It's late, just a few minutes before midnight on Spencer's 13th birthday. We've been celebrating with him for the past two days, and tonight, we ended by looking at pictures of him, and reading about when he was born, and when he was little. I love the things I've written on this blog, the memories our family has kept alive because we can revisit them here. And I'm shocked to realize it's been over a year since I last wrote even a line on this here blog.
I've practically given up writing altogether, which is a sad thing. But instead of bothering about it too much right now, (which I certainly could do... expounding and pontificating on why it is that I'm NOT writing)... I'll just dig in and write a few humble paragraphs in the way of a catch up, ok?
So, yes, it's been a year! What do I say about this year!? 2020. It's one for the books, and I'm sure books are already being written about it. haha! My book wouldn't be lengthy, and it wouldn't delve into world politics and whether to wear a mask. Nope. I'd just say, I feel extremely blessed with the twists and turns my personal life has taken in 2020. I've had some mandatory slow-down times that have really helped me to cherish my family, my friends, my health, my relationships. Those are the broad takeaways. In fine detail that looks like... more camping trips, board games, fires in the pit in our back yard. It looks like evenings at home, watching shows together or making treats. I've loved all these times, and I've grown closer to all my kids and Brian in such a beautiful, poignant way.
Part of it is my age, I know. I'm to that point where, if I live to be 90, I'm very much, officially halfway. I'm not having any crises so far in my midlife experiences. But I've definitely experienced lots of moments that I like to call my "midlife moments"... I keep looking at my gorgeous 15-year-old Samantha girl and can't possibly imagine how 15 years flew by sooooooo fast! I mean REALLY fast! I tear up and my breath catches in my throat when I think about it. Or, realizing my little Camillie baby is SEVEN!? What?! Spencer's officialy a TEENAGER?!? He's taller than me, weighs almost as much as me, and sounds like his voice is about to change. And double-digits Natalie girl can't WAIT to grow up... She's sneaking into my make up, borrowing clothes from Samantha, and making so many independent decisions. This parenthood role has picked up speed and is sailing by so unimaginably FAST!
So, selfishly, I thank 2020 for giving me a few moments to stand by, catch my breath, and reflect on the sweet miracle of just being a mom, taking care of the everyday details of our family. Am I tired of doing a million loads of laundry? yes. Do dinner and house chores get really mundane and redundant? for sure. And I've definitely felt the stir-crazy, cooped up feelings everyone else in our pandemic-laden world has faced. There are parts that have been unbelievably frustrating and overwhelming. I'm not immune to the worry regarding the puzzling predicament of our country's politics and social situations. I'm not turning a blind eye there, at least, I hope I'm not.
But I AM trying to see the good, reflect on the learning points and the positives that I've experienced personally. Here are some good, memorable happenings from our family's life, month by month, from 2020...
Last January, I got to be the "cookie lady" at the elementary school, and give out cookies to all the kids celebrating their birthdays in January... including my little Camille who was THRILLED to get her cookie and hugged me. I also started organizing my first Health Challenge group, which was so fun. In eight weeks, our group of about 25 people collectively lost over 300 pounds. Pretty amazing.
In February, we continued our fun, fancy, family dinner tradition for Valentine's day. I made a really delicious chicken with cream sauce, which I still think about re-creating sometimes. The weather was fantastic, and the kids put up hammocks in the trees and spent a lot of time outside together.
In March, we got a puppy!! Soooo exciting! Bella was only 8 weeks old when we got her, and the kids couldn't have been more thrilled. She's such a good dog, and such a part of our family now. We all love her, except I sometimes wish she didn't lick so much. Yes, it's true, the world was coming to a stand-still in March. In fact, we got Bella the same day our church announced the worldwide closure of all church meetings indefinitely. Five days later, schools were closed indefinitely, and eventually for the rest of the school year. Restaurants, stores, and everything else soon followed. Good thing we had a puppy to toilet train, to distract us. ha!
In April Brian started working at Micron, and left his job with Shearman and Sterling. That was pretty huge! He's still been working from home all this time, but it's definitely been different for him. He likes the regularity of it all, and the stock options, but missed the flexibility of his old job. The kids and I took lots of drives in the hills, made lots of bread and cookies, and slept in lots, most mornings.
In May I got two dozen yellow roses from Brian and the kids, plus some gorgeous flower boxes for our back patio. We had a visit to Blackfoot and spent time with Hone cousins and my parents. Then we had another Hone gathering in Island Park at my brother's cabin. We felt like rebels, gathering like that. But we all stayed healthy and had fun.
Camille had a ballet recital at an amphitheater in a park in June. It felt like a huge outing, mainly because we just weren't used to going out. She was adorable and loved every minute of it. I took lots of pictures of flowers at the nearby Nampa Rose Garden. Lovely! We visited a local lavender farm and picked lots of bouquets. We bought our camp trailer, and took it out to the hills to test it out. We camped with the Hones at Wildhorse Creek and woke up to snow one morning -- turns out that trailer came in really handy!
In July we took the kids to Roaring Springs with friends for a day. And we took a family trip to Utah for the Fourth of July. Brian's parents rode down with us, and we stayed at Brent and Jenalyn's house, making crafts and delicious foods, hanging out, and trying to social distance from anything really crowded. We also celebrated Brian's and my birthday, and our anniversary. We took the trailer up by Sun Valley one weekend, spent a day at Redfish lake as a family, and had a romantic getaway to the Anniversary Inn, just me and Brian.
We spent a week at the coast in Oregon in August, RIGHT on the water, in two big beach houses with the Hone family. Every morning, we walked on the beach, looked at tide pools, and played in the sand. We played games and sat in the hot tub, and celebrated our memories of Wade with the anniversary of his birthday. We were within walking distance of the most amazing tide pools and sea caves I've ever seen close up. That was one of my favorite parts of the trip.
By September, the kids got to start back to school, after such a loooong break away! I think everyone was pretty excited to go back, and relieved that our district was opting for an in-person hybrid schedule, instead of completely online learning. So, Natalie and Camille have been going four days a week in person, (T,W,T, F), and Spencer and Samantha have been going on a Tuesday/Thursday schedule. All of them are home on Mondays, working online. It's been OK, and we've actually adapted quite well. They're all going to a four-day per week schedule in March, since the Covid numbers are getting better. I hope that goes smoothly!
October was Natalie's birthday -- on a Monday this year, which was fun. She got to be at home, and do some fun activities throughout the day, because of the virtual school schedule every Monday. We went to Dutch Bros for a free shake, and to bath and bodyworks, to spend our coupons. She asked for a kindle to read books on, and that's what she got... and some other fun stuff too, of course. :) Halloween was weird this year. We went to a trunk-or-treat activity with the Sorensons during the day, then knocked doors around Caldwell. It wasn't the most eventful, but the kids still ended up with tons of candy, haha!
We spent a lot of the month of November getting Dale and Susan moved to a new house. Oh my, what a HUGE project!! It wasn't just November... more like August - January. But the most consuming part was in November, as we got them settled into their new house, and really started disassembling their old house and shop. They had lived there for 45 years, so this was no small move for them, even though the new place is only about three miles from the old house. Thank goodness we had LOTS of help from all of Brian's siblings who graciously came up and took turns helping sort, pack, move and clean as they could. Janice was the best -- coming on almost every break she could take from work. Thanksgiving this year was with the Hones. We had a nice, relaxed time being with everyone. Since the kids were off school that entire week, we were able to go over early and be with cousins for several days in a row. Brian joined us on Thanksgiving morning. His job was pretty busy right then!
See all the fun stuff!? I'll write more about the rest of 2020. I will! I promise. Soon!! :) But it's late now, and I'm headed to sleep. Good night.
