January 2021: Beginnings and Endings

Blog Post About January 2021

My kids wanted to host a New Year's Eve party for their friends in America. 

Now that they're older, it was easy enough. 

They planned, they bought what they needed, they had the party, and they cleaned up.  Doug and I spent all evening in the bedroom reading and watching a movie, and it was a pleasure to go to bed well before midnight.

We started our goodbyes. 

Kylie was leaving on January 9th, and we were leaving soon after. 

We took a family walk with another family we enjoy being with, and had fun being silly together.

January 2, 2021

The morning of my birthday, we all went out for a country breakfast.

For dinner, I was treated to Olive Garden, and year 48 was off to a great start.

 

The six lovely ladies I did Bible study with (and continue to meet with over zoom) kidnapped me for one last night together. They had arranged it with Doug ahead of time, and he had taken care of everything on our end. 

We had such a good time, but I hated that I wasn't feeling better. As you can see I was in my pajamas, ready for bed, far earlier than anyone else. 

These ladies continue to be such a blessing and an encouragement for me.

At 5:30 am on January 9th, Kylie went in to tell Keira and Caleb goodbye before Doug, Karis, and I drove her to the airport.

Sad tears.

At 6:10 am we were saying goodbye again.

In September we said goodbye knowing we would still be in the same country while she was in school.

This time we said goodbye knowing we would be moving back overseas and not sure whether we would see her in May or August during her breaks or if we would have to wait for her to come home next December.

Sad tears.

January 9, 2021

The afternoon Kylie left, Keira and I went to hang out with a friend and put puzzles together.

In the meantime, Doug and Caleb went hunting with our fishing friend, Tim. Caleb had never been hunting before, and Tim was so excited about Caleb possibly getting his first deer.

And HE DID!

January 9, 2021

Caleb brought the shell of the bullet back with him when we left three days later, and when we landed in our country, we went through one last x-ray before leaving the airport, and they confiscated the shell from Caleb.

So much for memories :(

We were SO EXCITED about snow predicted for January 10th! 

And God did not disappoint us.

The New Year...2020...Dream Big!

 Oh the excitement of 2020!  

We had a small party on New Year's Eve, and after hanging out a little while, my two older girls joined a group of three other young ladies that were there who decided to go check out the fireworks in a certain area of town.

Long story short, they never made it because the traffic was so intense on the roads, but they got to see a lot of "interesting" people while they sat in traffic.

We like to start off the year with a two-day trip to the mountains before the kids go back to school.

It's nice to be up so high and out of the city.

The clouds rolling in in the morning are a beautiful sight, and by the time I've finished my coffee, the sun is shining and the clouds have moved on.

Sometimes it's crystal clear. 

And sometimes, you can't even see that your are on a mountain.

There isn't a ton to do while we are up on the mountain so time outside, playing games, resting, reading, and drinking coffee make it an ideal place to get rejuvenated.

January 3, 2020

Caleb was inside and missed out on our time in the snow one day, but he made up for it when the sun went down. 

He decided he would run in the snow barefoot with only his shorts on "just for fun." Keira joined in with the barefoot part while the rest of us just watched (and laughed).

The video of this "race" still makes me laugh.

Never would I ever...

And since these two sleep in the living room, we could all see in the morning that they were still worn out.

Happy birthday, Mom!

New Year's Eve

I figure since January is half over, I'd probably better post about New Year's Eve before it gets much later.

As you can tell, I'm no good at selfies but here we are...most of us.

Karis is on the other side of me.

We are up on the roof, sitting on doshaks, covered in several blankets, wearing several layers of clothes, eating snacks, and watching a movie while a nice fire burns at our feet.

This off-centered picture shows you our white shower curtain screen hanging on our third-floor wall.

We made great memories, had a fantastic time, and we love "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe," but after the movie was over, we high-tailed it downstairs to get warm in front of a heater.

We ate snacks, skyped some friends, and waited for midnight.

With five minutes to spare (and no Dick Clark to count us down), we took an iphone to the roof for proof of midnight, and we watched some pretty pitiful fireworks going off in the 360 degrees around our roof.

We face-timed both sets of grandparents from the roof and wished them a happy new year while it was still 3pm in Texas.

The fireworks weren't spectacular, but my kids had so much fun on this night that we've decided to keep the movie-watching on the roof as a yearly tradition.  Thanks, Doug, for making this night so much fun.