Looking at 2019 with Hindsight and at 2020 with Clear Vision

 

Chase, Gabe, and Jonah, Fall 2019

My plan was never to allow Jonah up on the couch...but, he won that battle with his cuteness.

 

July 2019 Beach Bums

 

Snowshoe, WV, March 2019

 

Birthday Boys (Chase-10, Gabe-7) April 2019

 
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Gabe sporting his braces with a big smile

 

Chase looks so grown in this picture (and such a handsome little guy too)!

 


Chase surfing for the first time in Frisco, NC in July 2019

 


Surprise 40th Birthday Party for Tim on 7/20/19



Happy 2020! Gabe was having a blast...Chase wasn't amused.

 
 

Chase in his basketball uniform (Team Lakers)

 

I love how the sun is shining on their face and they're embracing each other...reminds me of how God shines His bright light and love on us.

 

Breeden January Christmas 2020

 

Having fun with Sasquatch

 

Spring Soccer 2019

My 3 Favorite Guys in one of my Favorite Places (Good Winds Restaurant, July 2019)

I pray 2020 has brought you positivity so far and clear vision for an even brighter rest of the year (hopefully you got the 2020 and clear vision correlation, ha, ha). You may have noticed I didn’t post at all in 2019. In all honesty, I had debated with just discontinuing the blog all together, but then a part of me may regret that some years later...so here I am! Even if it’s just one post every other year, it’s better than none, right? I’ve had this blog going since 2008, so I suppose I can keep it around for another dozen years!

Since this is the first post for 2020, I’m listing the top 10 of our family “firsts” over the past year:

(1) We went snow tubing and skiing in Snowshoe for the first time as a family in March of 2019! The boys were both naturals at it after a day in ski school; and, surprisingly, Tim and I didn’t break our necks after having not skied for 20 years. We actually did pretty well even if we did just stick to the bunny slopes. Our trip was awesome. Although it occurred in March when spring is normally trying to rear its head, we still got a genuine dose of winter up in the mountains with fresh snow and freezing temps. We’ll be taking another ski trip this March and we’re praying we have just as great of a time as last year. The snow we just got here this week pales in comparison to what we’ll see in Snowshoe.

(2) Gabe learned how to ride his bike without training wheels with minimal crash landings. (He came in hot a few times trying to master braking.)

(3) Gabe rode the LochNess Monster rollercoaster at Busch Gardens (his first coaster with an upside down loop). We conned him into doing it once, but that was it for the season....maybe he’ll decide to brave it again this year.

(4) Chase “finally” weighed enough to zip line in Snowshoe for our summer trip. The word “finally” indicates how long Chase felt it took for him to meet the weight limit. Meanwhile, I think he’s growing too fast.

(5) Chase got suspended from school for the first (and hopefully last) time. His offense wasn’t that bad. In fact, he was really taking up for another friend and just got caught up in a riff. Even though he didn’t throw the first punch, he was still suspended for punching back, which was really just a matter of defending himself and his friend from another kid who was being unnecessarily rough and unkind during a game of basketball (kind of ironic since the school system always preaches anti-bullying and encourages kids to stand up for each other). However, since he was still guilty of getting himself involved in a physical altercation before asking an adult to intervene, the school had to follow protocol with the suspension. I didn’t fight back on the school’s decision, but I’m still proud of him for taking up for a friend.

(6)  Chase got to go surfing for the first time down in Frisco, NC. A good friend of ours gave him a few amateur lessons on his board. He may not have been able to stay up for long, but he still did it! Hang loose!

(7) Embrace the braces! Even though Tim had braces as an adolescent, his teeth still shuffled back to being misaligned during adulthood to the point where his bottom teeth were becoming uncomfortable. So, he finally treated himself to the orthodontist and is working on getting his teeth straight again. We can already tell a drastic difference. Gabe also got braces put on his top, front two teeth in November as a “first” for him.  Chase will soon need Phase 2 of braces once more of his permanent teeth grow in. Praise the Lord we have decent dental insurance and good jobs to help pay for these expenses!

(8) I ventured out to teach 2nd and 3rd grade at church this year. I also do the storytelling for all of the elementary kiddos once a month in addition to teaching my class. At first, my intent was just to be more of an assistant without having to serve every Sunday, but with Liberty Baptist’s new Smithfield campus being launched in 2019, I felt God tugging on me to do more to help fill the need for volunteers. Although it has been a big commitment, it’s been nothing short of a blessing and I love all of the kiddos I get to pour love into each Sunday morning.  I think I often get more out of teaching the lessons as they do listening to them.

(9) After 5 years of playing both spring and fall soccer, Chase and Gabe tried out rec league basketball this winter. They were humbled during their first season and realize they’re not mini Michael Jordans as they once thought they were as they would dunk on the hoop (lowered, of course) in our driveway. Chase’s team went undefeated on up until the tournament game and then they lost; meanwhile Gabe’s team only won one game their whole season.  It was fun trying out a new sport but we’re excited to get back to soccer this spring.

(10) Last but not least, we’re beyond thrilled to introduce our newest family member to you...our sweet labradoodle puppy Jonah! If you check out my Facebook page, you can read the story leading up to why and how we got Jonah in November 2019. We already love our fur baby to pieces. He is already almost half a year old weighing around 50 pounds and up to date on all of his immunizations and vet check-ups. He is an F1 labradoodle that favors the lab side way more than the poodle side. We didn’t dodge the shedding gene, but we love the fact that we won’t have to worry about getting him groomed and that he still sheds less than our old full lab. Thankfully, we survived the first few months without any major catastrophes with puppy chewing and potty training. He is energetic but still has his lazy snuggly moments. He LOVES people...and it’s impossible not to love him even when he runs off with one of our shoes in his mouth.

I can’t promise I’ll get around to more than one blog posting in 2020, but I will promise myself to keep this blog alive, regardless of the frequency of the posts. Until then, let’s make the most of 2020 and continue to count our blessings! As always, if you’ve read this far, I thank you for following along with me in another year full of adventures.