December 2019

 December went by like a blur, as always, but it was really fun because we got to have Matt and Jessica's family come stay with us and we got to go to Utah right after that. SO wonderful to spend time with both sides of the family during that great break. 

We had everyone from the Bowen clan there except Dwight and Trisha. Even though Trish and Derek are divorced, I still absolutely feel like Trish is a part of our family.

All the pictures are out of order, but here Corban and Luke are playing with play doh. 

This is how the house looked after Santa came to leave presents. Such an exciting, magical time. 

I posed here with Doug but he is no longer wearing his in this picture. 

These were the Christmas jammies the elf left for us to find after we solved several clues. 

We did a fun race maybe a day or two before Christmas with a few families. It was super fun. 

Kiddies posing in jammies from last year

Brook finished a workbook she had started in the summer and got to pose with her certificate of achievement. 

Doug and I went to a party for the managers at his building and he won a gas card and some cookies, which the kids are modelling and sampling. 

Lucy and I went for a walk in December and discovered the most gorgeous sunset. She hadn't wanted to bother with finding her own coat or sweatshirt but settled for Cason's Batman raincoat. 

Lucy and the amazing sunset

This was a labor of love miracle--before Matt and Jessica came, I tackled the cyclone that is Lucy and Brooklyn's room. Their room is always so awful. 

We decided to move Corban to a big boy bed and because we want to have a guest bed, we got this one before the Williams came. The theory is that we will let Isaac have it when we move. 

I was training for a half marathon during December, so it was fun to review my routes. That was a pretty great time to be training in AZ. I hope my foot can heal from this persnickety plantar fasciitis so I can do long races again. I have a sore heel all the time. 

Here is how Corban's room looked before we moved him up to a big boy bed. 

Our tree after the family decorated it (and a fun action shot of Brook)

Cute kiddos at the family photo shoot

Doug and I--still in love and thankful to be together after (now) 16 years. 

Back where we began at the beginning of December--happy to have these photos, but I'd like to have someone else take our family photos this fall so we can figure our heights a little bit better. Isaac was already taller than me, and he's grown quite a bit since then. 

Happy 2019 memories! I thought 2020 would be amazing and it has definitely been a whole lot of things, amazing. . . maybe. . .being one of them. 2019 was a great year for our family. Little did we know what was coming our way. . .