Farewell 2019

2019 has come to an end!  To finish off the year, I'm going to post the rest of our family pictures from our Bear Lake family reunion this summer.  I'm realizing that I never posted them back then and since that's what we used for our Christmas card this year, it's seems especially apropos to add our newsletter to the post as well!

Since we didn't send out a card last year, I'm assuming everyone has forgotten who we are.  Here's a brief snapshot to jog your memory:

Ethan (16) -- living that Sonic back-of-the-house life while also keeping up his grades, going to early morning seminary, creating peace at home, overusing the word "allegedly," and basically burning the candle at both ends.

(UPDATE note -- he has since quit his job at Sonic and has spent much of his holiday break convincing the rest of us [or at least me] to participate in an ACT off with him.  You know, like a dance off, but with the ACT instead.  Hahahaha.)

Grace (15) -- living her best high school freshman life, spending several hours each day socializing each day.  She continues to be the Tom Sawyer of the family as well as the Pied Piper of Hamlin and is the epitome of "work smarter, not harder."  She also makes life a whole lot more fun.

Sophie (12) -- living that preteen, dance team, yearbook life with sparkle and pizzaz.  Some of her favorite activities include: singing loudly, dancing, hanging out with friends, and remembering she has homework at 10 o'clock at night.

Jane (10) -- living that tweenager, TikTok dancing, velvet scrunchie wearing life.  Our resident empath feels her feelings deeply and slays us on the regular with her talented impersonations and expressive facial expressions.

Alex (8) -- living that LEGO obsessed, Diary of a Wimpy Kid reading life.  His fear of natural disasters has ironically led him to the "I Survived..." series, where he has now survived the Joplin Tornado of 2011, the Great Chicago Fire, and the Great Molasses Flood (aka The Boston Molassacre).

Isaac (4) -- living his BEST life 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  Turkey-turkey sandwiches, Roblox, sneaking on screens, snuggling with Mom, and Hot Wheels make his world go 'round.

(UPDATE note -- apparently Hot Wheels were a passing phase.  And while he still sneaks on screens aplenty, he is also very fond of browbeating me into making "deals" with him where he gets to play on my phone and I get...? Nothing really.  Hahahaha.)

Scott (age is just a number) -- living that HR dream life.  His special talents include doing lots and lots of dishes, humoring his wife, and playing a mean game of Bananagrams.  In his spare time, he continues to root for the Detroit Lions (along with all other Detroit sports teams), Michigan football, and BYU.

Jessica (I'm not 40 yet) -- living that blogging, 40-before-40 goal achieving, wannabe runner life.  Finding humor amidst chaos continues to be her greatest talent.  She's also really good at tuning out the world while reading.  And writing Christmas cards.  

We hope this season finds you happy and well.

Much love and Merry Christmas!!!

And that's a wrap on 2019 -- So long, farewell!!

Holiday High

What a Christmas break we've been having!  Hundreds of pictures have been taken, lots of stuff has been happening, and many a dream has come true.  And you know what?  I'm just going to capture it all right here!  This may be the longest, most tedious blog post ever, but with a new year just around the corner, the pressure is on to just finish out the year on the blog.  {After all, we have to have everything there when I print out 2019's Blog Book.}

I almost don't even know where to start.  But as Fraulein Maria would say, let's just start at the very beginning.  (A very good place to start.)  I now present a carefully curated, bullet-pointed list of the highlights of the season:

• Isaac performed

Way back at the beginning of the month, Isaac's preschool put on their annual Christmas program and it was adorable as usual.  This year I had an extra special guest with me in the form of Grace who had a dentist appointment right before Isaac's performance that morning and wanted to tag along for the show.  It's so funny to see how big a difference one year makes in the life of a preschooler -- as in, Isaac actually sang along with the rest of his class this year!  Hahaha.  I could tell he was quite pleased and proud of himself as well as genuinely excited to be up on stage and part of the show.

(We finished off the performance with a "Happy Birthday, Jesus!" party.)

• Gingerbread houses were decorated

When a friend asked if we'd like to join them and a few other families to decorate gingerbread houses last weekend, I quickly jumped at the chance!  One less thing for me to be in charge of at home with our kids sounded like a good idea to me.  Hahahaha.  I actually really love decorating gingerbread houses, but it's such a lot of work to make said houses and procure a good assortment of candy and treats to decorate with.  Needless to say, I was quite happy to just show up (with a ton of candy, of course, and the royal icing in tow) and have fun with friends.

(I just can't with that "cheese!" smile. 😂)

(Get ready for a lot of animations in this post -- I just love them!  Hahahaha.)

• Music was played

I don't know that I have a good enough picture to represent our Christmas music this season, but it's such a big part of what makes the season special for me that I can't not have it represented.  :)  Granted, I've been listening to Christmas music regularly since Halloween ended, but I was excited to add some more piano sheet music to the mix this year along with my "Christmas Time is Here" playlist on Amazon.  Hahaha.

• Jolabokaflod made it's second annual appearance

My new favorite tradition was just as fun this time around as it was last year.  As a refresher (in case no one knows what the heck I'm talking about), Jolabokaflod is an Icelandic Christmas Eve tradition where everyone exchanges books and then spends the rest of the night reading.  And eating chocolate, according to at least one source we found.  I can't thing of a more amazing tradition than that!  Haha.  The way it works in our house is that I choose a book for everyone else and everyone else chooses a book for me.  Hahahahaha.  So, yes.  That means I came away with a haul of 7 new books on Christmas Eve.  :)  It was marvelous.

(Sophie started leaving me hints about the book she picked out for me a few days before Jolabokaflod.)

(I got Scott a new crossword puzzle book.)

(Jane got a graphic novel remake of Baby-Sitters Little Sister.)

 (Isaac got a Mary Engelbreit Mother Goose board book.)

(I went a little unconventional for Grace -- because I know she's not going to read an actual book these days -- and got her a "Wreck this Journal," which I knew would be right up her alley.)

(Ethan -- aka "Flu Boy" -- came down with the flu on the Sunday before Christmas.  It was rough.  But thankfully the poor little lamb was feeling okay enough by Christmas Eve and Day.)

(For Ethan's book, I went with a throwback -- the Guinness Book of World Records.  When he was younger, this is the book I'd get him every year.)

(Next up was "Shouting at the Rain" -- the newest novel from the author of one of Sophie's favorite books, "Fish in a Tree.")

(And getting the newest Dog Man book -- "Fetch 22" --for Alex was a no brainer.)

(And MY haul!! Ethan got me "Just Mercy;" Grace, "Bossypants;" Sophie, Taylor Swift's "Lover" album piano music; Jane, "The War That Saved My Life;" Alex, "The Tattooist of Auschwitz;" Isaac "The Ten Thousand Doors of January" -- which he apparently picked out all by himself with no help, based on the cover alone, I'm assuming; and Scott, "The Great Alone."   I read "The War That Saved My Life a couple of nights ago and LOVED it and I'm super excited to read the rest of them!) 

• Christmas morning (and Eve) delivered

As Grace declared on Christmas Eve after we opened the family Christmas presents (another one of our traditions), "mom likes to exceed expectations."  Hahahaha.  Nothing could be more true.  :) My absolute favorite thing about playing Santa is finding the exact perfect gift(s) that I know the kids will LOVE.  And I think I did a pretty good job this time around.  {As per usual.}  ;)

Spoiler alert -- this was the year of LEGO for Alex.

Ethan won the prize for largest present this year.  He's been using the same desk in his room that he got for Christmas in 2009, so we thought it was time for an upgrade.  Hahaha.)

This Luigi Mariokart remote control car was the biggest hit of the morning for Isaac!

That's an alarm clock she's opening there -- I'm hoping it helps her to get up in the morning without Ethan having to wake her up.  Hahaha.

An Instax camera was Jane's piece de resistance!

And for like the third year in a row, Sophie got a pair of shoes she really wanted as one of her 3 gifts. This year's must have item was a pair of Air Force Ones. 

I exceeded Grace's expectations here and got her the AirPods she really wanted but didn't think she'd actually get. 

"Yes!"  

(A reenactment from several years ago when she opened a Kindle Fire that she really wanted but wasn't expecting to actually get.)

He was actually really excited and happy about the new desk.  And putting it all together was half the fun.  Hahaha.

Isaac picked Jane's name for stocking stuffers...

Alex picked Isaac...

Jane picked Grace...

Ethan and Sophie picked each other's names...

And Grace picked Alex.

He couldn't wait to put together that jet from "Spiderman: Far From Home."

Jane's "hypnograph" is pretty cool in theory, but it was a PAIN trying to figure out how to put it together and use it.

• Lights were seen

It took us a while to finally get around to seeing the lights on the town square, but the four older kids and myself rectified that on Christmas night by taking a drive downtown and then walking around the square for a bit.  It was quite crowded, but I'm still glad we went to see them.

Here's Grace doing a spot on impression of Isaac's "smile" for pictures these days.

• Dreams came true

And now we get to the best part.  When my sister-in-law, Kristin, texted me last month to say that Hamilton would be playing in Indianapolis while we would be visiting over Christmas break, it was a no-brainer to buy some tickets.  Scott may have been the first in the family to recognize the genius that is Hamilton, but I like to think I'm pretty good at obsessing over things myself.  Hahahaha.  {And that's an understatement.}  It's been almost 4 years now since we first got the soundtrack and obsessively obsessed over it, and I've been wishing and hoping to see the musical ever since.  Once Kristin told me that she was going to get Hannah a ticket for her Christmas present, I knew we had to include Ethan, Grace, and Sophie in our plans as well.  And guys.  It was amazing.  I think I was already emotional when the production started, but in the end I had tears running down my cheeks through most of the second act.  Having the soundtrack practically memorized, I knew the storyline, but seeing it on stage with the lights and the costumes and the performers -- it was the most awe-inspiring production I've ever seen in person.  Scott and the kids loved it as well, and now I'm just trying to figure out how, when, and where I can see it again.  ;)

(I know we took a million pictures, but this was a once in a lifetime experience -- how could we not???)

• Life is good

And here we are!  On the cusp of a new year and a new decade.  We're still with family and we're all having the time of our lives.  Well, minus the sleep terrorism that is sharing a room with Isaac.  Hahaha.  Seriously.  He's the worst.  But as I was reflecting on the year last night, I recognize how much I have to be grateful for as everything is coming to an end.  The beginning of the year was a bit rocky for me personally, but over the course of the last few months I'm happy to say that I'm in a really good place!  And I'm so grateful to be ending the year on a high.  :)