to welcome our first two grandchildren into the world.  Beckett Ryan Ratcliff was born on July 16^th, in Ft. Worth Texas.  Troy Allen Tanner was born seven weeks later, in Newport Beach, California on September 2.     

    We were so excited for the expansion of these two wonderful young families.  We have been lucky enough to see and visit both of these precious boys often, since their births.  

Lastly, we went on a wonderful trip to the beautiful, and incredibly friendly, Notre Dame campus for a football game.  Even better, the Sooners won 35-21, making the trip even better!

4Q/2013:

After flying out to California to meet Troy in Southern California, we flew back out in late October, to northern California for a trip to the Napa Valley, a quick tour of the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, and a benefit concert with Neil Young, Heart, Diana Krall, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young.  Now if that’s not checking things off a “Bucket-list” kinda trip, I don’t know what is!

We ended the year with all of the kids (and most importantly, both grandsons) at our house, for a wonderful family Christmas in Oklahoma.

Okay, I have to cheat and add that Oklahoma beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl was either the best possible way to end 2013 or the greatest imaginable way to enter 2014.  Either way, we loved it.  Could the Sooners make a run at the 2014 “Final Four”?  Only time will tell!