2016
2016
What a year.
It's been one of the most bizarre years I can ever remember. Most of America is ready for it to go away, but honestly, I'm not so sure next year is going to be much better. Or the next... Or the next <sigh>
I've decided to take a personal look at 2016 and measure it based on memories we have made as a family. If I solely look at 2016 from a national or even global standpoint, I'm not sure I can remain positive, so here is my personal list of memories for 2016 in chronological order.
January:
My brother-in-law & stepdad graduated from fire school. Now, I'm not even going to pretend to know what the actual title was of what they graduated from, because I have no clue. What I do know; they worked really hard, for many hours, weeks, and months to achieve their goal of this moment. Their families also sacrificed in order for this graduation to happen and my hat is off to them all!
And look! Snow...
Emily began her journey towards college with Scholar's weekend at Union. They gave her a scholarship. My only thought is they never saw the above pictures...
Oh... And this happened:
March is long and boring. We must remedy this in 2017.
April:
Short and simple: soccer, Sallateeska, short hair, sillyness, and more scholarships.
Thank you Baptist Foundation of Illinois (BFI)!!!
May:
For our oldest, May brought graduation and a "new to her" car.
More soccer
Loved ones added to their family
We took a trip to the Kickapoo River in Wisconsin. We camped overnight at a state campground and canoe camped along the river.
June
June was a busy month. We had 2 birthdays, an annual meeting, Mission Canton, and a couple trips thrown in for good measure.
We took many trips to Banner Marsh preparing for the Boundary Waters. We often took lunch or dinner, depending on the time of day we went, and had picnic lunches on the only available "beach."
We had to go to Madison so we decided to make a camping trip out of it. We arrived at Lake Shabbona just ahead of a thunderstorm, got set up, and then waited it out in our tents. We got up early the next morning and took a quick backpacking trip through one of their many trails. It was hot, but fun and Gabe really showed what he was made of by taking the lead.
The SBC was in St. Louis this year so Gabe and Emily went with us. Gabe spent the week working in East St. Louis at the Children's Activity Center and Curt, Emily, and I spent our days at the most memorable annual meeting I can ever remember. I walked away knowing that God is sovereign and JD Greear and Russell Moore are wise.
The coolest part of the convention? We had dinner with David Platt.....And his closest 1,000 friends, but whatever.
We caught a ball game after it was all done and I am pretty sure we can't be blamed for the Cardinals' loss.
And then.... Mission Canton
July
This was the BEST month...And the worst all wrapped into one.
It started with VBS
We went on a family vacation that I will remember for the rest of my life
But July also brought heartbreak. My best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. I will never forget the day the text came through. It was Curt and I's anniversary, I was on MooseCamp Lake, and Curt and I could do nothing but cry and pray.
August brought more tears. Tears of pride, joy, and a knowing that things would never again be the same.
Caleb had a dream come true.
And we briefly hung out with long-distance family.😊
We kicked September off with a spur of the moment camping trip to one of our greatest finds; McCully Heritage Project in Kampsville with some great friends.
We took a trip to SandRidge outside of Manito for a school project on desert plant life
Isabel started dance at the YWCA
We counted down the days until we went to see Emily for Family Weekend
And we spent some more time at Banner Marsh.
October
Family weekend arrived and the littles spent their free time playing in a very cold pool. I spent time in the hotel room fighting food poisoning. Say no to small BBQ joints!
I cut down my first tree with a saw in preparation for Caleb's birthday party and built a fire pit.
Went to Youth Encounter with a fabulous group of kids.
Caleb had a camping birthday party complete with a s'mores cake.
We spent my birthday at Starved Rock. We hiked, camped, and made campfire pizzas.
My mom celebrated the month by getting a new hip!
And what October is complete without a fireman and a peacock to finish it off?
November
We began with a field trip with our co-op group to a family farm. The kids loved riding the pony, shooting BB guns, hiking, and playing with friends.
With the return of our college student we had crepes and trees on the roster. Thanksgiving was memorable, but too short.
And this cutie got glasses
December
Oh, December. You brought the most beautiful snow fall I have seen in years!
Isabel and I went on a nice long run, at her request.
Christmas Eve was on a Saturday which means the weekend was especially busy, but we were able to visit Curt's Grandmother at HollyBrook in Washington.
Our year wrapped up with a relaxing trip to Branson, complete with a trip to the Sight and Sound Theater to see Moses and then a hike at the local city park.
This year taught me much. The idea that people matter more than things was reinforced, but more than that, I began to lose much of the ideas I held onto in regards to what it means to live. We have become so brainwashed by this 9 to 5 mentality that we don't even question ourselves about purpose. We train children from an early age to think about what they will grow up to become, what profession they will have or do for a job.
We never ask:
Do I have to stay in one place and become "established"?
Is success based upon my finances?
What difference do possessions make?
Is this necessary?
I began asking:
Does this make my life joyful?
Will I look back in gratitude on this moment?
Is there a law against this?
What is freedom?
What does God say?
I know this sounds like ramblings and I'm ok with that. Welcome to a moment in my head. These moments helped shape what we did this year. Curt's vision grows worse by the month. It won't be long before it is gone completely and I don't want to live with a moment of regret. It's not as if he dies when his vision is gone, but there is a part of him that will. There will be a part of us that we will have to bury, or change if you will, when the time comes.
There will no longer be those moments of, "Look at that deer!" "Did you see the sunset?"
Taking a leisurely hike through the woods or a paddle on a lake or river will become much more difficult and there is a little part of us that wonders if there will be any point.
What will life be like for us when that moment comes? I do not know. What I do know is that we have today to build memories. We have today to walk and talk about what we do see. We can watch our children while they play and laugh at their ingenuity and we can still gaze into each other's eyes and remember why we love the other person "for better or for worse."
Thank you 2016 for the memories and the lessons. If you actually read this whole blog, let me know. I'm always curious if people just click or if they click and read.
2017... I wonder what you have in store for us. No matter what it is, I will glorify God with all that I am, because He is good.
What a year.
It's been one of the most bizarre years I can ever remember. Most of America is ready for it to go away, but honestly, I'm not so sure next year is going to be much better. Or the next... Or the next <sigh>
I've decided to take a personal look at 2016 and measure it based on memories we have made as a family. If I solely look at 2016 from a national or even global standpoint, I'm not sure I can remain positive, so here is my personal list of memories for 2016 in chronological order.
January:
My brother-in-law & stepdad graduated from fire school. Now, I'm not even going to pretend to know what the actual title was of what they graduated from, because I have no clue. What I do know; they worked really hard, for many hours, weeks, and months to achieve their goal of this moment. Their families also sacrificed in order for this graduation to happen and my hat is off to them all!
My grandpa saw another trip around the sun to its completion. At 80 something years old, he is sweet and stubborn and I am so thankful my kids get to know him the way they do. Not many great grands get to say that.
February:
Curt's birthday brought out the creative side for our kids and some love from our church family.
This. This was a great day. People had been posting these yoga poses on Facebook for awhile and I decided that Emily should try one of them. This was the result. She didn't feel relaxed afterwards, but had a doozy of a headache.
March:
We spend a lot of the winter months on this piece of furniture. Shoot, who am I kidding? We spend a lot of every month on this piece of furniture.
Caleb started spring soccer.
March is long and boring. We must remedy this in 2017.
April:
Short and simple: soccer, Sallateeska, short hair, sillyness, and more scholarships.
Thank you Baptist Foundation of Illinois (BFI)!!!
May:
For our oldest, May brought graduation and a "new to her" car.
More soccer
Loved ones added to their family
We took a trip to the Kickapoo River in Wisconsin. We camped overnight at a state campground and canoe camped along the river.
June was a busy month. We had 2 birthdays, an annual meeting, Mission Canton, and a couple trips thrown in for good measure.
We took many trips to Banner Marsh preparing for the Boundary Waters. We often took lunch or dinner, depending on the time of day we went, and had picnic lunches on the only available "beach."
Gabe took a solo backpacking trip at the far end of my folks'property.
The coolest part of the convention? We had dinner with David Platt.....And his closest 1,000 friends, but whatever.
We caught a ball game after it was all done and I am pretty sure we can't be blamed for the Cardinals' loss.
This was the BEST month...And the worst all wrapped into one.
It started with VBS
We went on a family vacation that I will remember for the rest of my life
But July also brought heartbreak. My best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. I will never forget the day the text came through. It was Curt and I's anniversary, I was on MooseCamp Lake, and Curt and I could do nothing but cry and pray.
August brought more tears. Tears of pride, joy, and a knowing that things would never again be the same.
Caleb had a dream come true.
And we briefly hung out with long-distance family.😊
We kicked September off with a spur of the moment camping trip to one of our greatest finds; McCully Heritage Project in Kampsville with some great friends.
We took a trip to SandRidge outside of Manito for a school project on desert plant life
Isabel started dance at the YWCA
We counted down the days until we went to see Emily for Family Weekend
And we spent some more time at Banner Marsh.
October
Family weekend arrived and the littles spent their free time playing in a very cold pool. I spent time in the hotel room fighting food poisoning. Say no to small BBQ joints!
I cut down my first tree with a saw in preparation for Caleb's birthday party and built a fire pit.
Went to Youth Encounter with a fabulous group of kids.
Caleb had a camping birthday party complete with a s'mores cake.
We spent my birthday at Starved Rock. We hiked, camped, and made campfire pizzas.
My mom celebrated the month by getting a new hip!
And what October is complete without a fireman and a peacock to finish it off?
November
We began with a field trip with our co-op group to a family farm. The kids loved riding the pony, shooting BB guns, hiking, and playing with friends.
The nights may have been cool, but the days were warm, so we packed up for one final camping trip to Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Park (formerly known as site M). Nothing beats last minute camping trips with friends and bacon. Oh...And one woman up a tree cutting dead limbs.
And this cutie got glasses
We decorated nice and early this year in order to maximize the month properly.
We waited for almost 2 hours to go see the Festival of Lights and then went and found a portion we hadn't visited in years.
Christmas Eve was on a Saturday which means the weekend was especially busy, but we were able to visit Curt's Grandmother at HollyBrook in Washington.
Our year wrapped up with a relaxing trip to Branson, complete with a trip to the Sight and Sound Theater to see Moses and then a hike at the local city park.
This year taught me much. The idea that people matter more than things was reinforced, but more than that, I began to lose much of the ideas I held onto in regards to what it means to live. We have become so brainwashed by this 9 to 5 mentality that we don't even question ourselves about purpose. We train children from an early age to think about what they will grow up to become, what profession they will have or do for a job.
We never ask:
Do I have to stay in one place and become "established"?
Is success based upon my finances?
What difference do possessions make?
Is this necessary?
I began asking:
Does this make my life joyful?
Will I look back in gratitude on this moment?
Is there a law against this?
What is freedom?
What does God say?
I know this sounds like ramblings and I'm ok with that. Welcome to a moment in my head. These moments helped shape what we did this year. Curt's vision grows worse by the month. It won't be long before it is gone completely and I don't want to live with a moment of regret. It's not as if he dies when his vision is gone, but there is a part of him that will. There will be a part of us that we will have to bury, or change if you will, when the time comes.
There will no longer be those moments of, "Look at that deer!" "Did you see the sunset?"
Taking a leisurely hike through the woods or a paddle on a lake or river will become much more difficult and there is a little part of us that wonders if there will be any point.
What will life be like for us when that moment comes? I do not know. What I do know is that we have today to build memories. We have today to walk and talk about what we do see. We can watch our children while they play and laugh at their ingenuity and we can still gaze into each other's eyes and remember why we love the other person "for better or for worse."
Thank you 2016 for the memories and the lessons. If you actually read this whole blog, let me know. I'm always curious if people just click or if they click and read.
2017... I wonder what you have in store for us. No matter what it is, I will glorify God with all that I am, because He is good.
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