2023's Greatest Hits

This has been a hard year. That makes it hard to write any of the things most people write in their Christmas letters like "we had a blessed year" and "God is so good to us". Those things are very true, even truer after a hard year. That doesn't make it a bad year, just a year--we enjoyed many good things. But after a hard year it feels disengenuous to brag about all of the accomplishments and highlights without acknowledging the difficulties. So here is an attempt at a yearly update that isn't depressing but is still realistic. Becuase that's where I'm trying to live my life right now.

Life on our little acerage is full of messes and magic. We had some kittens born and are up to 4 who hang around the property (and hopefully no more). Our dumb dog Diesel is always up to mischief but he keeps the critters away and tries to protect the house, so we keep him around. I kind of enjoy having an enthusiastic greeting every single time I drive into the garage.
There are always chicken dramas being played out in the hen house. Daniel spends as much of his spare time as he can working on tractor projects, chopping wood, and using the tractor he spends time fixing up and improving. The girls all enjoy outside time, exploring the woods and running free and wild.

In January, we took a quick weekend trip to Chicago and went to Medieval Times with the kids who hadn't ever been there before. We'd been studying middle ages in school so the timing was good. We showed them some of the downtown sites and watched "Adventures in Babysitting" which takes place in Chicago. 

In Feburary Jayna and I attended a Bright Lights conference for moms and daughters at the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. We got to stay with good friends who live in Cincinatti, and learned about speaking truth to your heart. Jayna enjoyed seeing the replica of Noah's ark and took lots of pictures.

In March I attended a homeschooling conference with some of my other mom friends who homeschool (and one who doesn't but just likes to come with us). Speaking of homeschooling, for those interested, we are still at it. Stacy and Lois are still in Classical Conversations and I enjoy having a community of friends who are doing the same stuff as us. We get to do a lot of exploring and reading about subjects we find interesting, and the girls are learning a lot of useful and not useful things about history, science, music, art and everything in between.
Arlene has transitioned to more online classes and will be taking some high school classes at the public high school as well. She still isn't sure about her plans for the future, but being a pilot is one of her serious options. Jayna is still exploring all of her potential while we try to find the best ways to educate her with what she likes and needs to get her to her career goals.

Which takes us to April, when we wrapped up our year at Classical Conversations. For a special treat, I got pied in the face. the kids in our Essentials class which teaches grammar and math, had an insentive to be the ones who practiced copying charts the most. Whoever got the highest amount could put a pie in the face of the mom of their choice. Having spent the spring being a goof ball with some sixth grade girls, and having tutored a class of 4th graders, I was the logical choice. I don't really hope to repeat that experience but it was funny and I love those students a lot.
Jayna participated in the musical State Fair with the homeschool assistance program, something she very much enjoyed. She was a pickle judge. we also got to see some of the fruits of a year with a new piano teacher for Arlene. She still loves playing and has flourished with an instructor who has honed in on technical details, music theory, and self-teaching. 

In May Daniel got to experience a career highlight. His team of engineers took a three-week trip to Alaska to demonstrate their radio to the military at a giant military thing. His job is technical and I never have any idea what he actuall does. It was a successful and rewarding trip but full of work, work, work. He and his team stayed together at a mansion in the mountains and spent every waking hour together. Thankfully they get along pretty well, and did manage to squeeze in a couple of sight-seeing things whle there. Of course Denali was on the top of the list.
My friend from college, Meagan, came to visit during that three weeks, a nice break in the three weeks of single parenting for me. We only see each other once a year at most, so we filled up the time getting the garden ready, eating tasty food, and exploring some unique spots in Cedar Rapids.
May also held some very hard moments for me personally as the youth pastor I've served with for five years lost his position. That involved a lot of heartbreak for a lot of people I care very much for, including myself. Then helping a friend in crisis took up the second part of the month, as well as a family emergency that hospitalized a sister-in-law and three of her children.

Meagan and me at the Noleridge Greenhouse

The happy reunion

 After crazy May settled, we decided to take a family vacation in June. We'd been thinking Colorado, but when the forcast was rain for the whole week, we switched plans and drove south to Tennessee and stayed in the Great Smoky Mountains at a cabin. We enjoyed hikes to waterfalls and exploring the culture of that region. A fun story from that trip: I left my purse at a Waffle House on the trip down, and spent the whole week trying to call them and locate my purse but they were not answering the phones. Checking the credit card useage and finding no charges, I just decided to leave that in the hands of God and enjoy the vacation time instead of cancelling every card. We swung back through Kentucky waffle house on the way home and, praise be, the waitor there had immediately seen my purse and locked it up. He said he'd tried to find me on facebook and attempted to find any contact info but couldn't, so he just kept it. They recognized me the minute I came in. What a gift to have strangers who chose to be the good in the world.

We spent the summer doing summery things like youth group trips, camp, and hanging out at the parks and pools. Despite a drought we had a bumper crop of wild berries, so I canned several batches of jam. (among other things like tomato sauce and green beans). This is a recent endeavor of mine that expands every year.
We attended four weddings, one for our babysitter who Stacy is named after, and one for our nephew, the first of their generation to tie the knot. The other two weddings were for family friends, who happened to be cousins of Stacey the babysitter. 

At home with a therapy pet in the hospital

August was extra full with preparing for school. I took a trip to Atlanta to visit my sister and had a great time relaxing while she and her husband did all of the cooking, cleaning, planning and driving. I got to see the Gone with the Wind Museum, hike through a woods where some Avengers movies were filmed, and take in the sights and sounds of Atlanta.
Stacy decided to get baptized which was a wonderful milestone for her. 
At the end of August Jayna underwent surgery #15 for her burn injury. This time they were releasing some of her tight skin to allow better growth and development. She had a second surgery four weeks later in September, a skin graft to cover the open areas that had released. She spent most of those two months focusing on healing, and I spent most of them caring for her. With physical therapy, she's gained almost all of her mobility back, something that hasn't been the case since her original injury. She handled all of that with grit and bravery, as she always has. She honestly didn't complain about the inconveniences of it or try to make anyone feel sorry for her. She just powered through and did everything she needed to. That girl knows her way around a hospital room and almost has a different personality when she's among the caregivers of the medical world. She's planning to be a child life specialist and work at a hospital some day.

In October we enjoyed another piano recital for Arlene, after which Stacy and Lois decided they also wanted to take piano lessons. For Fall Fest at church, we went as brand mascots, except Stacy who wanted to be a cat. Jayna was Blue Bonnet, Lois was Sun Maid, and I was Little Debbie, which I'm pretty sure is a costume that will never be topped. It was annoying that so many people thought I was there to hand out snacks, though...

In November I took a random trip with two of the homeschool moms to Chicago to see Hamilton and go to the Field Museum. that was a highlight of the year for me. We got in lots of good memories and conversations. Even though I wouldn't call myself a Hamilton fan, I very much enjoy live theater and soaked in every second of it.

December filled up with the usual December things, and here we are, the last week of the year, reflecting and relaxing. Looking forward to a better year in 2024, just as we always do. Hope is a beautiful thing that keeps us moving through hard times and huge transitions. We're always hopeful of better times ahead. We studied Revelation in church this fall, which established a hope of the future, of a time when there won't be big let-downs and needs for surgeries and failed attemps at teaching and learning. We're hopeful of the days when Jesus returns and makes "everything sad untrue" as the hobbit likes to say. Until then, we rely on our faith to take us through and give us the consolation and fortitude to continue. Blessings to each of you who took the time to read this long letter. I'm more thankful than ever for friends who show up and pray and care, and friends who stick around year after year. Happy New Year and may it be everything we hope for--and more.