2020 Review- A Year of Firsts

 I never got around to writing an end of the year blog for 2019. I decided I had better get the 2020 blog written before it suffered the same fate. Most of the world would prefer to write 2020 off as if it never happened. Not me. It was a year that we used to build memories. 

My sister remarried several years ago and when she did, she and her husband had this mantra that stuck with me, "no regrets." That's how we have chosen to live 2020. No regrets. 

We began the year leaving Henry, IL with the last of our moveable possessions. Our home in Ely has very little storage and my folks graciously agreed to keep some of our things in storage until we can figure something else out. So, on January 2, we loaded up our dog, this small U-Haul, and the youngest three of our kids and took off for the North Land. 

Don't be fooled by the size of this U-Haul. We had moved the bulk of our things in December of 2019.

January

We jumped right into life in Northern Minnesota. The two youngest joined the Minnesota Youth Ski League (MYSL). Ski league runs through the months of January and February. Does it look cold? It should. The temps barely stayed above zero most of the days we had league, but the kids didn't care.

Of course, skiing isn't the only winter sport available in Ely. Curt took this opportunity to "Clark Griswold" an old runner sled my folks gave to us.

He and the kids had an absolute blast!

I prefer a much more quiet approach to winter. Curt had been procuring snow shoes for everyone and this became my favorite thing to do!

Not only is it quiet in the woods, but seeing animal tracks in the snow, which seemed to replenish itself overnight, is pretty cool.

Speaking of snow: 

This was a first for us! Curt likes to research ALL THE THINGS and discovered this Roof Razor which was made right here in Ely, MN. I took his word that it worked great. 😁

Winter in Ely is truly beautiful.

And Silas was enjoying being back inside with us. We sure missed him being with us constantly the last 2 years. 

Looking through my pictures from January, it would seem we were outside constantly, but of course we weren't. Living in town meant we FINALLY got to enjoy going to the library again. 

We did our best to read as many books as we could in as short of a time as possible!

February

February was pretty much more of the same. We got Silas used to going for walks on a leash.

Did some more skiing with ski league.

Got more snow.

And went for more walks.

But there were plenty of new explorations to be had. Ely is home to the Winter Festival. We went to the park to observe the opening ceremonies and the kids ended up getting to participate. 

If you've never been to Ely for the Winter Festival you're missing out. The snow sculptures are absolutely amazing!

I can barely build a snowman, so to see these works of art was mind blowing.

All this outside activity meant new traditions for us, but we wanted to keep some of our old habits as well. 

Finding a place to have hot chocolate and a sweet snack is easy to do here in Ely. The trouble is picking which place. The time of day we go makes that a little easier. Northern Grounds is the only one open in the late afternoon. 

One of the first hikes we ever took in the Ely area was to see the Kawishiwi Waterfall. Seeing it in winter was a whole new experience. 

From the photos it looks so tiny. It isn't. 

We really enjoyed snowshoeing out to the falls on the new snow, but we were still able to get some skiing in.

And we were still able to go to the library.

Isabel learned how to use a sewing machine from one of the ladies at church and made a pillow case.

Which she gave to her grandma for her birthday.

The kids made pinewood derby cars for AWANAS:

We went to our first sled dog race!

And I went on a snowshoe hike with some ladies from church out at Bearhead State Park.

March

The beginning of March looked much different than the end in many, many ways. For starters, the pandemic hoarding hadn't hit Ely yet. We still had toilet paper.

For us, life wasn't much different at the beginning of March. The world around us was in turmoil, but we just kept marching on.

I switched homeschool curriculum for 2020 and with it came new projects. Caleb's schoolwork came with recipes from around the world.

Can't beat that!

The kids had their pinewood derby race and both did well.

We got more snow

And we took a walk out to the pictographs on North Hegman. It was surreal to walk where we had just paddled months before.

If you ever come to visit us in Ely, this is one of the places we will take you. Paddling out to the pictographs is always a nice trip.

Of course, winter wasn't quite over so we did some more sledding,

Watched some gorgeous sunrises

And had some friends stop by

We kept up old traditions by trying out hot chocolate from Front Porch

Built snowmen in the never ending abundance of snow we had

And made Ely our home officially with the limited edition Ely license plates!

We still had plenty of snow so we played and hiked often, discovering new trails in the process.

But eventually the snow did start to melt away and fairly quickly. These photos were taken on March 20 and March 26.

In Illinois, winter is barely tolerated. There's a sense of life coming to a screeching halt when cold weather and snow hits. It didn't used to be that way and maybe I only feel that way because I'm older. We didn't do that the winter of 2020. We lived. we were outside constantly and the winter flew by. We made the most of the last few days of snow and prepared to embrace spring.

But before we could finish out March, the pandemic made a mark on Ely. Our governor gave a "stay at home" order and our church went fully online. This was a HUGE transition. The first Sunday Curt tried preaching to just a couple of us in the sanctuary. That was hard, so they did what needed to be done so that he could stand in his office to deliver the Sunday sermon. For many weeks it was only Curt and Chris at the church on Sundays. It was a tough time indeed. 

April

Lest you think we were completely done with snow...

We finally got to see what our back patio looked like though!

With stay at home orders in place we did what we could to pass the time. Saving the world seemed appropriate:

Our local toy store ran a special on board games and Pandemic was a hit!

Celebrating Easter with just the immediate family isn't new to us. When we lived in Carlinville it was often impossible to get together with others, but this year it felt different because we were told we couldn't get together. That was a harder pill to swallow. 

Life was a little strange. Suddenly the internet became a necessary tool to see loved ones.

And we did our best to make the most of it without too much bitterness.

April was a constant back and forth between winter holding on and spring trying to take control. There wasn't enough snow to ski or snowshoe, but it was too warm most days to really hike much (because of mud). We had to pick and choose where we went based on exposure to the sun. The more sun, the drier the ground was. Lakes began to lose much of the ice cover they had, but most of Ely was still waiting for "Ice Out" to happen on Shagawa Lake.

Kawishiwi Falls came roaring back to life:

If you ever come visit us, this is another place we will take you. 😊

With the pandemic still wreaking havoc on the world we did our best to stay busy, outside... away from everyone. One of my favorite sayings from this whole time period is, "We are in this together, but alone, or at least 6 feet apart 🙄." LOL

Our library stepped up and had things for the kids to do outside and online. Our kids made use of the church parking lot quite a bit and we ate outdoors whenever possible.

May

Gabe would be spending most of the summer down in Illinois, helping on the farm, so my mom and Emily braved traveling to come and get him. This was a HUGE highlight for us. Everyone was excited to FINALLY get to do something somewhat normal.

Apparently this is the best photo we could take 🙄

We said goodbye to the Suburban. Yes, I cried. The Suburban had been our only steady thing the last several years. It was hard to see it go, but seeing it drive around town makes my heart happy. She's been fixed up by someone that knows what he is doing and is being well used in her old age.

Our parks were not shut down by the governor's order. In fact, he encouraged everyone to go outside as much as possible, so we happily complied.

It was so good to play and see friends again.

Ice out finally occurred and everyone was excited to get a line wet. We hit as many lakes as we possibly could in a very short amount of time. May was spent hiking, fishing, paddling, and playing out in the sunshine and fresh air.

AND!!!!!!!!

I began taking piano lessons. 

One of the hardest parts to the entire pandemic was not getting to have Emily's graduation ceremony on May 16. Her day of graduation has been on our calendar since she began college. This was tough. At the time we didn't know anyone that had had Covid. It was always a vague, "my sister's boyfriend's mother's co-worker's great niece said her best friend's dad had it and almost died." Very few of us were affected by the virus other than having to stay home so it was emotionally very hard to justify not having a ceremony in a state that had very few cases on record.

But, she graduated and that was a huge accomplishment. Congratulations Moe. Super proud of you!

June

With the weather absolutely GORGEOUS we made the most of every drop of sunshine that we could. I planted my first garden in years.

And we did a ton of yard work. This was the first of what felt like 50 loads of yard debris.

The littles would be spending a couple weeks with my folks so we squeezed in as much play time as we could with them. 

And what better place to do that than at the beach?

Union University finally had a graduation ceremony and we were able to celebrate Emily and her hard work.

We dropped the kids off in Henry and Curt and I, for the first time in our entire married life, had an empty nest for a couple weeks.

We stopped by Duluth for a day

And did pretty much whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted.

My good friend, Kim, came and stayed with us for several weeks and I had someone to run around and do things with. We had the BEST time! While she was here, she decided to do something she had been wanting to do for quite awhile:

Kim, trail name Try-Try, was saved earlier in the year and she wanted Curt to baptize her. Without his call to the trail we would never have met Try Try and been able to have some pretty deep conversations about Jesus. I'm SO thankful for the role God allowed us to have in her salvation.

While she was here, we took the time to teach her other important things,

Like how to portage a canoe 😁.

But eventually, Kim had to go home and it was just Curt and me for a few more days.

July

With Curt working during the day I had lots of free time. I took the opportunity to branch out and do something I had always wanted to do. I went for a solo hike.

Now, this may sound simple, but for me it was a REALLY big deal. I have 4 children and a husband I do EVERYTHING with. I had never hiked by myself. So, I set out to do the 6 mile loop around Bass and Dry Lake. I learned I was capable of hiking alone. It began building my confidence.

Not one for being told what to do, Ely chose to have a Patriotic "March."

Sure looked like a 4th of July parade to me, but what do I know?

The annual fireworks display went on as well:

It was finally time for the kids to come home so we were able to take mom and Jerry to see the sights!

The North American Bear Center is always a great place to visit. We learn something new every time we go.

And not to be redundant, but if you come to visit us, you too can see all these amazing places!

The kids headed off to Rock Ridge Camp for a week and had an absolute blast!

They canoed, swam, rock climbed, hiked, and learned about Jesus all at the same time. Just a thought: Send your kiddos to Rock Ridge next summer and then you can hang out with us for that week. It's a win-win!

When camp was done we tried to squeeze in as much as we could of the remaining summer days. Sadly, August brings much cooler temps.

The littles came back from camp excited to show me where they had hiked. 

Our good friend, Chuck, brought the boat up that he and his brother had been restoring for Curt. Caleb was SO excited to have our "speed" boat back and we took Chuck around to all the places!

We finished July out with some relaxation in the Boundary Waters and playing with friends in the Kawishiwi River.

August

August was more of the same and before you mistake that phrase to mean boredom, let me assure you, we were anything but. Living on the edge of a wilderness allows a great amount of freedom to roam and explore. It's having a giant outdoor jungle gym at your disposal. We are only limited on what we do by our own imaginations. 

Curt and I took a quick scouting trip to find a place we could go canoe camping as a family BECAUSE...

Emily and Gabe were coming back. This would be the last time we were all together. Emily ended up having to cut her trip short so we never got to go on that camping trip, but it was sure good to have Gabe back. He was missed. 

We did get to go on a short sunset hike while Emily was with us.

We did more fishing

The littles had a lemonade stand

We hiked some more

And we did some paddling when Sherry and Tim came for a visit

Oh! I also got to go to a top secret Bear Research Center. And that's all I can say about that.

I ended the month getting ready for a super exciting adventure!

September

My friend, Tina (Smoky Mountain Angel aka U-Turn) has a goal of section hiking the entire Appalachian Trail. She had some gaps to fill in Georgia and North Carolina (mile 60ish to 120ish) and asked me if I wanted to join her. November of 2018 Curt and I had hiked up to mile 96ish before having to head home to take care of some family issues, so I was all in. I mean, who stops that close to mile 100 and doesn't come back to finish it out? So, I packed up the car and made my way south.

I LOVE hiking. I love walking in the woods. I love getting to the top of a mountain and the feeling of accomplishment that brings. Having a view is a massive perk. I hadn't been to the AT since Spring of 2019 and I was SO happy to be back.

Unfortunately, U-Turn pulled a groin muscle and had to end her hike early. I continued on to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) and then spent a day hanging out with U-Turn and her family before heading home. 

On the way home I spent a night with HOBO and his beautiful wife, Lesley, at their home in Kentucky. 

My section hike wouldn't have been possible without the help of our personal trail angel, Tommy. Curt and I met Tommy in the spring of 2018 when we were hiking with the littles. He has helped shuttle us around the Franklin area several times and it's just great getting to visit with a fellow believer. Tommy is a former IMB missionary and he can tell a pretty great story in his thick southern drawl. Thank you again, Tommy, for everything. Come see us soon!

Upon returning home I discovered fall had arrived!

I've never, in my entire life, seen colors like the ones I saw here in September. I only snapped an occasional picture because I was capturing the images mentally most of the time. Besides, my camera wouldn't have shown how incredibly breathtaking it was any way. If you have any desire to see God show off, come to Ely in September.

He's the best artist.

Suddenly, football was happening! The original plan was for football to become a spring sport, but BOOM, it was back to fall. Gabe was beyond thrilled even if he wasn't quite prepared for it.

And just like that, we were all Timberwolf fans.

But first, some more hiking.

My plan is to hike the entire Kekekabic Trail next spring. My original plan was to hike it in early October, but snow changed my mind for me.

October

How can you think poorly of any month that starts out looking like this?

October found us to be busy, busy, busy. How can a person be busy in the middle of a pandemic? I have no idea, but we managed it. 

We joined our local homeschool co-op and we began meeting this month, jumping right in with a lesson on rockets. 

Curt's folks came to visit us and for some reason I didn't get a single picture of all of us together. I actually did a pretty poor job of getting pictures whenever anyone came to visit. I need to work on this for 2021.

We did take a trip up to Voyageur's National Park and got a picture of Caleb with a really tall man.

Gabe has some interest in possibly going into teaching, so I tasked him with doing some of Isabel's history lessons. He was pretty eager to teach Isabel all about Teddy Roosevelt and his New Deal.

The rest of October was pretty much this:

It was good getting to watch Gabe do something he'd been wanting to do for years. I'm so thankful Minnesota allows homeschooled kids to participate in sports.

Oh... It snowed. Did I mention that?

I had one of the best birthdays that I can ever remember. Again, I didn't take many pictures, but our homegroup had this surprise for me.

I had lunch with friends the day before and a relaxing day with family the day of. Just a good, good day.

Just in case we thought the snow was a complete fluke, the kids got their skis for ski league.

We had some more gorgeous sunsets. 

And Halloween was a huge hit with a stupid amount of candy that, as of December 15, still isn't gone. 

Thank you Ely for doing everything you can to make life as normal as possible for the kids. 

November

I can sum up my November with these pictures:

I was doing everything I could to get back on track. I've noticed a severe change in my strength and mobility and I was desperate to get it back. Unfortunately, our gyms were all shut down by the end of the month and that's all I have to say about that.

Football season came to a close. After 6 games (5 regular season and 1 post), the Timberwolves ended 3-3. Not bad for 2 weeks notice.

Oh... this happened, too

The testosterone half of our family was excited for this:

But not as much about this:

As Thanksgiving drew near we had a feast at co-op, which Isabel was in charge of planning:

And we were going home for Thanksgiving...

Until everything got shut down again. So, we made the best of it and tried to make everything as "normal" as we could. 

It was a good day. Did we miss family? Like crazy, but it is what it is.

The hardest part about not going home was Gabe missing out on celebrating his 18th birthday with everyone. I can NOT believe he is 18 years old!

Seriously, do we live in a beautiful place or what?

December

As I sit here typing this blog, it is the 15th. Only half the month is gone, but it feels like so much more. Our month has been jam packed. 

Wild Ice only occurs every great once in awhile. Wild Ice is when the lakes freeze and there isn't a significant snow fall for a period of time. Generally the lakes freeze while there is snow, creating a hard packed snow surface with ice underneath. Not this year. We've had a time period of no snow and many of our clear lakes have frozen over without snow to hinder the surface. The result?

Days and days of ice skating. Most of the ice we have been skating on is a minimum of 4-5 inches thick. Lately, the ice is 8 inches. The most impressive part is the sound the lakes make when they are freezing. It's this strange mix of groaning and popping. It's absolutely eerie and beautiful, all at the same time.

The littles have taken to ice skating like they have everything else. I haven't put skates on, falling is not something I enjoy doing, and Gabe and Curt can't get skates to fit their wide feet. We are hoping to find some used skates for them.

But skating isn't the only thing we've been doing. 

Fondue EVERYTHING was on the menu one night. And OH MY GOODNESS!!! It was delicious!

So, this was a first for me... Did you know you can't burn a hole through the ice? As the coals from the fire hit the ice, the ice melts, putting out the fire. Pretty cool thing to watch.

A friend called me up one day and asked if I wanted to try Fat Biking. Why not? Let me tell ya... It is harder than you may think. And bumpier. In fact, I had a pretty good bounce going most of the ride and my rear end did not like me for it at all. lol. But it was a fun new experience and I hope to do it again soon!

I can't even count up the number of firsts we had this year. I know I missed several simply because I didn't take pictures, which is how I jog my memory for this blog. 

We've been invited more places than I've ever been invited to before. We've had supper/lunch/breakfast with more people than we've ever had before. We've been busier than we've ever been before. It has been one of the best years of my life while being one of the toughest as well. But I think that's life. There's good, there's bad, there's meh, but in the end we remember what we have chosen to focus on. I'm choosing to remember these things this year. 2020, you may have dished out some pretty stinky things, but I'm going to sit over here and smell all the roses you handed out, too. 

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year from the Ely Eberts. Come see us in 2021!