2018 could possibly be the biggest year of our lives! That isn’t an exaggeration either, I know that we are gonna have a lot more moments, but we definitely started a new season. Reflection is something that is very important because lessons are everywhere. We can learn our biggest truths by studying the why’s and how’s of the day. Simple to hard, either way it is knowledge right there for us to grow by. I think that is why this blog post is exciting to me. We took the time to realize what truly mattered to us, and what memories stuck around. Here are our top 10 moments of 2018 and a few honorable mentions.

10. Our Little Garden

                We did a little gardening this year, and by we, I definitely don’t mean M., I put minimal effort into our garden and it mostly was Kyle who produced some pretty stellar veggies. We have a whole lot to learn for next year, but we enjoyed our cucumbers, watermelon, corn, carrots, bell peppers & green onions. They filled out bellies and gave us good nutrients.

9. Sage’s Halloween Costume

                We watched Hocus Pocus and Sage absolutely fell in love with Dani. That seemed like such a parenting win, but even more of a win was that she asked to be her for Halloween. We DIY’d her poncho, skirt and hat and I was really hoping for a look of authenticity. Besides the leggings and socks, we were really on the right track! I thought we couldn’t have done better than Mabel last year, but Sage looked so dang close to Dani! We completed our family look by having Ian be Thackery Binx, Kyle was Max and I was Alison.

8. Game Nights/ Friends in Twin Falls

                Making friends has always been something hard for me to do. Now that we are married, I feel like it is on another level of difficulty. We were able to navigate that somehow though and we tried and actively were looking for friends while we were in Twin Falls. We learned new fun games and had amazing conversations and it made our time there in Twin feel worth it. Thanks to everyone, you guys are awesome and we miss you!

7. Sage Loses Her First Tooth

                This is one that should be happy, but… I still have an immense feeling of “mom guilt”. We took Sage to the dentist because she was complaining about cavities. We go, they say we can get them filled, schedule an appointment & have an expectation. Well, the day comes and the dentist lets me know, after they have already taken her back (they didn’t let me go because they were going to put her under) that she actually has to have the teeth removed because of the decay. I had no way to prepare her, and I started crying because my baby was going to wake up wondering why she was missing teeth. I felt so horrible. She did ok with it, and 4 months later she lost one of her front teeth. A smile that I will never forget!

6. Camping

                This summer brought camping and camping brought out Ian’s true spirit. I have never seen a boy more at home than him in the woods. We went out a couple times to Black Canyon Lake, where Ian donned his birthday suit vs a bathing suit while venturing out into the water. Sage caught her first fish, we slept uncomfortably our air mattresses and we made some amazing memories. I am excited for camping season next year, more than just the s’mores.

5. Lagoon

                We had been to Lagoon one other time with Kyle’s family, but this year we went with my parents and grandma. I had planned on hanging out with the kids all day, while Kyle could go on the big roller coasters with my Grandma. Grandma had other plans and I was forced to face my fear of the Cannibal, and I am pleased to say, that it wasn’t that bad, but don’t expect to see me on it again. I am good with experiencing things once. We also discovered that Ian is a thrill seeker, not a fan of standing in lines though. We are sure that all the other parents thought we were just torturing him by going on Bombora, but once you could get him on it, you could tell how much he loved it!

4. Maryann’s Gallbladder Surgery

                Not that this is a pleasant memory, but it was my first surgery ever. I was nervous and scared, but in the end, I feel so much better with it out. My mom came to Idaho to help me with the recovery, and we enjoyed our time together. The worst part of it, was wanting to eat afterward. My throat was so sore and burned with everything that I ate. I was up and walking the next day, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to go to Target!

3. We Move Back to AZ

                We moved to Idaho in 2013 and we are so happy to be back! We are living back in this small town of Taylor, and I don’t think we could be happier about our situation. We are helping renovate my parent’s trailer, my children are growing up where I did and the children thrive with being able to go outside and play. It is a little hard moving back to a small town from a city, but there isn’t anything that we can’t just Amazon Prime.

2. Kyle Gets a Job

                We are lucky enough to live where we do because Kyle was able to get a job at the Walmart in Show Low. He is a full time Pharmacist there and he seems to be fitting in well there. The kids are adjusting to his new schedule, but we love that we are getting to see him as much as we are. There was a time when we had to consider going down to the valley to try and get work, but then he got his call and GOT A JOB!

1. Kyle Graduates Pharmacy School

                More exciting than Kyle getting a job, he graduated from school! It seemed like such a long 5 years full of sacrifice on both of our parts, but it’s over. I wouldn’t do school any other way, but it was extremely hard. We had Ian while we were there, we moved a lot and money was constantly a balancing act. Getting into school felt like a miracle and a blessing and graduating feels a lot like that too.

Honorable Mentions

• Ian is 80% potty trained

• Kyle helps with Boy Scouts

• Kyle Mountain Bike’s With His Brothers

 

2019 is going to bring a whole new set of difficulties and lessons. We look forward to meeting our little guy and establishing ourselves as a family of 5. We are starting the year off with a trip to Hawaii, so let’s just cheers to a year full of adventure and happiness!