2019!: Another Year Flies By
This year has been a year of amazing experiences; I don't know how to share them all (especially since updating the blog has been a total fail this year).
Later in the month, we flew to San Antonio where Steven was working for two weeks. Seth and Amy went too, which almost made it feel like a family vacation, except that the three of them were working most days. You can read about those adventures (including my terrifying public bus experience) here.
We did a considerable amount of traveling this year, but squeezed almost all of it into the first 8 weeks of the year! In January we spent a night and a day in NY and crossed "attend a taping of a show" off my bucket list when we saw Colbert on the The Late Show.
We only had a few hours, but it was cold so we walked fast and got to see parts of Central Park, an old church that was probably significant, Times Square, and Rockefeller Plaza. And of course we ate lots of yummy food including infamous NY bagels and the free pizza we got while waiting in line for the show!
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| Central Park with our traveling buddies, Seth + Amy (Steven's brother and sister-in-law) |
Later in the month, we flew to San Antonio where Steven was working for two weeks. Seth and Amy went too, which almost made it feel like a family vacation, except that the three of them were working most days. You can read about those adventures (including my terrifying public bus experience) here.
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| at the Alamo on Ellie's 5th birthday, we got to make corn husk dolls and watch a Rodeo parade |
We got home from TX and had 3 days to unpack and repack for our big trip to Morocco! If you invited me on two big, back-to-back trips with my 3 small kids today, I don't know that I would say yes, but at the time it didn't feel like THAT big of a deal. We made some great memories and I'm glad we were able to do so much.
The kids did a great job on all the flights - it helped that one or two of them were sick on each flight causing them to just sleep. It also helped having our travel buddies with us to help carry extra things and small people. We loved getting a peek into Susanna and John's life (Steven's sister and brother-in-law who live there) as well as exploring a new country and culture. You can see more pictures and read more details about the trip in this post.
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| Ellie loved all the auntie time. Lucy was pretty sick and needed to be carried everywhere we went. Here we are boarding the bullet train to Tangier which was a highlight of the trip. |
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| daddy daughter beach date on a stormy day while everyone else rested at home |
We love visiting new places, but my favorite part is always coming home. On the way home from Morocco (in the airport in Paris, to be exact), Steven and I began the process of becoming hosts for families of asylum-seekers who had been separated at our Southern Border. It may seem like poor timing since we had just been traveling for 3 weeks, but I think that was part of what made it seem doable--our kids were now used to sharing 1 bedroom, we were in a flexible state of mind (as one must be to survive travel with small children), and we had newly experienced life in a foreign country which gave us an extra ounce of compassion. We had been bothered by our government's response to the refugee crisis for months and were relieved to find a tangible way to help.
In April, after almost 2 months of being prepared to go to the airport any day, Pancho (name changed for privacy) was finally released to come stay with us. In June, his wife and daughter were able to join us as well. In August, they moved out of our house and into an apartment in a nearby town that has a large Hispanic population. Hosting was uncomfortable and beautiful and frustrating and helpful at the same time. Along with lots of new Spanish words and phrases, we learned that apples can get stuck in your esophagus and need to be removed via a scope in the ER, that many Hispanics believe Vaseline has magical powers, and that radishes do NOT taste good in everything. A few days ago, Ellie told me she wished Pancho would move back in with us. I don't feel quite as warm and fuzzy about that idea, but I'm thankful that she does and I'm both proud and humbled to have had the opportunity to see this family reunited. Read more about this experience here.
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| they got a kick out of riding Messiah Lifeway's shuttle for free but scolded me that I should be living with my grandparents to take care of them. |
We enjoyed all the Millers being in the same corner of the world for a brief time this summer and were so happy to welcome our kids' first cousins!
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| totally smitten. this lead to much begging for another baby of our own (she's getting her wish) |
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| airport run :) |
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| cousin #2 just a few days old! |
This fall, Steven and I got to spend a day at Niagra after chauffeuring my grandparents to their sibling reunion in NY. We even escaped to Canada for a few hours and noted how much nicer the Canadians are. It was the perfect little getaway before we go back to being attached to an infant at all times. Our travel buddies did not join us for this one, but they did stay with our kiddos! <3
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| pre-barfing on our crazy whirlpool jet boat tour. they may allow you to ride while pregnant, but it doesn't mean that you should. |
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| Sunrise over Rainbow bridge from the Canadian side |
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| Ellie has been my personal midwife this pregnancy. She attends many appointments with me and asks me to read her all the literature about pregnancy and birth that she can get her hands on. When she heard how long of a drive we were taking, she made sure to remind me that it is not recommended to sit for longer than 2 hours. Not convinced that I would take this recommendation seriously, she wrote up a reminder and demanded I keep it with me in the car at all times. |
One more fun thing we got to do this year was visit Hershey Park. We had realized earlier this year that all of our kids were old enough to enjoy the kiddie rides, but that if we didn't go this year, it would be another 2 years before spending a day at an amusement park sounded worth doing. When a loyal coffee shop customer offered us her extra tickets, we jumped at the chance! It was a total blast.
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| Oswald's ride of choice |
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| mini excursion to Zoo America was well worth it |
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| This was another favorite. They were riding it as the Christmas lights turned on. |
Now you've heard about the highlights of our year, but I thought I would include a list of typical activities in case you don't know about our day-to-day
- walks to nearby parks and the library
- weekly dinner and games with Jolly
- church services, events and leadership meetings (we serve as chair of the deacon board)
- homeschooling (but we're so laid back you can hardly tell we're doing any schooling)
- making Daddy include us in his work whenever possible (pictured)
We're looking forward to adding another small person to our family in the first weeks of the New Year and are so thankful to Oswald for giving us two months off from diaper duty to rest up! I'm not looking forward to the grogginess of the first year, but I'm confident that Our God will supply all our needs. Thanks for being interested in our lives! Much peace to you and yours in 2020.
Last year's post (in case you want to look back)
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