Reflections of 2019

The year 2019 was an eventful one indeed.  We were blessed with so many riches and have much to be thankful for as we reflect on it at this time of year.  I love how we end each year with the remembrance of a birth for which is the reason for all our thankfulness.  What Joy can be found in that even though we may at times suffer trials, or memories of lost loved ones.  That birth was Joyful, but  also came with the knowledge that a lot of suffering and pain would be endured and conquered.

As I'm sitting here reflecting on these things I'll share our stories in picture format with you of the overview of our past year.

January

   

2019 Started off with a Great Big Splash in California

Some lovely Great-Aunt letting us play her Grand Piano

Hiking in Indian Canyon and finding the Oasis

Building the BEST pillow fort EVER!!!!  

Meanwhile back in our land and home for the year we do some fun things around this town as well!

Dressed in our gear at the Agriculture Show.  These kids in their company swag wearing it proudly advertising everywhere they go.

The blur in this photo is our daughter playing her favourite sport....Basketball

We even got some snow and this year permission to try out our new hillside in the backyard....once there real snow piled on it was much better....except for the fact that you can almost land up in the neighbours property if you don't stop in time.

February

The Mr and I headed out to Vancouver on an amazingly beautiful day along with his parents and brother and his wife.  We oohed and awed over a lot of fancy boats. 

Meanwhile I have been in University attempting to finish off the year strong.  While I was there I also discovered my new found love of drawing and of course I've always been a fidgeter and this play dough creation was made during one of my classes.... Maybe one day I'll take a drawing class, but for now the Internet is my art teacher!

Family Day in BC we took these kiddos Grandmother along on a hike up in the snow.  I just love that we can do this with her!  I hope my kids know how special it is to do these sorts of things with Grandparents!

We also had some special visitors at our table in February....although it may be the last time that this will happen.... as our niece who lived in BC moved back closer to "home" in Alberta.  We miss having her around, but understand that life moves and changes and we know she is happy in her new place!  But DON'T ever think you are not welcome to come visit.  We will take you in anytime you need a good dose of BC!

March

Before you know it March rolled in....since I was still in University and had classes and my children did not have school one random day their Dad and Aunt took them to the slopes to ski.  Wish I could've come, but also glad they had a great day out on the slopes.

This is often my reaction when I am around these three guys....in fact the other night I was tearried eyed from laughing so hard my sister-in-law had to pass the tissues.

Anyways we are supporting my one brothers school that he is a principal of!  It was a good experience to see what this community looks like for him and to come out and have some good laughs.

There was a local event in our community that we attended.  Our little guy had a hoot trying out all sorts of tumbles in the gymnastic zone and our daughter got to try her hand at a different form of basketball.

Of course often times in March it means that there are these really long school breaks....except for those in University.  March means big assignments coming up soon!  Thankful to my in-laws who took all of our kiddos so I could sit down behind my computer and finish up my assignments.  Since they did that for me I managed to do very well on all of them!   I also powerhouses through them as it was super quiet in the house, so the Mr. and I snuck away with our bikes one evening and took the craziest path I have ever been on....ok for my cross-over bike.  That trail I'm on was intense and I was pretty sure I was going over a cliff at some point, but I made it without a scratch!

From snowy cold conditions, to T-shirt and short weather my sister and niece came to visit us during our second half of spring break!  Although my children never want them to leave once they arrive we always look forward to our next visit!

Can you see what is in this guys hands?  Our local car dealership put on an Easter egg hunt for the kids.....it was crazy what the kids came home with.

In March the University I attended also has an Open House in its Trades department.  There were a lot of hands on activities like how to build an electrical panel, or how to paint a car.  It was a fun experience and great to share some University experience with the kids.

April

The first parts of the Month were a little "quiet" which was good for me as exam season was coming. Then when that was over we were blessed with a new little nephew, who is super adorable! 

Then we had a little guy celebrate his birthday Beyblade/Lego style.  He isn't so little anymore....but we enjoy his sense of humour and lots of hugs from him.

Meanwhile I had completed my program at University and I think my husband was excited to have his wife "back".   We took a trip down south to celebrate this achievement.

The Grand Canyon

The words I still cannot give, but if you are thinking of exploring this I highly recommend it.  

Sitting in awe

The Grand Canyon at that time of year is not that warm, so we headed into Phoenix to warm up a little more before heading home.  We took this hike to overlook the desert.  It was unusually green and full of flowers when we came.

This was our home away from home.... 

May

Hanging out with cousins.

Performing at School Sports Day

Celebrating the wins

Cruising and exploring Seattle with a great friend as we celebrate a "big" birthday.

Showering my niece for her upcoming wedding.

Extended family camping.  Beach time, hiking, biking and lots of laughter.

Found some other friends camping too!

June

Celebrating a birthday with some special guests.

A quad school competition....getting ready to race.

Celebrating birthdays with these two and all the girls in their grade....what a party!

The day I walked the graduation stage!

Watching this guy walk the graduation stage

Cheering on this guy who also walked the graduation stage

Celebrating this guys walk across the stage.

Meanwhile this guy learnt his lines to his play super well!

These two frousins got ready together but walked down different graduation stages

So many celebrations in June!

July/August 

Family Camping....including hanging out with cousins big and small, petting a deer, kayaking, swimming, playing games, sitting around the fire making a lot of new memories.

This beautiful niece is now married and so we gained a fantastic new nephew.

Siblings photo at the wedding!

Family weddings means guests!!! Woohoo summer time fun with cousins and sister who moved in for a while!

Our "little" family camping trip from home around Whistler and other locations was a great time!  I think my highlight was visiting the train wreck near Whistler.  It's an easy hike and fun to explore around.  The last destination was the Abbotsford International Airshow.

Sent a few kids off to Stepping Stones Bible Camp this summer.  They love camp and grow in their faith when they are there.

Summer involved a lot of woodworking.  Different levels of projects, but the imaginations are the best!

September

Spoiled with a trip to Sunpeaks.  Racing downhill, dinner, pool time and relaxation were all a great way to sneak away from my new job!

September was a big adjustment with the balance of family life and being a full time Mom for the first time.  We are still figuring out the right balance and I'm sure it will be a little longer before we all feel settled in to this new lifestyle.  This Christmas/New Years celebration break was a very warm welcome when it came!

Awe in September we had to say good-bye to this little cutie....his family moved across the country for better opportunities.  Oh how we miss them all.....hopefully we get to see them one day again.

September wasn't just full of back to school routines but we also got to watch our daughter play in after school sports and it was fun.... crazy trying to arrange all our schedules, but it worked out!

There was also cross-country sports schedule to work around.  This guy got to try it for the first time and loved it!  His sister also continued racing this year and grew stronger in each race.

October

Somewhere under this beast of a machine that actually can be airborne is the rest of my family.  We had a great time exploring around aircraft and talking to pilots at this free local event.  We did not jump on a helicopter ride this year, but enjoyed all the other activities.

like practicing our welding skills.

Pressing all sorts of buttons or wanting to in the pilot/co pilot seat.

We also explored planes at Langley Flight Museum thanks to one of our kids for winning tickets back at the airshow in the summer.  

October was the celebration of our anniversary.  Thankful for a great photographer for snapping these photos of our family.  I am eagerly awaiting some canvas prints to be hung up in our home!

Pretty much the person who can get me to laugh the most!  He also holds me up when I feel like I am falling.  You can read our anniversary post here.

In our celebrations we journeyed back to Whistler for the second time in the year.  This time we did some different things.

 Like Spas, hikes and stopping for good coffee!


Dressing up for treats.....the octopus often received double for creativity of her costume.


D's work treated us to a day out to the corn maze!

November

Birthday for someone.....spending it with extended family is the best!!!

Baking cookies with cousins is so much fun!

Shorts, guitars as cello's....yup all in November!

Mastering knitting and making cool school projects!

December

Kids (Family) Christmas Sponsored by Anser!

Celebrating someones birthday at Glow this year!

Ready for another Christmas party

Family Christmas Party.....probably the last time my family will let me surprise them with a game.  haha see there intense faces as they played and competed against each other.  Love you guys, thanks for participating.

Our local police invited kids to come and talk to them at a local funpark.  They gave every kid a small gift card to play a few games and I treated the kids to some bumper cars....a great way to start off our Christmas break.

Getting mail from our previous renters......it was very exciting !!!

Our "small" family Christmas gathering.

Don't worry they eventually all became happy.

Playing music to end of the year!!!

So it officially took me like 5 attempts to finish this post.  As I look back its no wonder it took me that long to put in summary our year.  What a year indeed!  These are only the good memories and I hope you don't begin to think that we never lived through any tough days, we did.  But the thankfulness outweighs many things in our lives.  We hope and pray as a family that our friends and family are Blessed in the year and new decade of 2020.  Even if we do not know what tomorrow holds, we know who holds tomorrow.

Sending our Love......and if you ever want to stop by we will open our door for you, but you may have to step over the messes!